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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-27-25 EDC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION AUGUST 27, 2025 7:30 A.M. – ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Present: Chair Jud Murchie, Commissioners Julie Gronquist, Kyle Sorenson, Kristine Poelzer, Jess Daniels, Bobby Bonine, and Youth Commissioner Kayleigh Shrom Absent: Commissioners Ted Brausen and Ihsan Isak Also Present: City Administrator Jessica Jagoe, Council Liaison Emily Rousseau, Senior Planner Elena Fransen, Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Julie Hanson and Deputy Clerk Jen Estling 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chair Murchie called the meeting to order. A motion was made by Commissioner Gronquist and seconded by Commissioner Poelzer to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. July 23, 2025 A motion was made by Commissioner Daniels and seconded by Commissioner Gronquist to approve the minutes, as written. Motion passed unanimously. 3. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Business Event Updates Senior Planner Fransen shared the outline that identified the event details. The program for the event and details related to outreach and promotion of the event were included, as well. Staff is working with the Senior Communications Coordinator to update the flyer. The final version was not ready for the commission to review for this meeting. She thought just a couple of commissioners could weigh in on the final document. That will keep the item moving forward and make it available for the entire group between now and the next meeting. That would include the flyer and the postcard. She also called out next steps and planning for the next meeting. That will ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 2 include questionnaire, having prompts for table discussion, facilitators for speaker topics and getting things to the next step as the event approaches. Senior Planner Fransen recommended review of the program. We got confirmation from the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department, as well as Ted and Dan for the opening section. She thought the Commission should discuss the middle portion, containing updates to local businesses. Chair Murchie said he will plan to have the drafted script and run of show ready for the Commission to review. He can send that out to the Commission in advance of the next meeting. There will still be a month to make and changes or edits. He thought we may want to have a prep meeting with the different presenters. Commissioner Gronquist likes the title that the Senior Communications Coordinator came up with. Senior Planner Fransen asked if there were a couple Commissioners who want to work with Staff on finalizing the flyer. Commissioner Gronquist said she is happy to work with Senior Communications Coordinator Michlig on the flyer and postcard. Commissioner Daniels wondered if there will be an electronic version of the flyer. Commissioner Gronquist confirmed. Senior Planner Fransen said the goal with that is it can be shared via email and social media. We could provide paper copies if there are Commissioners who want to stop by local businesses, in person. Commissioner Bonine asked if the attendees will be businesses only or will it be open to Arden Hills residents, as well. Chair Murchie said we’ve been thinking this will be primarily business owners. We’re hoping to start a conversation. Commissioner Gronquist said it could be a representative of a business or a manager/owner. Commissioner Bonine thought residents may have interest in some of these things. Senior Planner Fransen asked if anyone had thoughts on the flyer. She shared the draft version on the overhead. She asked if there was any discussion on title or any other parts of the flyer. City Administrator Jagoe asked if the Commissioners are interested in having copies of the flyer printed for the September meeting so they can drop some off at businesses. The Commission agreed. Commissioner Poelzer said she would like to pick some up before the September meeting. She plans to do some in-person visits once she has that in hand. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 3 City Administrator Jagoe said the flyer will be finalized in advance of the September meeting. Commissioners can request how many they would like from Senior Planner Fransen. Commissioner Daniels said it would be good to have some by the sign in at the State of the City event. Commissioner Poelzer said it might be good to have some available at Council meetings and work sessions. City Administrator Jagoe said all of the flyers are printed on the bulletin board. This will go on there, just like other events. Commissioner Bonine asked if there is a shared document or file where Commissioners can keep track of which businesses have been visited so we don’t have three Commissioners show up to the same business and another business doesn’t get contacted. City Administrator Jagoe said Staff can look into creating a Google document where that information can be shared. She said there will be the flyer and a postcard with a mailing. She has requested Senior Planer Fransen to put together a budget. We don’t have a budget for EDC. If we start to incur a minimal expense, we can probably cover it. She would like a better understanding of what budgetary obligations this event will require. The mailing will go out before the September meeting assuming those sponsorships can be finalized. She asked if the Commission is interested in sending an email invite to the businesses on the business list. We recognize that isn’t everybody but we can email something to the contacts that we do have. The Commission agreed. Chair Murchie asked if Brausen and Flaherty’s want their logo included. City Administrator Jagoe said we can look at that once the sponsorships are locked in. She didn’t want a draft circulated until all of that is finalized. Chair Murchie said he wants to give credit to Ted and Dan. Senior Planner Fransen said there have been previous discussions about raffle prizes. Commissioner Gronquist said she will donate gift cards for massage services at Balance for Life. City Administrator Jagoe said Staff will want to share sponsorship form with Commissioner Gronquist. Senior Planner Fransen confirmed she will follow up with that. She said the process for sponsorship is that the entity wishing to sponsor an event completes a form and states what tier of sponsorship that entity wishes to agree to. Chair Murchie said one of his hopes for the event is to highlight some of the EDC members. We want businesses to understand what this is, why we’re here and what we are doing. He wondered if anyone in the group would be comfortable with that. He thought Commissioner Gronquist could partner with Council Liaison Rousseau to discuss the sign code work they did. He thought Commissioner Bonine could partner with and facilitate any discussion with the Sheriff. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 4 Commissioner Gronquist said she is comfortable with public speaking. She is happy to lead a table discussion or present whatever is needed. Chair Murchie said everyone will be at a table for the last 10-15 minutes. He would like to elevate the EDC members during the event. This will help people understand that the EDC exists and hopefully they will bring things to us and possible volunteer as members transition off the commission. Commissioner Gronquist said the flyer doesn’t really highlight that the EDC is spearheading this event. Discussion ensued regarding highlighting that the EDC is hosting the event and some local businesses are sponsoring portions of the event and discussion ensued regarding the event name. Commissioner Bonine asked if the flyer should mention the 7:30 am check in. Senior Planner Fransen said that is the time we will want the EDC members to arrive. She asked the commissioners if they received an invite for an event starting at 8:00, would they anticipate arriving early. Commissioner Gronquist said she wouldn’t come a half hour early and assume networking opportunities, unless the invitation specified to do so. Commissioner Bonine asked if the half hour before the event start was intended to be a conversation time or was that meant to be a chance for people to arrive, get coffee and get settled in. Senior Planner Fransen said it is open time. The structured conversation time is scheduled at the end. Commissioners have shared that attendees are unlikely to arrive early for unstructured networking. Commissioner Bonine said people may think to arrive at 8:00 assuming there will be a few minutes. He thought it would be good to note a check-in time on the invite so attendees know to arrive a little early. Commissioner Daniels asked if there are any businesses that the Commission wants to specifically target. Commissioner Gronquist doesn’t think so. Original discussions were that this might be more of the smaller businesses who will attend an event like this. There was more interest, during the business in-person visits, from service and retail businesses, less so the industrial and bigger businesses. Not that we should neglect those businesses. The smaller businesses just might connect to an event like this better. Discussion ensued regarding the larger businesses in the City and how important they are. Those businesses are welcome to join this conversation. Targeted outreach efforts may be more impactful by focusing attention on the smaller businesses. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 5 Commissioner Bonine said the storefront businesses along Lexington corridor will be more likely to engage in this. This event will probably help us learn who will be interested in being targeted for future events and outreach efforts. Chair Murchie thought if we send an email to everyone that we have an email for, it will open it up to everyone. Commissioner Daniels said she can try to pull reports for Alumni who have businesses in Arden Hills. Commissioner Sorenson asked what the cut off on Lexington is. Is it strictly for Arden Hills businesses? Commissioners agreed it is exclusive to Arden Hills businesses. Commissioner Gronquist said, considering the theme, she would be willing to contact Dunn Brothers to see if they would be willing to supply the coffee for this event. She said Commissioner Brausen was going to supply pastries and coffee, but we could ask Dunn Brothers do the coffee. Chair Murchie liked that idea. It will show more business engagement. That would be better for the first event. Commissioner Gronquist will reach out to Dunn Brothers and based on that conversation she can let Commissioner Brausen know what is needed from him. Commissioner Bonine asked who will receive a mailed invitation. Senior Planner Fransen said we will use the addresses that were used for the business in-person visits. Commissioner Bonine asked if there is a plan so we don’t exclude business owners who may not have a store front. Can we drop something in the newsletter? He would hate for an owner to be missed because they aren’t on the master list. Those may be the people who will have the most engagement with EDC. Senior Planner Fransen said the newsletter is for residents and businesses. She asked if the question is if we are trying to be targeted with the mailing, how do we get the invite to businesses that may not have a store front? Commissioner Bonine said just making sure there is a general awareness of it. Council Liaison Rousseau said that is valid. How will we reach those businesses who may want to participate but maybe don’t have a business on the licensed list. Commissioner Bonine thought the newsletter would be the easy way, given the time constraints. City Administrator Jagoe said we didn’t make the August/September issue because we wanted to make sure we had sponsorships lined up. We can put something in the October newsletter. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 6 Senior Planner Fransen said the middle section of the program is the updates to local businesses. Councilmember Rousseau has been identified as the main speaker for that portion. There has been previous discussion about a panel discussion with multiple speakers. She asked the commissioners what their vision is for the middle section that is after the speakers but before the table conversations. Commissioner Bonine asked if there were topics that Council Liaison Rousseau would like to discuss. Council Liaison Rousseau would love to create awareness around zoning ordinance updates and how they may effect businesses. She would like to discuss the Gateway Visitors Grant. She shared about an agency who came to the City to request conduit debt bonding. It can save a certain percentage with their loan if it is done through the City. We can do it for any business, if the improvement is good for our community. She wanted to make more people aware of the option. Chair Murchie said we want to help the business community see that the EDC exists and that there are opportunities to plug in. It would be nice to highlight some of the EDC members and discuss why we serve on the commission. It would be a structured conversation but will help the business community understand what the EDC is, who is involved and why we think it’s important. We want businesses to know we can be a conduit for the City and the community so everyone is aware and know where and how they can engage. There are only 15 minutes for that section so it would have to stay tight but that is how he pictured that business updates section. It would be a primer for the conversations at the table. Commissioner Bonine asked if the goal is to recruit people or just let them know we’re here and try to find out how to engage businesses. Chair Murchie thinks it’s both. There is limited awareness of the EDC. The conversation at the tables will give us feedback. Commissioner Gronquist said we also want to connect the business owners together so they will want to continue attending these types of events. We want to make the connections and state why it’s beneficial to come together as business owners. Commissioner Bonine said he is concerned that it sounds, to him, that we are inviting them there to tell them about us. This started by trying to figure out who the target audience is and find out what businesses want or need from the City. But we want to be engaging them to ask better questions. Maybe we want to explain the challenges we had with trying to connect with the business community. Maybe they have better ideas on how to do that. People know we’re here now and that is important but he wouldn’t want it to feel like we are just re-introducing the EDC. Commissioner Sorenson agreed. He said a brief introduction of the Councilmembers may be appropriate rather than giving one Councilmember a full 15 minutes to talk. Then during the table talks the EDC can talk about how businesses can engage with the commission and ask what the businesses want to see in future events or initiatives. Council Liaison Rousseau agrees with that. She thought it could be a brief Council intro and a nod to Staff. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 7 Chair Murchie asked if anything in the agenda should be adjusted. Maybe adding time for table conversations and less time for that update. If there are two speakers and they talk for their allotted time. It may feel like a long time to sit there. He worries that if people aren’t aware of what the EDC is, when we get to the table discussions they won’t have any context for what the conversation is supposed to be. Commissioner Sorenson asked if that could be done during the opening remarks. Chair Murchie thought it would be good to offer a little context in the opening then have Ted and Dan share the history of this event. The Sheriff would speak after that. Then we could shift to the Councilmember to share the City update then we would have about 20 minutes at the table for each of us to say why we joined and how our organizations are invested. That will shrink the amount of time attendees may feel they are being talked at. Commissioner Bonine said the order is good. He thinks having Council Liaison Rousseau speak after the Sheriff but before we get into the table conversations will guide those conversations. She will be introducing programs and describing things that will impact businesses that they’ll want to be involved with. It will be a good lead in to discuss ordinances, Gateway and Adopt-A-Park. He thought commissioners should make sure they share the same information. Council Liaison Rousseau can put together some slides so the messaging is the same. Discussion ensued regarding the script and talking points for Commissioners and presenters. Chair Murchie said attendees may have some issues or questions and they don’t know where to go. The EDC can help and we can build that into the opening comments. Commissioner Bonine thought there should be something in the closing for attendees to walk away with. City Administrator Jagoe asked if the closing should be before the table conversations. Commissioners agreed. Chair Murchie said the survey will be at the tables. Each commissioner will host a table and we can explain who we are and why we’re here. We can start building that bridge. Discussion ensued regarding the QR code for the previous survey and that attendees should be encouraged to complete the survey while at the event, rather than taking a card to do it later. People will forget. Chair Murchie said the program can be 15 minutes with the Sheriff, 10 minutes with the Councilmember and make the last section 20 minutes. Commissioner Sorenson said if we do that at the beginning of the table talks, it could generate some questions. Commissioner Gronquist said we can go through it with them at the table. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 8 Senior Planner Fransen summarized that the program will be updated and she’ll send it out. She said Councilmember Rousseau and Commissioner Gronquist will speak. Council Liaison Rousseau said Commissioner Gronquist could speak about the work the EDC did with the sign code. Commissioner Gronquist said she has updated the questions on the survey and she is looking for feedback. Senior Planner Fransen asked the commissioners to look at those questions and bring feedback to the next meeting. Commissioner Bonine thanked Commissioner Gronquist for her work on the survey. He thought we should focus on we want to learn from them. If we can collect information on how to contact them during check in, then we could shorten the survey and not risk losing their interest. Senior Planner Fransen will follow up on the questions and commissioners will bring feedback to the next meeting. She will work with Chair Murchie on the script. She said everything looks good for meeting the next steps by the September meeting. B. Business Licenses Senior Planner Fransen said the business license and registration topic came up during previous EDC Work Plan discussions. During a recent Council meeting the City Council directed the EDC to provide recommendations on the process. There is currently a distinction between a business license and a business registration. The packet contains an overview of the process and the policy for noncompliance. Some business license types require a fee. When no fee is associated, the business receives a business registration. A certificate of insurance is required for a license or a registration. Staff is seeking ideas on how to make the process better. Commissioner Gronquist asked how much is being collected from licenses. She thinks the City could use this process to generate revenue. We have more registrations than we do licenses. She thought the fee could be lowered on licenses and extended to registrations. Then the dollar amount will be less for each business but the City can collect more money. Maybe a percentage could be set aside for the EDC to put back into the business community. She understands it goes to the General Fund but she wonders how much that is. City Administrator Jagoe said we aren’t allowed, by statute, to generate revenue with this process. The fee is designed to offset administrative costs incurred when processing the licenses. We aren’t allowed to charge additional to create a revenue stream. If there were more licenses, it would be more staff time in processing them. Commissioner Bonine asked why the costs vary so much. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said this fee structure was established by the City Council in the early 2000s. It has been consistent since then. The fee schedule is brought to Council every year. It may have been based on what other cities were doing, at the time. Commissioner Bonine said having consistency would be a good optic. He noted that some businesses are required by law, to be licensed. He asked if the City has the choice to charge a fee. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 9 Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said the fee is required. There is compliance and violations. Statute sets forth how much we have to charge. She noted that a restaurant that serves liquor will have a liquor license and a restaurant license. The City can determine what a general business license fee is but the liquor license fee has to meet the statutory minimum. A business can hold multiple licenses. Commissioner Poelzer would like to see something added to the form that explains who gets a business license and who needs a registration. That would make it more clear to the person filling out the form. She looked at the license types and she doesn’t think Arden Hills has some of the types on the list. She thought the term “bowling alley” should be replaced with “bowling center” to bring verbiage up to date. She asked if we have video sales and rentals. She thought we can insert shoe shops and hardware stores because we know we have those. She asked what Courtesy Benches are. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said they are the bus stop benches. Commissioner Poelzer said we haven’t seen increases since the current fees were established. She recommended establishing a process that states the fees will increase by a certain percentage after a specified time frame. She asked if a drive through is a business that has only a drive through and no interior seating. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said that is any restaurant that has a drive through component. Commissioner Poelzer asked if a bank who has a drive through would be included. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said no because it’s not a restaurant. Commissioner Poelzer asked why the license fee is $315. Chair Murchie asked Staff what information or questions can the EDC provide surrounding this process. What will be most helpful? Commissioner Bonine said the EDC is involved because we were trying to gather information from businesses. We may be able to gather that information by capturing it on form. Making the process consistent for all businesses is the ultimate goal. City Administrator Jagoe said she is hearing the commissioners say that City Council should look at the fee structure. She doesn’t think the EDC needs to come up with the amounts. The commission has made it clear that you would like that to be more consistent for businesses. The Council will have the conversation regarding amounts and the timing/rate of increases. She asked if there are questions from the commission surrounding the process. She thought commissioners can submit ideas or questions to Staff. Commissioner Bonine said there is decent participation. He thinks clarity surrounding the process and compliance would be helpful. Commissioner Gronquist was surprised to learn that we can’t use it to increase revenue. She assumed that was the purpose of it. It’s confusing to her how the City calculates the administrative ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 10 cost for a licensed business but determined that business registrations don’t generate that same level of cost. Commissioner Daniels asked for clarification that we can’t raise the fees or that we can get more fees. City Administrator Jagoe said the fees that are charged for the business license are intended to offset the cost of issuing the license. Council Liaison Rousseau said it is interesting that during the budget discussions we account for 3% COLA increases for Staff and 15% health insurance. She wondered if we are looking at it from that perspective. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said this may be the right time for this discussion. After the Lexington Avenue project and COVID the Council decided to leave the fees static to help relieve some of the stress on businesses that were already struggling. Commissioner Gronquist said it wasn’t about raising the fees on the people who are already paying, it was about trying to get more people to participate. As a business owner the form is confusing. It’s all on one page and most of the information doesn’t pertain to her. It should be two different forms. We want people to register. As a business owner, she expects to pay a fee to the City. So when some do and some don’t, it feels strange. Commissioner Bonine thought the commissioners should submit their questions and thoughts to Staff and have Staff come back to a later meeting for discussion. Commissioner Poelzer thought that was fine. Her biggest concern is the disparity between some of the fees. City Administrator Jagoe said there have been some great suggestions. She said we are also looking for feedback on how the EDC can support this process. She was surprised to learn that such a small amount of businesses who are required to have a license are not complying. She thinks the question is how we reach the businesses that we don’t have on the list. That is where the EDC can help us capture that audience. The non-compliance isn’t with the 170, or so, businesses that we know about, it’s the unknown. Commissioner Gronquist agrees. There are a ton of businesses that she knows of that are not on the list. That’s when she started asking questions about the process. She thinks there has to be a reason for a business to register otherwise why do it? City Administrator Jagoe said between utility billing, building permits and Staff communications we try to identify when there is business change over. You can have a multi- tenant building where the utilities are in the property owner’s name and there are no interior improvements. That is a case where there is no need for the business to contact the City. There is a role that the EDC can play in helping create an inventory and ideas on how to keep the information current. She said it will be helpful for Staff to see the questions and comments from the commissioners and staff can bring this back to the September meeting. That will segway into the October/November fee schedule discussion. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 11 C. EDC Work Plan Senior Planner Fransen said the EDC Work Plan will guide the commission’s work for the next two years. There was previous conversation in 2024. The EDC then started planning and conducting the in-person business visits and then focus shifted this year to working on the event. The goal is to start putting some structure into a work plan that will be used, moving forward. The agenda packet includes the purpose and mission of the EDC, main duties of the EDC and some goals that were previously discussed. We can start to develop strategies and pencil them into meeting dates to be discussed. Some items from previous discussions include the business events, surveys, newsletter features, business web page on the City’s website and partnerships with other business organizations. Do these topics still align with the goals of the EDC? Are there other strategies to be added? Senior Planner Fransen said the goal is to bring a Work Plan to Council that outlines what the EDC is hoping to do, based on the mission, purpose and duties of the EDC. Then Council can offer direction and possibly discuss a budgetary line item that can help support the work of the EDC. This will come back for further discussion. Commissioner Poelzer noted there is nothing that says Council requests the EDC to do something. She wondered if the EDC is expected to chime in on what the economic development might look like for a certain building or site. Chair Murchie said Staff is the liaison between Council and the EDC. It isn’t like the Council says something and the EDC has to identify it. We are able to leverage Staff who will tell the EDC what Council is saying and identify the items they think the EDC can assist with. It helps to narrow our role. We advise Council on certain things and evaluate development items that are brought to us. Commissioner Poelzer thinks the main duties section needs to be rewritten because they don’t reflect what we are doing. Chair Murchie said we can talk about it more in the future. 4. COMMENTS AND REPORTS A. Report from the City Council Council Liaison Rousseau said State of the City will be held at City Hall on Saturday, September 20 at 10 am. It will be broadcast online, as well. Council Liaison Rousseau said the Park Master Plan survey was completed and has been closed. This was a survey asking residents to provide feedback so the City can put together a thoughtful plan on what we are doing with our parks and trails for the next 10 years. We received over 700 responses. The consultant said a typical response if 4% we’re at about 7%. About 100 of the responses came as a result of the post cards that went out the week before the survey closed. Council Liaison Rousseau said there was a community picnic hosted by the Lions Club. There were some great vendors and booths. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – AUGUST 27, 2025 12 Council Liaison Rousseau said Council is discussing the 2026 budget. The preliminary levy will have to be set by the end of September. It is always a higher number because once the preliminary levy is set, it cannot go any higher but can be reduced. Council Liaison Rousseau said a developer came in and presented a concept plan to Council for the Pace site, to build a three-story apartment building. Council was divided. She thought it would be a great spot for a building with commercial space on the bottom. She thought allowing four stories would still be three stories of apartments and may have been desirable. Other Councilmembers want that space to remain strictly commercial. Council ended up saying there was not general interest to see a more detailed concept plan for an apartment building at this site. Council Liaison Rousseau said the Community Development Director will be starting soon. That role has been vacant since City Administrator Jagoe was promoted from the CD Director position. This person will hit the ground running on short term rental ordinances, rental licensing and accessory dwelling units. We want to have a conversation about the Economic Development Authority (EDA) membership. It’s been the Council for years. The group meets once a year. It doesn’t seem to be working to spark development in Arden Hills. She would like to see one or two members of the public join that authority to give it a little push. They will also be discussing cannabis. There is something in place that follows the state requirements. That will mature at the state level and we will mature along with that. She said the next EDA meeting will be in October. It will probably be at 5:30 for just about 10 minutes. The meetings are recorded, and the agendas and minutes are all online. B. Economic Development Commission Comments None. 5. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Commissioner Gronquist and seconded by Commissioner Bonine to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously The meeting adjourned at 8:53 a.m.