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<br />~ <br />~HILLS <br /> <br />CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA <br />ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION <br />MAY 23, 2007; 7:30 AM <br />CITY HALL --1245 WEST HIGHWAY 96 <br /> <br />I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER <br />Chair Kunkel called the meeting to order at 7:38 a.m. <br /> <br />New member Ed Van Holtum was introduced who provided background on himself. <br /> <br />II. ROLL CALL <br />Present: Chair Bruce Kunkel, Nancy Kneeland, Ed Van Holtum, Rob Davidson, Jim <br />Paulet, Mayor Harpstead, Community Development Director Karen Barton, City <br />Administrator Michelle Wolfe. <br /> <br />Absent: <br /> <br />Dale Beane, Ed Werner, Chris Ashbach, Ray McGraw. <br /> <br />III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - MAY 16. 2007 <br />The minutes from the May 16 meeting were approved as amended. <br /> <br />IV. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN <br />A. Review Revised Plan <br />B. Discnss Presentation to the Council <br />The Mayor noted that he polled Council members regarding the plan and they were receptive to <br />it. Two members expressed concern. The Council expressed they want the plan to be market <br />driven and not City driven. He also indicated the Council had a reluctance of using eminent <br />domain for commercial business purposes. The group also indicated they were concerned about <br />this as well. Chair Kunkel said his only exception would be if the City had a blighted property <br />then he could see using eminent domain on the property. <br /> <br />City Administrator Wolfe expressed that she felt it is important for the EDC to build a <br />relationship with the Council. She indicated in the past, committees have not worked on <br />relationship building with the Council. <br /> <br />The Mayor indicated the revised budget for this plan was considerably lower so the Council was <br />more comfortable now. <br /> <br />Jim expressed concern with not going through all the specific items in the document thoroughly <br />to make sure they were all comfortable with the document. The group expressed that they feel <br />the document has been reviewed for two years and they were comfortable moving forward at this <br />point. <br /> <br />Nancy asked if the Council accepted the plan ifit was binding to them. The Mayor indicated by <br />law nothing is binding to the City Council. Nancy suggested that that point should be noted to <br />the Council as well. <br />