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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-26-25 EDC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION FEBRUARY 26, 2025 7:30 A.M. – ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Present: Chair Jud Murchie, Commissioners Kyle Sorenson, Ted Brausen, Julie Gronquist, Kristine Poelzer, Jessica Daniels Absent: Commissioner Bobby Bonine, and Youth Commissioner Vincent Meyer Also Present: Council Liaison Emily Rousseau and Senior Planner Elena Fransen The Oath of Office was administered to new Commissioners Sorenson, Poelzer and Daniels. Each of the EDC Commissioners introduced themselves and shared their reasons for serving on the Commission. 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chair Murchie called the meeting to order. A motion was made by Commissioner Brausen and seconded by Commissioner Poelzer to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously. 2. APPROVAL OF VICE-CHAIR Chair Murchie stated that Youth Commissioner Vincent Meyer was unable to attend the meeting. He had expressed interest in serving as the EDC Vice Chair. A motion was made by Commissioner Brausen and seconded by Commissioner Gronquist to approve Youth Commissioner Vincent Meyer as Vice-Chair of the EDC. Motion passed unanimously. 3. APPROVAL OF 2025 MEETING CALENDAR Chair Murchie outlined the proposed meeting schedule, as provided in the Agenda Packet. Senior Planner Fransen pointed out that there is opportunity to add meetings to the calendar. She noted the possible additional dates in the Agenda Packet. She said March 26 is Mounds View’s Spring Break so that alternate date is not available. Meetings can be added, as needed. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 2 Commissioner Poelzer noted the December 23rd meeting is the day before Christmas Eve. She would not have a problem meeting that day, but she wanted to point it out as some Commissioners may be out of town for the holidays. Chair Murchie wondered if the calendar can be approved with language that states meeting dates are subject to change. Senior Planner Fransen confirmed. The calendar can be modified at a later date, if needed. Discussion ensued regarding possible changes to the calendar that could be forthcoming and the advance notice Commissioners will get prior to any meeting changes. Chair Murchie summarized the discussion that Commissioners agreed to change the meeting that was scheduled for December 23 and meet on December 17, instead. Also, if there are any additional changes to the calendar Commissioners will be notified at least three weeks in advance. A motion was made by Commissioner Poelzer and seconded by Commissioner Gronquist to approve the meeting calendar, as amended. Motion passed unanimously. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. October 23, 2024 A motion was made by Commissioner Brausen and seconded by Commissioner Gronquist to approve the minutes, as written. Motion passed unanimously. 5. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. In-Person Business Visit Strategy Next Steps Senior Planner Fransen summarized that in 2024 the EDC discussed the work plan for the year. Strategies that were discussed included a business resources page on the City website, including events, in person business visits, business surveys, a hosted event with businesses, website business directory with contact information and links to businesses, engagement email. Senior Planner Fransen said at the May 22, 2024 meeting the EDC discussed the top three strategies, ranking them in order. The first item was the in-person business visits, followed by an in-depth business survey and a business resources page on the City website. The entire Commission focused on the in-person business visits. A sub-committee was established with Commissioners Brausen, Gronquist and Bonine. That group put together a list of questions to be asking businesses to establish a connection between the EDC and businesses. These visits were intended to help us to learn what types of businesses are in the City. A goal of the visits was to learn more about the business community while also informing them that the EDC is a resource. Senior Planner Fransen said the questions were reviewed and approved at the June meeting. Senior Planner Fransen said a handout was drafted and approved at the July meeting. This handout was intended to be left for the business after the in-person visit. A timeline was established for the visits and a procedure document was approved. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 3 Senior Planner Fransen said the physical addresses of businesses were identified and broken out into lists and each list was assigned to a different Commissioner. Those in-person visits started in September. The progress was discussed at the October meeting. Senior Planner Fransen said there were two Commissioners who decided to conclude their involvement with the EDC at the end of 2024. They did not complete their visits. There are businesses on those lists who have not been contacted yet. Senior Planner Fransen opened the discussion for Commissioners to give further updates and ask questions. Chair Murchie asked other Commissioners, namely Commissioner Sorenson, what their reasons were for establishing their businesses in Arden Hills. Commissioner Sorenson said he found Arden Hills through his realtor. He was looking at locations in surrounding cities. He found an open space and took the time to walk around the community. He found this community to be active and involved. He said that is something the EDC can capitalize on. The community wants to be involved. Chair Murchie asked if he visited the surrounding communities’ website to see if they had business resources. Commissioner Sorenson said he did not. Commissioner Daniels asked if the Commissioners all did in-person visits. She asked if the businesses were receptive to the visits. Commissioner Brausen said 95% of the businesses were welcoming. He had to make an appointment at a couple places, which he thought was fine. He said a repeating theme was hopes that construction on Lexington be limited and coordinated as much as possible to avoid traffic flow interruptions. Commissioner Daniels asked if there is a more comprehensive survey forthcoming after the visits. Commissioner Gronquist said the survey was conducted during the visits. Commissioner Daniels asked if there was a strategy for reaching businesses that were not visited by an EDC member. Commissioner Gronquist said a post card was dropped off to any business that was not reached for an in-person visit. If email information was known, an email was sent inviting them to complete the survey. Senior Planner Fransen said the questions were universal. Commissioners asked the same questions of each business, so the information being gathered was consistent. Commissioner Daniels asked if all the businesses were accounted for. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 4 Senior Planner Fransen said every effort was made. There were some corporate groups that were removed from the visits, because it was difficult to pinpoint who to talk to. They tried to capture as many voices as possible. Commissioner Brausen said he had a great time completing the visits. Commissioner Gronquist agreed. She said it was hard to catch some people. She sent emails to any business she was unable to connect with. She is not sure if they completed the survey that was provided in the email. She got a great response from all the businesses she was able to visit in person. Commissioner Sorenson asked what the approach was for when to complete the visits. Commissioner Gronquist said that was a part of the procedure document approved prior to starting the in-person visits. Commissioner Brausen said businesses were more open to talking to him after learning he was also a business owner and not a city official. Commissioner Sorenson said as a business owner, the phone call prior to the visit sounds helpful. Otherwise, someone walks in and says they’re from the Economic Development Committee the first thought is they’ve done something wrong. He also said business hours vary, depending on the type of business. It may prove hard to find someone on site, during regular business hours. Commissioner Gronquist said that is what her strategy was. A lot of times business owners don’t work at the physical location. Commissioner Murchie experienced challenges with catching some businesses during bank holidays. He hadn’t thought about how some owners may not trust a drop in visit. An appointment could be helpful. Senior Planner Fransen said one of the protocols was to avoid the word survey. That can deter participation. Council Liaison Rousseau said that it is sad that the first instinct is to not trust the City. She would love to shift that perception. She asked if there is any interest in a meet and greet with business owners at City Hall. Commissioner Brausen said they used to do that years ago. They would meet quarterly, typically at Flaherty’s. Business owners and City Officials would meet and discuss issues in the city. He said County Road E used to have flags along the road. It was pretty. Council Liaison Rousseau said County Road E was the main street. Commissioner Brausen said he doesn’t understand why City Hall was built on 96 when it should have been downtown. Commissioner Poelzer said the nice thing about County Road E is it is Arden Hills on both sides. She said a lot of people are confused where the City borders are. She remembers the flags. She thinks that solidifies the area that “This is Arden Hills”. She thinks there is value in that. If there ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 5 was a way to indicate “This is Arden Hills” along Lexington, that would be great. If Shoreview wanted to do a similar thing on their side of Lexington, so be it. She agrees that stretch of road used to have a community feel. Commissioner Brausen said we have to grasp that Arden Hills is a small community. Instead of trying to be like Shoreview, we need to accept our small-town feel. Commissioner Poelzer asked if the Commissioner’s affiliation with the EDC is as a resident or as a business owner. Discussion ensued regarding where Commissioners’ businesses are located in town. Senior Planner Fransen provided the results from the survey. The collected results consisted of 21 respondents. The original 6 lists contained about thirty businesses each, for a total of 180 businesses attempting to be contacted. Senior Planner Fransen said there was an open-ended question that asked what resources or forms of support would help the business succeed. Some responses included knowing more about local resources, help publicizing brand/business awareness, better signage and keeping Lexington open. Senior Planner Fransen said businesses were asked where they get their city information. The Arden Hills Notes newsletter was referenced as a resource businesses use. Commissioner Daniels asked what kind of improvements businesses wanted in regards to signage. Commissioner Brausen said he was assigned a warehouse area. Some of their signage wasn’t controlled by the City. Chair Murchiesaid signage for the business, not the City. Commissioner Brausen confirmed. Senior Planner Fransen said many of those buildings are multi-tenant. She thought directional signage for truck traffic may be what those businesses were talking about. Commissioner Poelzer asked if there is a master list for all of the businesses in the city. Senior Planner Fransen said the City has a business license process. Businesses are asked to provide their contact information, along with current insurance. There are some gaps in participation. It doesn’t always give a local contact, if the business is a franchise or has headquarters elsewhere. Commissioner Poelzer asked if anyone has verified that all of the businesses receive our newsletter. Senior Planner Fransen thought that was tracked. The newsletters are mailed to addresses, based on County information. There are challenges with that in multi-tenant buildings. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 6 Commissioner Gronquist said she doesn’t receive a newsletter at her business address. She said newsletters aren’t mailed to specific addresses; they are “dropped” via zip code. The zip code is 55112. When carriers are delivering mail, they are to drop a newsletter in every box with a 55112 zip code. Her business is in a small section of the City with the zip code 55126. Council Liaison Rousseau said with a large business like Bethel, if one newsletter is dropped, there is no way everyone will see it. Commissioner Gronquist said you can sign up to have an electronic newsletter delivered to your email address. Commissioner Daniels asked if email addresses were collected as a part of the survey. Commissioner Gronquist said that was a question. They asked for email contact information and asked if it was okay for EDC to contact them via that email. Senior Planner Fransen said that information is also collected with the Business License process however, that can be a corporate email, not necessarily the local contact. Commissioner Poelzer said hearing that businesses list the newsletter as a resource for City- specific information, it should be a priority to let people know they can receive it electronically. Commissioner Sorenson asked how the newsletter is being promoted. He is in the 55126 section of town. He didn’t even know there was a newsletter. Senior Planner Fransen said that is something to keep in mind. There is an opportunity to make recommendations for how the City can leverage the newsletter. If the EDC wants to generate content for the newsletter featuring businesses or events, that can be added to the work plan list. Commissioner Poelzer asked what the business license fee is in Arden Hills. Senior Planner Fransen said it varies, depending on the type of business. Commissioner Gronquist said service businesses apply for a registration, which has no cost. The License fee is based on the type of business. She said some fees are regulated by the State and the City has no say in the amount. The City’s fee schedule establishes the fees for other businesses. Commissioner Gronquist said the list of license fees is provided on the City website. Chair Murchie asked about a business breakfast. He wonders if there is interest in piloting a business open house, over breakfast or lunch. Members of the EDC could have a table, and they could have the newsletter available. EDC members could collect some data by talking to the business owners who attend. He understands there are costs to that type of event but he thinks that may be a way to provide some networking opportunities for owners who don’t live in town. Commissioner Brausen said when these events happened regularly before, there were a lot of people who attended. Chair Murchieasked why the breakfasts stopped happening. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 7 Commissioner Brausen said a change in City Council affected it. A former mayor was very business driven. She would plan the breakfasts. It fell off the radar when new leadership took over. He is sure Flaherty’s would let us use their space, if it were to start up again. Council Liaison Rousseau wondered if Commissioners thought business owners would be more likely to attend an event like that if the EDC member that did the in-person visits did a follow up and invited them to a business breakfast. Chair Murchie thought using the survey as a reason to reach out, but also collect the survey from those who didn’t have a chance to respond. Commissioner Daniels said that is a great way to “close the loop”. Senior Planner Fransen shared the public event response from the survey results. Fourteen of the 21 survey respondents said they would attend a public event that features businesses. When asked about being featured in a newsletter article, 18 of the 21 respondents said yes. When asked about having their business listed on the Arden Hills website, 19 of the 21 respondents said yes. The respondents were asked if they were open to receiving future communications from the EDC, 17 of the 21 said yes. There were 8 respondents who indicated they were open to attend an EDC meeting in the future. Senior Planner Fransen asked if anyone had questions or comments regarding the results she shared from the survey. Commissioner Gronquist said nearly everyone she talked to was open to future participation. She said there could be interest in attending an event, as long as it was not too frequent. Chair Murchie asked the business owners on the commission if there were a breakfast, what would they want to be covered at such a gathering. Commissioner Brausen said it would be nice to see the Mayor and some City Council members attend. Commissioner Gronquist thought establishing a regular schedule, if there is interest, would be a way to share these survey results and capture additional survey information from those who haven’t had the chance to respond yet. There could be a laptop or paper surveys available. She said newer business owners are going to be interested in networking. Established business owners may have other priorities beyond networking. She thought it would be important to provide an introduction to highlight the EDC, the community support and city leadership. Council Liaison Rousseau thinks it would be interesting to share the sign code work that has been done over the past year. The Planning Commission is currently working on code updates and zoning in business districts. These meetings could be informative and update business owners on what’s happening in the City. She would like to make businesses aware of our Adopt-A-Park program. We are looking for businesses to adopt the parks. We can inform them about the Gateway Visitors Bureau to help facilitate events at their location. The Chamber can be highlighted. It will open a line of communication for businesses to let the City know what would be helpful in maintaining their success. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 8 Senior Planner Fransen wondered if it would be helpful to have some confirmed businesses. Letting business owners know that there will be other businesses there, not just City Staff and Commissioners. Commissioner Gronquist said she thinks that could help with attendance. Business owners are busy so they want to feel that an event like this is valuable. Council Liaison Rousseau said, as a Councilmember, she would be curious to know what the tax percentages are doing to the smaller businesses. We have added a Franchise Fee. Everything is getting more expensive plus inflation. She doesn’t love increasing taxes. She wants to know how it’s impacting people. She would be willing to start the conversation to ask how things are going. Commissioner Brausen said it’s not just taxes, it’s insurance and everything else is skyrocketing. Council Liaison Rousseau said it is the same for the City, taxes and insurance is up for employees. Senior Planner Fransen asked for direction on business visits. There are some businesses that haven’t been visited. She asked if the group wanted to continue to reach out or does the Commission feel comfortable that the results we already have driving the next steps. She asked if the group wants to move forward with some of the strategies that have already been identified. Senior Planner Fransen noted the next scheduled meeting is in April. It is possible to add another meeting. The fourth Wednesday in March is not going to work for many of the Commissioners. Council Liaison Rousseau said the end of September would be a good time for the networking event, if we move forward with that strategy. There will be planning involved. Chair Murchie asked if it would make sense to build off of last year’s sub-committee to try to plan and propose a business gathering. He thought we could continue the outreach but include this upcoming event to explain we are trying to bring the business community together. We could even have a survey that asks business owners to share what they would like to get out of a business gathering. He thought we could continue the surveys but also “closing the loop” though some type of event. Commissioner Sorenson thought the invite could identify the event as a business forum. It’s a good ice breaker to make a connection. Commissioner Poelzer asked if there is a Rotary Club for Arden Hills. Commissioner Sorenson confirmed there is an Arden Hills/Shoreview Rotary. Commissioner Daniels wondered if that is a good avenue for inviting Arden Hills businesses for connections. Senior Planner Fransen said that is one idea. There is also an opportunity with the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce that has a Business Council Meeting that is open to all. Commissioner Poelzer said she will take a list of businesses that still need to be visited. She likes the idea of saying the EDC is looking forward to facilitating a business gathering forum. She asked what the forum is called. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 9 Senior Planner Fransen said the Business Council title implies membership, importance and elected members. Some people may be turned away by that because it doesn’t sound like it includes them. She thought it would be a good topic to workshop what the event may be called. Commissioner Brausen thought “Breakfast with the Mayor and Councilmembers” Chair Murchie wondered if it would be better not to mention City Council. Commissioner Poelzer has career experience in human services administration and resource development. One of the best ways to bring people together is to provide food. Breakfast, gives a time of day and lets the invitee know they will get food. Commissioner Poelzer asked if she should be providing the information on how to receive the electronic version of the newsletter. The nice thing about an electronic version is it doesn’t cost any more money. Commissioner Gronquist said it’s very easy to find on the website and you can see the old ones and sign up for whatever list you want. It’s well done. Commissioner Sorenson said the access is there. The point of this breakfast is to give an update on what is happening, and then let business owners know where these resources are. He said going on the website as a new business owner is a lot. There are a lot of tabs, lots of pages it can be difficult to navigate what’s important for him. Chair Murchie offered that he could pull together some information for the April meeting. He will identify a framework for what an event may look like. There were a lot of good ideas discussed today and he will consolidate the ideas for discussion. That should still leave enough time to pull an event together by September. Senior Planner Fransen thought that was great. She asked if any other Commissioners wanted to be a part of planning. She noted Commissioner Brausen has attended these types of events. Commissioner Brausen said the events he attended were sponsored by businesses. He doesn’t think the City should pay for it. Commissioner Sorenson asked if businesses sponsor a table or the entire event. Commissioner Brausen said a business would sponsor the whole breakfast. The sponsor rotated. Flaherty’s prepared the breakfast but the sponsoring business paid for it. He said the owners are nice and they’ve been in the city for a long time. He is certain they would host the events again. Commissioner Daniels said if this is going to be an ongoing event, it’s important to have that consistency. Commissioner Brausen agreed. It has to be predictable. Certain dates, same location. Commissioner Daniels thought the Anderson Center at Bethel University could maybe offer space. There is easy access and parking. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 10 Commissioner Gronquist said she would be happy to help with any planning. Senior Planner Fransen summarized that Chair Murchie will put together a proposal timeline for a future event and present it at the next meeting. She encouraged the group to continue to brainstorm. She is going to put out a follow-up poll to Commissioners, if they want to continue with the visits. If there is interest, she will split the remaining addresses between Commissioners who are opting in to continue. She understands availability can vary from fall vs. spring. Work planning will continue, to include the breakfast event in the fall. Commissioner Gronquist said there is something on social media regarding a business that opened in Arden Plaza. The narrative on-line is that the City Council is shutting them down. She believes the area isn’t zoned properly and the City needs to address it. Senior Planner Fransen directed that if anyone has questions about that specific situation, they should reach out to City Administrator Jagoe. Senior Planner Fransen concluded that next steps for the business strategy have been established. Discussion of the business breakfast will be forthcoming at the next meeting. 6. COMMENTS AND REPORTS A. Report from Staff None. B. Report from the City Council Council Liaison Rousseau said that Council has traditionally cancelled the second meeting of the month for January, February and March. She would love to have more meetings to get through all the items on their priorities list. Council Liaison Rousseau updated that there was an ice relay held in Arden Hills the previous weekend. She explained that an individual came to a PTRC Meeting to talk about this event. There are only seven events like this in the entire world. Vermont is the only other place where one of these relay events are held in the United States. There were 100 participants from 6 different countries. PTRC has interest in building community gatherings like this. Arden Hills has Rib Fest. The organizers of this event has indicated that he would like to see this be an annual event. She sees events like this building community. This can generate pride. She sees the economic value of these activities. It draws people into our businesses. Council Liaison Rousseau attended a Gateway Visitors Bureau onboarding for their board members. She doesn’t serve on that board, the Mayor serves on that board for the City. She encouraged the group to consider intentionally moving their activities and events. She would like to move them to within a three week period, or so, to really try to market that in a way that they can talk about it a little bit more and provide that to people in the Fargo area and people from Duluth like to come here. There is data that Chicago is another place that visitors are from. They come into the business, spend a night at our hotels, and spend money in our community. Their data indicates that January through March has the lowest amount of hotel occupancy. The president of this group made her aware that there is a regional grant. He thought this would be a great ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 11 opportunity for those funds. The grant is specifically for marketing to encourage visitors to spend money in our businesses. Last year Arden Hills received $18,000. The City gave some of the funds to Bethel University for their homecoming, to encourage parents to come and spend the night in a hotel. This grant money can be used by for-profit businesses. She encouraged the Commissioners to let the Council know if those types of opportunities arise. Council Liaison Rousseau said the Council’s next agenda includes Rotary’s application to Adopt- A-Park. They are adopting Floral Park. They love that it is 25 acres of wilderness. The Park and Recreation Manager position was approved. There was also a Public Works Park Lead position established. Council hopes that these staffing resources will help with the Adopt-A-Park program. She encouraged the Commissioners to let businesses know that in the spring of 2026 the City hopes to expand the program. There is hope that Boston Scientific will step into Cummings Park. There are a lot of other opportunities. The Rotary came to Arden Hills because Shoreview’s parks and trails are all adopted. She explained adopting a park is a two-year commitment. Commissioner Brausen asked if they will be cleaning up the park. Council Liaison Rousseau said the Rotary really wants to get their hands dirty. They are excited about working on garden spaces and cutting down buckthorn. They chose Floral Park because they want it to be labor intensive. Commissioner Sorenson said the Rotary’s plan is to partner with the schools and bring in school clubs to complete these projects. The kids don’t typically get to garden or do yard work. So it’s a cool opportunity for the students. Council Liaison Rousseau said civic groups and individual residents can adopt the parks, as well as businesses. Council Liaison Rousseau updated that the senior living apartments at the North Heights Church was approved. She pointed out that the Planning Commission is not happy that there is zero affordable housing included with the plan. This is the third Senior Housing project that has been approved in recent years and there is no affordable housing in place. Our Comprehensive Plan states that we want affordable housing but the City Code does not require it. Projects can’t be legally rejected based solely on that criterion. The developer is well aware of that. The Planning Commission knows that there is a gap. They will be on top of fixing that code. Seniors are often on fixed incomes and have generally left the job market. It seems like building affordability into projects like this seems appropriate. Council Liaison Rousseau wondered if the EDC will have input with the City Code work the Planning Commission is reviewing. Senior Planner Fransen said previously the City Council had been asked which stakeholders were to be included in the conversation regarding zoning code updates. Primarily it will be the Planning Commission because they administer the Zoning Code through land use applications that they review. She thinks the EDC is welcome to be a part of those conversations. Some of these code updates will be on the agenda for the Planning Commission’s April meeting. That is where they will talk more about the business districts. The Planning Commission meeting will be April 9th. She will provide an update on that topic at the April EDC meeting. She said the EDC is welcome to have discussion and make recommendations. There will be ongoing discussions and the EDC will have great insight on business district updates. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 26, 2025 12 Council Liaison Rousseau asked how an EDC member could take part in the conversation at the April 9th Planning Commission meeting. Senior Planner Fransen said there is a public comment period. There was a presentation at the last meeting. She shared a link to what they presented, as well as some of the high-level points that were discussed. There is opportunity for the public to make comment on the presentation. If there are commissioners who want to attend as a representative of the EDC, that is a great opportunity. She will let the consultant know. She thinks they would be happy to have input from business owners and residents who are thinking from that business perspective. The consultant can tailor their presentation related to that. C. Economic Development Commission Comments None. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Commissioner Poelzer and seconded by Commissioner Daniels to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 a.m.