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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-06-13 EDCChair Ed Von Holtum 1245 W Highway 96 Arden Hills Commissioners: Dan Erickson Phone: Dan Altstatt Website: www.cityofardenhills.org February 6, 2013 City Vision Arden Hills is a strong community that values its unique environmental setting, strong residential neighborhoods, vital business community, wellmaintained infrastructure, fiscal soundness, and our longstanding as a desirable City in which to live, work, and play. CALL TO ORDER Minutes 3.A.December 5, 2012 Documents:EDC MINUTES DEC 5 2012.PDF Unfinished And New Business 4.A.New Member Recruitment Documents:NEW MEMBER RECRUITMENT MEMO.PDF 4.B.Newsletters Documents:NEWSLETTERS MEMO.PDF EDC Meeting Schedule Documents:EDC MEETING SCHEDULE MEMO.PDF 5.A.TCAAP Update Documents:TCAAP UPDATE MEMO.PDF 5.B.Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) Documents:BUSINESS RETENTION EXPANSION MEMO.PDF Commission Members Council Liaison 5.E.Staff Comments Cancellation of March meeting Agenda format A quorum of the City Councilmay be present at this CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 5,20128:00AM CITY HALL --1245 WEST HIGHWAY 96 CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chair Ed vonHoltum called the meeting to order at 8:15a.m. ROLL CALL Present:Chair Ed von Holtum,Dan Erickson and Dan Altstatt. Also Present:Council Liaison Ed Werner; City Administrator Patrick Klaers, and Community Development Director Jill Hutmacher. Absent:Jim Huninghake 1.APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was the consensus of the Commission to accept the agenda as amended. 2.APPROVAL OF MINUTES It was the consensus of the Commission to accept the November 7,2012,meetingminutes as presented. The consensus of Commissioners was that more generalized minutes were preferred in the future. 3.UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A.2013 EDC Work Plan Community Development Director Hutmacher presented the proposed work plan which is based on Commissioners comments at the November 7, 2012 EDC meeting. Chair von Holtum noted that Commissioner recruitment needs to continue to be a priority. Commissioner Erickson questioned why the economic development newsletter was not scheduled until the fourth quarter of 2013. EDC Minutes December 5, 2012 Page 2of 3 Community Development Director Hutmacher explained that the staff workload, particularly related to the TCAAP project, would not allow the newsletter project to be completed earlier unless Commissioners were willing to take responsibility for the newsletter. It was the consensus of the Commission that the economic development newsletter would primarily be a Commissioner project. The language of the newsletter initiative was amended to, “Explorepublishing an economic development newsletter” with a timeline of Q1 to Q4. It was agreed that the newsletter initiative will be discussed in greater detail at the next EDC meeting. Commissioners will discuss newsletter topics, Commissioner assignments,and whether the newsletter should be published in a print version, an electronic version, or both. Altstatt moved and Erickson seconded to approve the 2013 EDC Work Plan as amended. Motion carried unanimously. B.City Website Preview CommunityDevelopment Director Hutmacher presented the new City website and noted that the website would “go live” on Thursday, December 6, which is one day earlier than planned. The early launch allows staff an opportunity to fix any problems related to the redirection of users from the old URL to the new siteon Friday, December 7. Community Development Director Hutmacher presented the website navigation and features. EDC Commissioners were interested in the Business section of the website which the EDC outlined in spring 2012. The new website will enable businesses to access relevant information very efficiently. Commissioners noted that the new website looked very good and would be an improvement, particularly in terms of business information, over the previous website. 4.UPDATES A.TCAAP Community Development Director Hutmacher reported that the City approved a Joint Powers Agreement on November 26, 2012. The JPA establishes a partnership between the City and County for the remediation and redevelopment of the TCAAP site.On November 27, 2012, Ramsey County approved the JPA and the purchase agreement with the federal government for the TCAAP site. The County also authorized the notice to proceed with a remediation contract including demolition of the remaining buildings on the TCAAP site and remediation of the entire site to a residential standard. Community Development Director Hutmacher added that demolition and remediation work could begin in spring 2013 following federal approval of the purchase agreement. The City is required to complete an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) and a Master Plan for the site within 18 to 24 months. The City will move forward with these documents following federal approval of the County’s purchase agreement. EDC Minutes December 5, 2012 • Page 3 of 3 B. Holiday Inn Reuse Proposal Community Development Director Hutmacher reported the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the Holiday Inn reuse proposal which will go to the City Council on December 17, 2012. Community Development Director Hutmacher explained the City's goals regarding combining driveways and access drives along the property's western boundary. Commissioners agreed that improving access may mitigate the risk of blight for properties that have no access to a public street. C. Commission Members None. D. Council Liaison Councilmember Werner reported that Council consensus was for staff to research other event options for the Celebrating Arden Hills Fall Festival to assist in deciding the future of the event. Currently, the event is not in the budget for 2013. 411 E. Staff Comments Community Development Director Hutmacher reported that Commissioner Huninghake had notified her that he now has a conflict for Wednesday morning meetings. It was the consensus of Commissioners that the EDC would consider alternate meeting times at the next meeting. Community Development Director Hutmacher asked for a volunteer to work on a newsletter article on Delkor Systems. Commissioner Erickson volunteered. Community Development Director Hutmacher suggested that the January EDC meeting be cancelled since it would regularly be scheduled on the morning of the first regular business day following the New Year's holiday. The consensus of Commissioners was that the next regular EDC meeting be held on February 1, 2013. 5. ADJOURNMENT Chair von Holtum adjourned the meeting at 9:48 a.m. A7/: Ed von Holtum, Chair Ji utmacher ommunity Development Director  MEMORANDUM DATE:EDC Agenda Item 4.A February 6, 2013 TO: Economic Development Commission Chair and Commissioners FROM: Jill Hutmacher, Community Development Director SUBJECT: New Member Recruitment The Economic Development Authority approved the 2013 EDC Work Plan on Monday, January 28. One of the high-priority 2013 goals is New Member Recruitment. Staff has submitted a draft newsletter article on EDC vacancies for the March 2013 City newsletter. EDC vacancies have been posted in three locations on the City website. On January 28, the EDA suggested that a notice be posted in the Shoreview-Arden Hills Bulletin and inquired about the possibility of promoting EDC vacancies in a Letter to the Editor. Staff is working with the Bulletinto accomplish these suggestions. Discussion Question 1.What additional actions does the EDC suggest be taken by EDC Commissionersor the City Council? City of Arden Hills Economic Development Commission February 6, 2013 11 Page of  MEMORANDUM DATE:EDC Agenda Item 4.B February 6, 2013 TO: Economic Development Commission Chair and Commissioners FROM: Jill Hutmacher, Community Development Director SUBJECT: Newsletters The 2013 EDC Work Plan includes two work tasks related to newsletters: 1.Use the City newsletter to highlight local businesses, and 2.Explore publishing an economic development newsletter. City Newsletter In 2012, the EDC identified businesses that could be highlighted in the City newsletter and assigned Commissionersto write articles on an approximately quarterly schedule. An article on Delkor Systems will be published with the March 2013 City newsletter.Staff has also prepared an article on the sale and renovation of the Arden Woods building which will be submitted for the April or May newsletter, depending on space availability. Discussion Questions: 1.Which other businesses should be highlighted in 2013? 2.How should articles be assigned? Economic Development Newsletter EDC Commissioners have expressed interest in publishing an economic development newsletter and have preliminarily discussed whether it should be published in hard copy, electronically, or both. Following EDC discussions, staff reorganized the business section of the website to include a business news page. Current stories include EDC vacancies, Gradient Center (former Arden Woods building), Delkor Systems, Ulteig, Holiday Inn Reuse, andTCAAP. Discussion Questions: 1.What additional stories should be posted on the Business News page? 2.Does the EDC want to consider a printed business newsletter? 3.Does the EDC want to consider an electronic business newsletter beyond what can be accomplished using the City website? City of Arden Hills Economic Development Commission February 6, 2013 11 Page of  MEMORANDUM DATE:EDC Agenda Item 4.C February 6, 2013 TO: Economic Development Commission Chair and Commissioners FROM: Jill Hutmacher, Community Development Director SUBJECT: EDC Meeting Schedule A Commissioner has notified the EDC of an on-going conflict with the EDC’s regular meeting schedule. At a previous meeting, EDC Commissioners expressed a desire to consider an alternative meeting schedule. Commissioners are requested to bring their calendars to the February 6 meeting so that alternative meeting times and dates may be discussed. City of Arden Hills Economic Development Commission February 6, 2013 11 Page of  MEMORANDUM DATE:EDC Agenda Item 5.A February 6, 2013 TO: Economic Development Commission Chair and Commissioners FROM: Jill Hutmacher, Community Development Director SUBJECT: TCAAP Update City and County staff have scheduled regular weekly meetings to discuss the TCAAP project. Representatives from Bolander &Sons and governmental and regulatory agencies will be invited as necessary depending on discussion topics. Ramsey County is working with Bolander & Sons to issue a Limited Notice to Proceed. This would allow Bolander to begin working on the permittingprocess and other preparation prior to the County’s closing with the GSA. City staff is working with Bolander to identify opportunities for SAC credits for buildings to be demolished. Meetings are being scheduled with the Rice Creek Watershed District to discuss permitting, and with the Metropolitan Council to discuss SAC credits. Bolander will be removing all remaining buildings, building pads, streets, utilities, and parking areas. Bolander’s primary access point will be from Highway Avenue/County Road H at I-35W. Crews will work Monday through Friday, 7:00 am until 5:30 pm (or during daylight hours in the winter months). Saturday will be worked as a make-up day in the event of inclement weather. Bolander estimates that up to 50 trucks per day willleave the site. The remediation and demolition contract requires Bolander to restore the site to safe, legal slopes and to lay seed. Site grading is not included in the Bolander contract. Ramsey County is in close contact with the General Services Administration regarding federal approval of the Amended Offer to Purchase. The County anticipates that closing will occur by April 15, 2013. The Request for Proposals for the TCAAP Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR), Master Plan, and Regulations& Policies was posted on the City’s website on February 1, 2013. The deadline for responses is March 15, 2013. City of Arden Hills Economic Development Commission February 6, 2013 11 Page of  MEMORANDUM DATE:EDC Agenda Item 5.B February 6, 2013 TO: Economic Development Commission Chair and Commissioners FROM: Jill Hutmacher, Community Development Director SUBJECT: Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) On January 17, 2013, Councilmember Werner, Commissioner Huninghake, and the Community Development Director attended a Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) meeting hosted by Greater MSP, the regional public-private economic development partnership. The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate business visits by Greater MSP, Chambers of Commerce, cities, and other economic development entities. Some businesses receive multiple meeting requests over the course of the year, and have suggested that business visits could be better coordinated. Greater MSP also suggested that information from business visits could be better shared between economic development entities, and that coordinated business visits could provide better access to some businesses and provide businesses with a broader array of services and assistance. Subsequent to the January 17 meeting, staff met with the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce to discuss joint business visits. It was agreed that the Chamber and City, with assistance from Greater MSP as needed, would work together to identify a contact within Boston Scientific and schedule a joint business visit. Both the Chamber and the City have had difficulty scheduling a business visit with Boston Scientific. The City will work to schedule business visits with Smiths Medical, Exos Medical (which was recently sold to an out-of-state company), and another Arden Hills business which Greater MSP identified as a priority for a BRE visit. City of Arden Hills Economic Development Commission February 6, 2013 11 Page of