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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-08-25 EDC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA Special ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OCTOBER 8, 2025 8:00 A.M. – ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Present: Chair Jud Murchie, Commissioners Kyle Sorenson, Ted Brausen, Commissioners Julie Gronquist, Kristine Poelzer, Ihsan Isak joined the meeting virtually Absent: Commissioners Bobbie Bonine, Jess Daniels and Kayleigh Shrom Also Present: Senior Planner Elena Fransen, Community Development Director Jake Reilly, Council Liaison Emily Rousseau 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chair Murchie called the meeting to order at 8:15 A motion was made by Commissioner Brausen and seconded by Commissioner Sorensen to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. August 27, 2025 A motion was made by Commissioner Poelzer and seconded by Commissioner Bransen to approve the minutes, as written. Motion passed unanimously. 3. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Business Event Updates Senior Planner Fransen said this meeting was added to commissioners can finalize the business event happening in two weeks. She said Staff circulated a list of tasks. She is hoping we can discuss those tasks and have a backup for each task, in the event the person can’t make it. Senior Planner Fransen said 15 have sent an RSVP. That doesn’t include the EDC members and Staff. There should be about 30 people total at the event. Commissioners Gronquist and Poelzer have done a good job reaching out to businesses by dropping off flyers and talking to businesses about the event. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – OCTOBER 8, 2025 2 Senior Planner Fransen said that Staff sent an email this week to the list of registered businesses and the event was shared on social media and at the State of the City. She asked for additional ideas on outreach. Do we need an RSVP deadline? Commissioner Poelzer asked to get an email with who has already sent an RSVP so she is not doubling up on the outreach efforts. Commissioner Brausen thought there could be signage on the corner of County Road E. He said we could put them on his property. Senior Planner Fransen said she will make some inquiries and see if there is a way to get some signage. Commissioner Poelzer said she can make 40-50 more connections with flyers. She needs more postcards for the survey too. Senior Planner Fransen said Commissioner Poelzer shared the list of businesses she has already visited. Staff will help separate the remaining list so anyone who wants to visit businesses, can. Staff will look at the social medial channels and can post there. LinkedIn would be an option for this event. Staff will check to see if we have a City account. Community Development Director Reilly asked if we wanted a hard deadline for RSVPs. The original deadline has passed. It would be okay if someone came, without having sent an RSVP. We probably need the count for food. Commissioner Brausen said there will be enough food. He asked how we would raffle the gas cards. Senior Planner Fransen said when people complete the form at the beginning, and they will get entered in the drawing. The drawing will be toward the end of the event, before or during table talks. We will want to get the potential number of attendees to Dunn Brothers for the coffee. She will work with Flaherty’s on room set up. Council Liaison Rousseau wondered if the Lions Club was included since Rotary received an invitation. Commissioner Sorenson will reach out to them. Senior Planner Franssen shared the script that will help structure the event. She outlined each segment. The goal is to introduce the EDC and transition into discussion on the event. Break out time and we’ll talk about the drawing in the beginning so folks stick around. That will transition to RCSO. That segment has been allotted 15 minutes for that. City updates will be next with zoning code updates, Gateway Grants and Adopt-A-Park. Staff met with Council Liaison Rousseau and Commissioner Gronquist to discuss points to cover during that segment. Commissioner Gronquist will transition to the closing segment which is the table discussions. Council Liaison Rousseau asked who will keep time. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – OCTOBER 8, 2025 3 Commissioner Sorensen will keep time. He can give a hand signal at 5 minutes, at 1 minute and then a wrap it up hand signal. Senior Planner Fransen said the name tags will be numbered. As we move to table discussions they will go to the table with the corresponding number on their name tag. Then there will be the drawing. Commissioner Poelzer will pull the winners. Senior Planner Fransen asked for feedback. Council Liaison Rousseau would like a photo of Staff and a photo of the EDC Members. Senior Planner Fransen will ask everyone to share a photo that can be on a slide during the introductions. City Administrator Jagoe said it would be helpful to coordinate the numbers on the name tag with a commissioner so they know in advance who will facilitate the table and who will take notes. The thought is there will be four attendees to each table. We can go higher if the attendance is more than the RSVP number. Commissioner Gronquist asked if the name tag will have their name and business. Staff confirmed. Commissioner Poelzer asked if we should mention the opening on the EDC. She thought someone at the event may want to join the commission. It would be good to have information outlining what we do. Senior Planner Fransen said we can include it in the presentation, or we could mention it during the table discussions. If someone seems interested or energetic the EDC Member could invite them. Chair Murchie said he will mention it at the beginning and instruct that attendees can discuss it at the table. He said someone reaching out first and us following up is good. Senior Planner Fransen can add a note in the script. She also added some ice breaker type questions since the last meeting. City Administrator Jagoe said Senior Planner Fransen will have questions printed for the commissioners. Senior Planner Fransen began discussion on the tasks list. She outlined which commissioners will perform what tasks. Discussion ensued regarding what time EDC members should arrive vs. when business owners will arrive. There was discussion on how the room will be set up. Senior Planner Fransen summarized the order for the event and noted who has already volunteered to help after the event. She asked if any other commissioners can commit to after- event help. Chair Murchie will help with tear down, Commissioners Isak and Gronquist can stay after and be available in whatever capacity is needed. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – OCTOBER 8, 2025 4 Commissioner Poelzer asked if the sponsorship policy is finalized. She thought this would be a good audience for this. She also thought we could have the Arden Hills pens available to complete surveys and attendees can bring them home. Senior Planner Fransen said the sponsorship policy was adopted by the City Council. The brochure is drafted, but there’s not a final version to distribute. We can direct people to the website for updates, and they can sign up for “notify me”. We can send something out when it’s finalized. Chair Murchie said we can mention the program in the opening and direct them to connect with the EDC member at the table for more info. 4. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Report from the City Council Council Liaison Rousseau said City Council completed the third strategic planning sessions. They created a roadmap for the next year. She outlined all the items from that strategic planning session. A lot of them are community development. Council Liaison Rousseau said the City Council would like to see the EDC put together a work plan that outlines what its goals are for the year. B. Economic Development Commission Comments Commissioner Poelzer did a deep dive on businesses and found another 140. She will talk to Senior Planner Fransen about which ones to zero in on. Community Development Director Reilly said there is interest in having the EDC solicit sponsors for the 75th anniversary events. 5. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Commissioner Brausen and seconded by Commissioner Poelzer to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously The meeting adjourned at 9:01a.m.