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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-23-25 EDC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 23, 2025 7:30 A.M. – ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Present: Chair Jud Murchie, Commissioners Ted Brausen, Julie Gronquist, Kristine Poelzer, Jessica Daniels, Bobby Bonine, Deborah Fellows and Youth Commissioner Vincent Meyer Absent: Commissioner Kyle Sorenson Also Present: City Administrator Jessica Jagoe, Council Liaison Emily Rousseau and Senior Planner Elena Fransen 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chair Murchie called the meeting to order. A motion was made by Commissioner Daniels and seconded by Commissioner Gronquist to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. February 26, 2025 A motion was made by Commissioner Gronquist and seconded by Commissioner Daniels to approve the minutes, as written. Motion passed unanimously 3. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. In-Person Business Visit Strategy Next Steps Senior Planner Fransen summarized the in-person business visit strategy to date. This included Commissioners visiting businesses in the Fall of 2024, as well as, a redistribution of the businesses that weren’t contacted to try to get those businesses included in the survey. After the second outreach there was one additional survey completed. She is hoping to have a discussion on the business visits and the EDC Work Plan. Suggested topics of discussion could be status updates, review of results and discussion next steps. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 2 Chair Murchie said there are some outreach activities in the coming months. There has been discussion of a breakfast with business owners in the community. There has been some outreach by the PTRC to collect donations for prizes for the Summer Park Passport program. He wondered if EDC could build into those outreach opportunities. He thought the breakfast invite could mention the survey. Commissioner Bonine said any level of participation will be good. He ran into issues where the businesses were manufacturing or other non-public facing. He also found the landlords were disconnected from the City. He found that people were either not interested in participating or he couldn’t get in touch with anyone. For those industrial/manufacturing businesses, his impression is that Arden Hills is where they operate their business. They aren’t interested in being a part of the community. Commissioner Daniels said they discussed this type of outreach at the Shoreview meeting last week. They are sunsetting these efforts because they are having a hard time connecting with businesses or the businesses aren’t interested or excited to greet them. When they do connect, they aren’t getting the data points they are seeking. Chair Murchie explained the Summer Park Passport program is being facilitated by the PTRC through the Recreation Programs. He thinks any businesses donating the prizes for that program are most likely interested in engaging the community. Similarly, if the EDC holds the business breakfast, the people who show up want to be a part of this conversation. He thinks it would be interesting to learn why those manufacturers chose Arden Hills. However, the focus should shift to the businesses who are connected to the community. He suggested sunsetting the outreach to focus specifically on the businesses that are engaging. Commissioner Poelzer said she had good experiences with the in-person outreach. She has reframed it to ask business owners to share their insights. The EDC is tasked with advising and informing Councilmembers. She said recommendations to Council need to be based on something. She said most of the businesses liked the QR Code. She is not done with the businesses she has been assigned and she would like to continue. She told respondents about the brunch and said they can be contacted by sharing their email. She thought it was interesting how much negative reaction she heard. Memories are long. She shared some samples of the feedback she received. Commissioner Bonine doesn’t see any problem with keeping the survey open. He learned there is not a smooth licensing process. Some businesses are confused why some have to pay a license fee while others are a registration with no fee. He wondered if the license renewal could include some of the basic information the EDC is looking for. Then they could be included with the networking, if they choose to be. He isn’t sure how the license fees were determined but he thinks it needs to be overhauled. It seems unfair and arbitrary. He thinks it would be a better use of their effort if the form could be revised. He understands this is a bigger conversation that needs to be had at a later date. He is looking at how EDC can be most efficient and consistent. Council Liaison Rousseau said she has struggled to understand the license fees. She thinks that is a good point. She thinks if it is allowed to gather that information on the form, she is open to that. City Administrator Jagoe thinks it will be helpful if, at the next meeting, the Commissioners can see the results we have collected. Commissioners should look to the Work Plan to determine what topics the Commission wants to focus on. Business Licenses could be one of those discussions. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 3 Staff would want to put together some information for a better understanding of the process, review the business license application and ask the City Clerk to help understand how those fees were established. She thinks there is an opportunity for a good discussion. She doesn’t see why we couldn’t put some extra boxes on the application to collect additional data. Sometimes the licensing goes through a corporate office in another state. She thinks the next meeting should focus on the Work Plan and determine what the EDC wants to take on. Maybe a business breakfast is one piece of it. But are there other more immediate tasks that could be done, based on the survey responses. Commissioner Brausen wondered if a business’s contact information could be tied to the water bill. He thinks the local store will pay the water bill. City Administrator Jagoe said the limit with the water bill is the messaging goes to all accounts. There isn’t a way to separate out residential properties vs. commercial. Commissioner Brausen said we could include the QR Code on an Arden Hills newsletter. At least residents would know the EDC is doing the outreach. Commissioner Gronquist thinks that would be too confusing. Chair Murchie said it makes sense to look at this at the next meeting. He agrees the EDC’s objective is to understand and hear feedback from the business community. Commissioner Bonine said when he asked the City for help a few years ago, they told him his business isn’t required to pay, based on the type of business. He still doesn’t understand why. Chair Murchie said we need a path to the business community. He thinks we should leave the survey open. It can still be used during the brunch outreach or as PTRC asks for donations. We can still ask businesses to complete it. Commissioner Bonine said for the licensing piece, the business owners may not be who we get the information from. He imagines there is permitting that happens every time someone enters a new lease. It could be a part of that process. That would help capture who is here. Senior Planner Fransen said there are a lot of great ideas. She supports keeping the survey open and having Staff periodically check those results. EDC could work on a new business process and could draft a work flow that Staff could operationalize. Then maybe there’s a landing page on the website for new businesses that outlines the business license and sign permits. That process may use the feedback we have received as a resource for future businesses. Discussion ensued regarding the Work Plan discussion that will be on the next agenda. Commissioner Gronquist agrees the business licensing needs to be revisited. She supports stopping the in-person visits, other than the ones in motion. Even if everyone didn’t follow through and complete the survey, they still made that connection. That business knows the EDC exists. She said we started with a broad thing and now we can narrow it down to focus on those who are interested in engaging. Maybe business owners who didn’t engage will learn about it from another business and maybe they’ll join. It will grow over time. She thinks it would be helpful to have a business list on the website. She thinks that would be helpful. It also connects the City to the business. She said that she reached out about the different fees and some of them are regulated by the State. The fees aren’t necessarily State regulated, but some are. She said Staff sends out letters ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 4 and encourages businesses who are not required to pay a fee to still register. When the Sign License was added, that changed it for almost everybody. She asked Staff where those fees go. Staff replied it goes to the General Fund. Her thought is maybe there could be a small fee for all businesses, maybe 10% of that could go towards supporting businesses with events, that might help more businesses comply. Chair Murchie said that is helpful information. The insights from the business owners can help steer what we want to recommend to Council, moving forward. He wondered if we have to request permission from the business to list them on the website. Commissioner Gronquist doesn’t think any business will not want to be on the list. Senior Planner Fransen said the data from the survey showed 19 of the 21 respondents said yes. There is conversation to be had regarding managing and keeping the list up to date. What if a business leaves mid-year? She said if the commission wants to have the business licensing conversation, she will move forward with that on a future agenda. Commissioner Poelzer asked if there is a webpage that lists the businesses. Commissioner Gronquist said just the licensed ones. Commissioner Poelzer asked if we are wanting to put all businesses on there. Senior Planner Fransen said that has been a conversation. There is not currently a process for getting that information. She thinks all of them could be posted but what is that process and how does Staff manage that list. Commissioner Poelzer asked if any business that wants to be on the list could be, if they request it. She thinks it could be beneficial to show businesses that they are on the list or let them know we would like to include them on the list, if they aren’t. Having things on a website is great, on the day you do it. It’s ever changing and keeping up with it would be important. She asked if the list on the website provide links to the businesses’ websites. Senior Planner Fransen said she will pull that information and bring it back. Chair Murchie summarized the survey will remain open to capture feedback as interactions occur, rather than the intentional outreach of the in-person visits. We will look for opportunities to gather that information through interactions and events the Commission hosts or is a part of. The next meeting will be discussion on the website and business license fees. B. 2025 EDC Work Plan Senior Planner Fransen sought direction from the commission regarding the 2025 EDC Work Plan. She summarized last year’s Work Plan included the in-person business visits. Results from those visits were discussed in February and there were ideas regarding an event. Possibly a business breakfast that the EDC could work on this year. An event is a sizable task. She asked if there are items on the list that could be combined with the event or if there are items that could be pulled from the list. She shared the current list of possible discussion items. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 5 Chair Murchie explained the document in front of them is a conversation starting document. The EDC has talked about hosting a potential business member breakfast in the fall. This would help gather more information and it can increase the visibility of the EDC as the commission was revived. The hope is to create a forum to provide updates on the work the EDC is doing and build relationships with the business owners to glean their insights that can be shared with Council. He is looking for feedback on how we could use that event to check off a number of boxes of things we are trying to get done. We want to hear from the businesses that are excited about Arden Hills and learn what they want and are interested in. This will probably be a sub-committee that can help with outreach, identify what businesses want and we’ll need someone to design save-the- dates and invites. He read the goal of the EDC has been outlined as “To provide a forum for the EDC to engage Arden Hills businesses to provide updates about relationships and feedback.” He asked if that is still the big-picture goal. Commissioner Daniels said she thinks we are trying to be a value-add to the community. She loves the idea, but she wonders if people will come. She asked if there is a precedent for business owners showing up for an event like this. She would hate to have the EDC put a lot of work into an event and have it be poorly attended. She thought there is a breakfast later in the week. Senior Planner Fransen said she thinks she is referring to a breakfast the following week to discuss energy. Commissioner Daniels confirmed. It would be good to see how well that is attended. She thought there was a similar event in Shoreview and they were disappointed in how few people attended. Getting attendance could be challenging. Commissioner Bonine agreed. He said there has to be something juicy to encourage people to show up. Business owners who aren’t involved in the community probably won’t show up. He hosted a TC Chamber of Commerce event at his office and it was lightly attended. All they do is network to businesses. He appreciates the idea, but he asked if there is anything we have to share, that is unique to Arden Hills business owners that would make them excited to show up. If it’s just a networking event, why wouldn’t they just go through the Chamber? Commissioner Gronquist remembered from the discussion in February she said we can’t use the word networking. That only encourages new businesses. She doesn’t think it should be presented in that fashion if we want to draw in all businesses. Commissioner Daniels asked if there are any new businesses or buildings that may attract people out of curiosity. Would someone want to attend because they want to know what is happening in that space? Chair Murchie said one thing that is different than a Chamber event is this is connected to the City’s regulatory component. He believes this commission has a different role than a Chamber. He asked about the events that took place in previous years. Commissioner Brausen said the events before were very popular. He doesn’t know if younger business owners just don’t attend those events due to connection and technology. He thinks we could build this. He thought the Sheriff could be invited to come and speak. Commissioner Daniels suggested the Mayor. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 6 Commissioner Brausen said the Mayor should be there anyway. He thinks the Sheriff will draw more. They could discuss safety. He thinks we just need to try. Commissioner Gronquist said a distinguishing difference between this and the Chambers, traditionally people had to pay and it’s usually new businesses, not established businesses. She said hopefully it grows. She thinks a newsletter article regarding the event may encourage business owners to attend, but residents may also reach out to businesses to encourage attendance. She understands it may not be well attended at first. There was previous discussion of a quarterly event rather than a one-time event. There has to be a reason for these business owners to attend. Networking is not compelling enough of a reason. The fact is that we’re trying to build the Arden Hills business community. Commissioner Bonine thinks everyone is open to the idea if we can build an agenda that will draw people in. The Sheriff is an interesting idea. He wouldn’t want this to turn into a complaint box. He said Councilmembers aren’t going to want to show up and hear only complaints about what the City is doing wrong. He thinks safety would be a good topic. Maybe the new fire house could be a part of that. It could be an update on general safety in the City. Also, businesses want to know about construction projects that are on the horizon that may affect business. He understands most people don’t have time to watch every council meeting. Updates on safety or construction/traffic flows may draw folks in. Another draw may be competition. What’s going on in the city? What is the foot traffic? Who’s coming into Arden Hills? Businesses may be wondering if they need to rethink their business if something similar is proposed in TCAAP. Those are juicy topics that will help business owners feel more connected to the City as opposed to being reactive. With the right agenda it could work. We want it to be something that encourages people to come back. Maybe we summarize things that are already public. It feels good to be a part of that. Discussion ensued regarding other entities that could be invited. We could possibly extend an invitation to the new County Commissioner. Everyone is looking for help so reaching out to the colleges to inquire about internship programs and students may be a good option. Commissioner Poelzer said Boston Scientific paid for the agility equipment at the dog park and provided labor to install it. She likes the idea of providing a summary. She thinks the Sheriff and Fire Department are a good agenda item, as well. When she visited, she grabbed some Arden Hills pens and people liked them. She also shared the past several newsletters to show the good information in them. She is encouraging them to sign up to receive it electronically. She thinks having some newsletters available at the breakfast would be good. Having the communication person from Arden Hills will be an important person to have there. She thinks all staff and commissioners should have name badges that identify who they are and what their role is. Chair Murchie said the hope is to be able focus more on the details during the June meeting. He asked if Commissioner Brausen would be willing to take the lead on some of this, since he has a lot of experience with the successful events that happened in the past. Commissioner Brausen agreed to that. Commissioner Poelzer volunteered to join the sub-committee. Chair Murchie asked if anyone else would like to serve on the smaller sub-committee. The sub- committee can meet before the June meeting to lay out which speakers we want to invite, what ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 7 dates, where it should be hosted, who might be willing to sponsor the food. He thought some of these details can be hashed out over email between the sub-committee. Senior Planner Fransen said the sub-committee cannot create a quorum so should be limited to four members, or fewer. She also defined how forwarded emails can create a serial meeting. She said the sub-committee should communicate directly with her or with other commissioners during meetings, rather than forwarding emails. Chair Murchie said the idea is to have the sub-committee discuss topics and bring them back to the June meeting to continue the discussion with the entire commission. Commissioner Bonine asked if it needs to be four. He said there is energy, passion and experience from the two volunteers. He suggested letting them run with it and bring it back in June. He thinks it’s important to get the perspective of non-business owners to learn what is of interest to them. Commissioner Brausen thinks we need a Staff member and maybe a younger commissioner. Commissioner Gronquist thought Commissioner Sorenson may be a good person to have on the sub-committee. He could not attend the meeting but it would be worth reaching out to him to gauge his interest. That would balance the sub-committee very nicely. Council Liaison Rousseau mentioned Twin Cities Gateway as a possible resource. The Rotary and Lions Club could be possible connectors, as well. There is a Ramsey County position that deals with work force. The position has turned over so she doesn’t know who that new contact is. Senior Planner Fransen summarized that there will be steps taken in May to establish an agenda, location and date. She asked the group to look at the list and start to brainstorm ideas for promoting the event and inviting the businesses for the June meeting. There will be an outreach plan in July with invites going out by the August meeting. She is happy to work with the sub-committee and update the larger group, as necessary. Commissioner Poelzer thinks businesses will like to learn that the EDC has student representatives. Senior Planner Fransen said the June meeting will have a full agenda segment set aside for an update on the Business Breakfast event. She summarized what she heard for the Work Plan. She said a business licensing update from Staff can be a separate piece of the Work Plan. That feeds into the process for welcoming new businesses, capturing the information from the surveys and how to use it, and businesses on the website. C. Zoning Code Update Background Senior Planner Fransen shared that starting in 2023, we were looking at sign code. This was passed to the EDC by the City Council to see if it could be more accessible, less confusing and easier to interpret for local businesses. The EDC reviewed and made suggestions on how this code could be updated. In the past year, the City hired a consultant to update the existing zoning and subdivision ordinances. The goal is to remove inconsistencies, make it more user friendly and address any gaps. As part of that review, the consultant suggested taking the sign code, which is its own section, and incorporate it into the development standards in zoning code. This process is in flux. The language is being reviewed by Staff, the Planning Commission and City Council. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 8 These discussions have taken place during Planning Commission meetings and City Council Work Sessions. Nothing has been brought forward for approval or full consideration to amend and adopt. Commissioner Bonine asked if the feedback from the EDC from a year ago is part of this process. Senior Planner Fransen confirmed. Commissioner Bonine said it’s nice to know that the Council takes the feedback. The perception was there was some history of a lot of effort being put in, and that not being considered. Commissioner Brausen said someone made the point at the meeting to make sure they go through our stuff. He is happy to see the Planning Commission is open to it, too. Senior Planner Fransen summarized the last Planning Commission meeting and that the consultant mentioned they were looking at the sign code. They want to simplify it. They suggested increasing the square footage for signage. Staff shared an idea that we could remove the maximum square footage and look at the percentage based on frontage and elevation. Staff did share the EDC’s comment sheet. The language is still being worked out. Senior Planner Fransen outlined how a City uses their zoning code to establish how the City will be developed. She shared the Zoning Map to provide a visual for how different sections of the City are zoned. Amendments can be made to the language of the code or specifically to the map. The current review is focused on the zoning code language. Commissioner Gronquist asked for clarification that the consultants are looking at combining the zoning code with the sign code. She thinks that may be a challenge. Senior Planner Fransen said what they are proposing is that the sign code will be incorporated into the development standards. The consultant identified that would be in alignment with the reconfiguration and organization of process for the zoning code. She offered that the intention is everything will be in one chapter so businesses can find everything they need to know in one chapter. She thinks it removes the disconnects of where to look. It will still have its own provision and numbering. It just won’t be folded into other sections. Commissioner Poelzer asked when the suggested changes will be presented to Council. Senior Planner Fransen said there is no exact date. The process has been that they bring forward recommendations to Planning Commission. The consultant then brings that to Council to verify direction. They draft the verbiage, based on the feedback they received and move to the next item. Their final draft language recommendations will be reviewed in a public meeting. She thought the EDC could expect to be asked to share their insights and next steps, along the way. 4. COMMENTS AND REPORTS A. Report from Staff None. B. Report from the City Council ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 9 Council Liaison Rousseau updated that there will be a groundbreaking event for the first building at Rice Creek Commons. She hoped the EDC Commissioners would be able to attend. Ryan Companies is expected to invest up to $3.5 million on low carbon and energy efficient design for these first acres of development. That will include a hybrid ground source heat pump that will reduce the greenhouse emissions by 65%. Council Liaison Rousseau said Twin Cities Gateway will award about $20,000 in grants to Arden Hills. The purpose of the grant is to provide businesses and organizations with money for promoting and marketing events. The council is talking about a Norwegian Foot Race and possibly the Ice Swim relay. She anticipates the 2026 award will go to the 75th Anniversary celebration. The Gateway is planning to have a kick-off meeting to create a new visitors’ guide. Council Liaison Rousseau said Council will seek to establish a committee for the 75th Anniversary celebration. She would like to see committee and commission members be a part of that. She will provide an update when there is more clarification on the process. She anticipates that will be a summer 2026 event. Council Liaison Rousseau said there are two openings for PTRC members and one opening for EDC. She encouraged the Commissioners to discuss with their neighbors and reach out if they are interested. Council Liaison Rousseau recognized Youth Commission Member Meyer. She said she would appreciate him sharing this opportunity with Mounds View High School, the Econ Club or Youth in Government Club. Council Liaison Rousseau said the next meeting will be on June 25. C. Economic Development Commission Comments Chair Murchie said the PTRC reached out to see if the EDC could help create a gift basket for the Summer Parks Passport Program. They are hoping to have a basket of gift cards and swag from local businesses. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Commissioner Poelzer and seconded by Commissioner Gronquist to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously The meeting adjourned at 9:07 a.m.