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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-28-16 Special Meeting I't -- IkEN HILLS Approved: April 25, 2016 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA SPECIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING MARCH 28,2016 6:00 PM—CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, President Grant called to order the special Economic Development Authority meeting at 6:00 p.m. Present: EDA President David Grant; EDA Commissioners Fran Holmes, Dave McClung and Jonathan Wicklund Absent: EDA Commissioner Brenda Holden(excused) Also present: Treasurer Sue Iverson; Executive Director Jill Hutmacher; Senior Planner Matthew Bachler; and City Clerk Amy Dietl 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: EDA Commissioner McClung moved and EDA Commissioner Holmes seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. January 25, 2016 MOTION: EDA Commissioner Holmes moved and EDA Commissioner Wicklund seconded a motion to approve the January 25, 2016 Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes as presented. The motion carried unanimously (4-0 . 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL EDA MEETING—MARCH 28, 2016 2 A. Business Retention and Expansion Program Senior Planner Bachler stated that the Economic Development Authority (EDA) reviewed the Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Program Report completed by the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce (SPACC) on January 25, 2016. The EDA requested that the data related to the NAICS industry categories be reviewed to ensure that the number of educational service jobs in the City was accurately represented. Additional revisions to the report included an update to the employee migration data and the inclusion of sources for the data used. Staff is requesting that the EDA review and adopt the final draft of the BRE Program Report. Senior Planner Bachler indicated that the Economic Development Commission (EDC) discussed the recommended next steps in the BRE Report at their meeting on March 2, 2016. Based on the feedback provided by the EDC, staff worked with SPACC to identify the priority projects the City may want to focus on over the next several months. Staff is requesting that the EDA review the draft implementation plan for these projects and provide comments. Staff expects to begin working with the EDC on the projects at their next scheduled meeting in May. Jonathan Weinhagen, Vice President of SPACC, presented the BRE Program Report and the draft Priority Projects Implementation Plan in further detail with the EDA. He drew attention to the changes that were made to the report regarding jobs and job changes in Arden Hills. He provided comment on his findings regarding educational service jobs. He reviewed the feedback received from the EDC. EDA President Grant understood that education and health services were tied together. He questioned if these two sectors could be separated. Mr. Weinhagen indicated that SPACC could work to break down this information into subsectors and micro datasets. EDA President Grant indicated that 24 companies were visited to assist with the drafting of this plan. He asked if the City would be keeping in touch with any of these businesses based on their needs. He commented that he did not want the City to be dealing with another Smiths Medical situation. Mr. Weinhagen stated that this would be an ongoing discussion of how the City continues to engage with businesses and how it can identify sustainable businesses going forward. Commissioner Holmes requested further information from staff on the recommendations being made at this time. Senior Planner Bachler explained that the BRE Report included recommendations for four projects the City could work on: continued engagement in transit improvement conversations; fostering relationships with local colleges to address workforce training; tracking companies that are planning or positioned for growth; and establishing a plan for ongoing BRE visits. He noted that as a follow-up to these formal recommendations, SPACC has prepared a draft ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL EDA MEETING—MARCH 28, 2016 3 implementation plan for the priority projects identified by the EDC. Staff is requesting that the EDA provide comments on the draft implementation plan. Mr. Weinhagen added that the recommendations listed in the BRE Report were generated out of conversations that were held with the business community. Commissioner Holmes supported the recommendations and understood that there was a need for rapid transit. She believed that the provided goals or priorities were realistic, but should be more focused. Mr. Weinhagen understood that much of these goals could not be achieved in one year. He added that having an implementation plan would help the City move forward in addressing these goals. EDA President Grant commented on the recommendations and believed that the transit line was TCAAP related. He believed recommendation#3 would be good for the City to track. Executive Director Hutmacher indicated that the recommendations were based on national best practices for BRE. Mr. Weinhagen encouraged the Council to consider the document as a report based on community research and not as a plan that needed implementation. Commissioner Holmes believed that the priorities should be tied to the report. She did not support all of the recommendations being made in the report and thought there was a disconnect. Commissioner Wicklund stated that he saw the document as a compilation of information by an outside consultant who is providing the Council with a report that should be received and adopted. He indicated that a second step for the Council would be to review the priority projects and respond. Commissioner McClung agreed with this assessment and discussed his view on the report. He did not believe that the City had to follow each of the prescribed recommendations, but rather could review and analyze the report and decide how to move forward as policymakers. He supported the Council accepting the document and was in favor of setting its own priorities at a future time. Commissioner Wicklund was in agreement with this direction of the Council. Commissioner Holmes commented that she would not be voting to accept the report. Further discussion ensued regarding the recommendations within the report. EDA President Grant stated that perhaps the Chamber of Commerce should have brought forward a list of ideas, along with recommendations from the EDC. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL EDA MEETING—MARCH 28, 2016 4 Mr. Weinhagen discussed how the EDC interacted with the document and developed priority projects. He provided further comment on how the site visits were conducted, the data was aggregated and the report was developed. He commented that the implementation phase would be a separate phase independent of the report and formal program. He then reviewed the key findings within the report. Commissioner Holmes indicated that the priority projects within the implementation plan were not taking the recommendations into consideration. Mr. Weinhagen stated that one amenable solution would be to approve the report, but remove the recommendations section on pages 26 and 27. Commissioner Wicklund agreed that the priorities needed further discussion. However, he also understood that staff wanted the document accepted. He looked forward to having a future discussion regarding the details behind the priorities. Executive Director Hutmacher clarified the scope of work that was requested from the Chamber of Commerce. It was noted that the Chamber was to create a report and not an implementation plan. She indicated that the key findings within the plan point to the need for transit and skilled workers. She believed it would be reasonable to accept the document omitting pages 26 and 27 as this would allow the Council to address the implementation plan separately. Commissioner McClung agreed with this recommendation. He understood that the recommendations within the report did not have to be implemented and that further discussion was needed. MOTION: EDA Commissioner Wicklund moved and EDA Commissioner McClung seconded a motion to receive the final draft of the Arden Hills Business Retention and Expansion Program Report from the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. Commissioner Holmes expressed her concern again and stated that she did not believe that the three recommendations would help the businesses in Arden Hills. She stated that the City did not have control over getting the A-Line to expand within the community. She provided further comment on the priorities that the City did and did not have control over. Commissioner Wicklund believed that the Council could receive the document whether or not the City had control over these recommendations. The motion carried 3-1 (Holmes opposed). EDA President Grant requested further comment on the priorities within the City's control. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL EDA MEETING—MARCH 28, 2016 5 Commissioner Holmes understood that the Council would be discussing staff workloads later this evening during the work session. For this reason, she questioned if the site visits could be conducted by the EDC. Executive Director Hutmacher stated that this would depend on what other issues staff was managing, and how TCAAP progressed. It was her opinion that the City could achieve all three of the priorities within the year, with the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce. She commented that one other issue staff would have to address in the near future would be the 2018 Comprehensive Plan. EDA President Grant proposed that the items be prioritized by the Council. His initial thought was that Item 1 had a high priority, Item 2 had a medium priority and Item 3 was a low priority. The Council was in agreement with this suggestion. Commissioner Wicklund asked how the City would be conducting the site visits. Executive Director. Hutmacher stated that she was typically the point person; however, this work could also be completed by Greater MSP or the Chamber of Commerce. She wanted to see the City piggyback on their site visits whenever possible. Commissioner Wicklund questioned what the preferred outcome was for a business visit in Arden Hills. Executive Director Hutmacher explained that her number one goal for a business visit was to develop a relationship. This would mean that the business owner would have a name and a face at City Hall to contact with future expansion requests, questions or concerns. She indicated that data gathering was also important. This includes information such as the number of employees, if the business is hiring and what type of skilled workforce needs they have. Commissioner Wicklund asked how data gathering and knowledge of expansion plans help staff to do their job. Executive Director Hutmacher stated that data collection helped the City long-term. She discussed the situation that arose with Smiths Medical. Commissioner Wicklund liked the priority one project so long as metrics were included. He wanted to see targets set for the number of visits that would be conducted. Executive Director Hutmacher indicated that the goal for this year would be to conduct six to eight visits. Commissioner Wicklund inquired how staff would determine if the site visits were successful. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL EDA MEETING—MARCH 28, 2016 6 Executive Director Hutmacher did not have an easy metric to determine the success. She reported that staff's key goals were to establish relationships and understand the local business community. EDA President Grant was in favor of the Council holding a goal setting session in the future. He understood that further discussion would be needed to address the priorities. MOTION: EDA President Grant moved and EDA Commissioner McClung seconded a motion to approve the three recommendations within the implementation plan. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). 4. EDA COMMISSIONER COMMENTS EDA President Grant understood that Jonathan Weinhagen served on the Mounds View School Board. He asked if the School Board was aware of the needs of TCAAP. Mr. Weinhagen reported that the school district was following the TCAAP development very closely and reported that the development would not require any new schools. 5. ADJOURN MOTION: EDA President Grant moved and EDA Commissioner McClung seconded a motion to adjourn the Economic Development Authority meeting. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). EDA President Grant adjourned the special Economic Development Authority meeting at 6:53 p.m. Jill Hu acher David Grant Execu ive Director EDA President It, --S DEN HILLS Request for Special Economic Development Authority Meeting A special meeting may be called by the EDA President or by any two EDA Members. Reason for meeting: 1. Approval of January 25, 2016 Minutes 2. Business Retention and Expansion Program Requested Date: 3/28/16 Requested time: 6:00 PM Open meeting X Closed meeting Signature of person(s) making request: L; 3 / / EDA President or EDA Member Date EDA Member Date -This section to be completed by City staff- Date received: 3 / .2� / )� Date meeting to be held: 3/28/16 Time of meeting: 6:00 PM Location: City Hall All necessary posting and notices have been completed. � -04-13 / .2 / Signature of City CI k Date City of Arden Hills 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills,MN 55112-5743 Phone 651-792-7800 * Fax 651-634-5137 www.cityofardenhills.org