01-28-26 EDC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – DECEMBER 17, 2025 5 Commissioner Poelzer agrees. She thinks the fees need to be clarified. The fees aren’t welcoming. This looks like we’re doing a money grab. Without a registration fee, we ask they just tell us they’re here. She agrees we need to have a way to have everyone included. Commissioner Gronquist said we have talked about the licensing fees but keep missing the window. We may need to start earlier to make any change. Chair Murchie said individual sub committees may help keep things moving between meetings. Council Liaison Rousseau said sometimes the Chair will come to City Council and share the work plan for approval. That discussion may give guidance on prioritization. Chair Murchie said he thought there is a plan to bring it to Council. Senior Planner Fransen outlined the draft work plan should be complete by March and the EDC can bring it to Council in April. The final work plan can be approved by June. She said drilling down what is NOT working will be important. The EDC can help with identifying and contacting businesses that aren’t being reached. Commissioner Bonine asked if the City is open to have it be a requirement. It has to be a Staff decision. Community Development Director Reilly said that is an excellent point. How do we become an effective municipality with business participation? For the first time in a while, we are fully staffed. There is great intention but no follow-through. Councilmember Monson said we also had strategic planning. Community Development Director Reilly agreed this fits into the strategic plan by the buckets that Senior Planner Fransen created. We have to work through this first year. It may be 6 months into the year before we start working on it. He said possibly by the July meeting. Commissioner Bonine said the work plan is empty. We have been blindly walking through this process. The City has to know who is in the buildings. If there is a consistent pattern with the landlords we need to have something that is enactable. He feels like the EDC is just waiting for their terms to end. There has to be a purpose. Community Development Director Reilly said that is what we are looking at today. Discussion ensued regarding who is responsible for compliance. Council Liaison Rousseau said the EDC can bring those process failures to City Council. Councilmember Monson said Council will support this. She isn’t a fan of someone turning in a blank form to a business to have them complete it. She said she supports committee members bringing concrete info. Council Liaison Rousseau said staff can’t move forward without Council approval.