Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-27-26 EDC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 27, 2026 7:30 A.M. – ARDEN HILLS COMMUNITY ROOM CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Present: Chair Judd Murchie and Commissioners Ted Brausen, Kristine Poelzer and Jess Daniels Absent: Commissioners Bobby Bonine, Ihsan Isik, Kyle Sorenson and Kayleigh Shrom Also Present: Senior Planner Elena Fransen, Community Development Director Jake Reilly and Council Liaison Emily Rousseau 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chair Murchie called the meeting to order at 7:40 A motion was made by Commissioner Poelzer and seconded by Commissioner Brausen to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion passed unanimously. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. April 22, 2026 A motion was made by Chair Murchie and seconded by Commissioner Daniels to approve the minutes, as amended. Motion passed unanimously. Page 2 it should read, “Commissioner Brausen talked about Jacks Baskets which is an Arden Hills charitable organization not business.” 3. COMMENTS AND REPORTS A. Report from City Council Council Liaison Rousseau said the Committee and Commission Appreciation Picnic may be scheduled on July 21. There is discussion about moving the picnic as that will be the Tuesday following the 75th Anniversary. Council Liaison Rousseau said Council approved to reengage the Financial Planning Action Commission (FPAC). There will be more information forthcoming. She encouraged Commissioners to spread the word. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MAY 27, 2026 2 Discussion ensued that Jack’s Baskets will be expanding and have a ribbon cutting on Sunday, May 31. They took on more space in their current building and have tripled in size. They will have food trucks, music and dancing with a DJ, bounce house, a merch walk, jewelry making, face painting and more. The event is from 3-7 pm with the ribbon cutting at 5:30. Council Liaison Rousseau noted that the Lake Johanna Fire Department (LJFD) has a Class 3 rating. With 1 being the best and 10 being the lowest. Out of 37,000 communities across the country, LJFD is among 6,600 communities with a Class 3 or lower. Commissioner Brausen said that is important for insurance. Your insurance rates could be reduced. B. Report from City Staff Community Development Director Reilly said the sign code draft went to Council. That will continue to move forward, separate from the rest of the zoning code update. It will go to the Planning Commission on July 8. The ordinance would go to Council at the meeting on July 27. There were no substantial changes to what the EDC has already seen. Discussion ensued regarding the regulations for placing election signs. Community Development Director Reilly said that the Finance Director resigned and Council accepted her resignation at the meeting. That position will be posted. Community Development Director Reilly said the creation of a Humanitarian Commission was approved and recruitment to fill the positions will begin soon. Discussion ensued regarding what the purpose of the Humanitarian Commission is. It could be anything from inclusive playgrounds or non-profit inclusion. The Commission can look for opportunities we may not otherwise see. Chair Murchie is curious if that commission may have a component similar to the EDC but think about creating a non-profit infrastructure. Those non-profits bring people into the community and kind of become a feature in the community. Discussion ensued that the Business License Application could be changed to distinguish between for-profit and non-profit. Further discussion ensued regarding the non-profits that currently exist in Arden Hills. Community Development Director Reilly said the rest of the zoning code will continue moving through the process with adoption in October. Senior Planner Fransen provided an updated work plan. She updated what actions have already been taken. Senior Planner Fransen said the 75th Anniversary Celebration could have a table for EDC representation. She said three EDC members previously volunteered to help. That may be a different function than manning a table. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MAY 27, 2026 3 Discussion ensued that EDC should have a table and it would be good to have a tent or canopy for weather purposes. Senior Planner Fransen said there has been talk about EDC messaging. We are waiting on a communication approach from Staff. They are assessing current communications and making plans. We may not see anything new until after the 75th Celebration. Commissioners can be thinking about what we want that to look like so we have options when that discussion begins to go into more depth. Discussion ensued about another business breakfast. The Business Connect group with Shoreview will most likely be the events. The next meeting is on June 17 at 8 am at Flaherty’s. Council Liaison Rousseau said the EDC will have to begin discussions in the fourth quarter if the plan is to have another Arden Hills event in 2027. Chair Murchie thought the topic could be included on the June agenda to discuss if we want to do the breakfast again or if there are other ideas for an event. We want to minimize the amount of work that Staff has to put into it. The goal is to bring the business community together and we don’t want to overwhelm Staff. Senior Planner Fransen said the State of the City event is slated for spring of 2027. Commissioner Daniels asked if we invite businesses to our meetings. A new business may want to introduce themselves and share their experience with us. Senior Planner Fransen said these meetings are open to the public. We haven’t ever sent direct invitations to businesses, but we could if the commission feels that’s appropriate. Commissioner Brausen said he thinks we should have another Arden Hills event in the spring. It’s not too much work to put it together. Chair Murchie said we’ll put it on the June agenda and Commissioners can be thinking about what it may look like. Maybe it can be a happy hour that doesn’t have a formal program but gives the opportunity for networking. The business breakfast wasn’t a lot of work for the EDC but Staff put a ton of work into the event. They have many other things happening. Discussion ensued that the EDC would need to differentiate the objectives for that event vs. the Business Connect event. The Business Connect group always meets during breakfast hours. It includes Arden Hills and Shoreview businesses. EDC can discuss how the programming for the Arden Hills event can be steered toward the goals or ideas in the work plan. Commissioner Brausen said a portion of the TCAAP site was sold. He wondered if the City or the County received any money for that sale. Community Development Director Reilly said the property known as the Primer Tracer site was purchased directly from the General Services Administration and is not part of Rice Creek Commons (RCC) and is not owned by Ramsey County. Community Development Director Reilly said the Primer Tracer site is south of County Road I and just east of where the Rice Creek Trail goes into County property. It was sold to Maplewood ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MAY 27, 2026 4 Development. There is a purchase agreement from a business park owner/operator to build the facility. They have to go through an Environmental Impact Statement prior to applying for the permissions they need to subdivide and construct. The ownership group came to Council for a concept review two years ago. It is proposed to be 4 or 5 light industrial buildings. We won’t see anything for two years. The environmental review will take until at least the end of 2026. There is a lot of underground infrastructure to be demolished. Council Liaison Rousseau wondered what the sale price was. She said this will be industrial. Along Highway 96 we have the 1.6 acres where the old City Hall building was. There has been discussion about transforming that site into a Public Works facility. It may be better to be an industrial use. Commissioner Poelzer said there are some soil issues with that space. Community Development Director Reilly said the 62-acre parcel sold for $11.5 million. The cost to purchase the land is low but it is going to take a lot of money to clean it up. Commissioner Daniels asked if that will expedite any of the Rice Creek Commons development around it. Community Development Director Reilly said it could. If that parcel goes into operation before RCC does, it may incentivize people to think more critically about that as a primary development site. The construction of Rice Creek Boulevard is what will really incentivize the development. Grading and preliminary groundwork will begin this fall. The construction of that road will last through 2027 and possibly into 2028. Commissioner Poelzer said when they build new industrial, they must have better restrictions in place to prevent soil contamination. Community Development Director Reilly said there are procedures to prevent that. C. Economic Development Commission Comments Commissioner Poelzer noted there is a location in Roseville that was approved as a technology center. She wondered if Roseville has approved a data center and are just calling it by a different name. It is very large. 4. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Gateway Signs Senior Planner Fransen said this is an item EDC discussed in 2024. A few sites had been previously identified as potential locations for gateway signs. EDC is being asked to discuss if those locations are appropriate. Are there other locations that should be considered? There are currently three gateway signs within the city. Are there different gateways for businesses or residents? Banner signs along corridors are a different conversation. Commissioner Poelzer said 35W has sound barriers. New Brighton has their name on that barrier. Arden Hills should look into getting Arden Hills’ logo on there. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MAY 27, 2026 5 Commissioner Brausen said before we can analyze this we need to know how many signs we can get and how much money we have. Community Development Director Reilly said we need to identify locations. We can get cost and engineering information later. Chair Murchie said Lexington Station right off of 694 would be a possible location. Commissioner Poelzer agrees with the already identified locations. She thought the locations should be ranked in prioritization order. Senior Planner Fransen said the renderings and cost estimate for the corner of Lexington and 96 were completed in 2017. That would be directly across from the Shoreview gateway sign on Lexington and 96. Commissioner Poelzer said the Arden Hills sign across the street should be similar in size to Shoreview’s. She thinks flags on the light poles along County Road E and on the West side of Lexington will be more memorable than a sign on a corner. Chair Murchie said he assumes there has been research to see that signs work. What are the benefits? We don’t want to blow a ton of money on a sign just because Shoreview did. If flags are cheaper and have a bigger impact, he would like to know that. He can look at a map and identify where he enters Arden Hills. He doesn’t have any insight on the value of installing signs at those locations. Senior Planner Fransen asked the commissioners to look at the map and notice if the places where they enter the city are identified. It could be better to use flags on County Road E because it’s Arden Hills on both sides. Commissioner Brausen said he doesn’t think there needs to be one on County Road E by his business. He thinks having one on Snelling, coming in from Roseville would be more impactful. Chair Murchie said flags could be placed on roads where only one side of the street is Arden Hills. You may just drive past a sign but if you see flags going all the way down Lexington, on one side it may be more effective. Commissioner Poelzer said Hugo has flags and you can’t miss that you are in Hugo. Arden Hills used to have those. Commissioner Brausen said we have to think about where traffic enters. We know these will be expensive. Do we have money for one? Two? Community Development Director Reilly said what was proposed was not very expensive. They are made out of structural foam. We have some money. The goal is to make people understand they are in Arden Hills. We wouldn’t want to waste money. Council Liaison Rousseau said they have not done that work, as a council. This is an ongoing conversation since January of 2018. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MAY 27, 2026 6 Community Development Director Reilly said we have to narrow down the locations to fit the money we have or determine what we want so we can get more money. Banners signify that you are downtown. That has become a signifier, nationwide, where your downtown is. That is a second step to this. These gateway signs are durable but fairly low-cost signs made from the kind of foam you use to keep pests out of your house. Should we change the look of the signs? Chair Murchie said the locations on the map align with what we were thinking. The Arden Hills Shoreview distinction makes sense to look at closer. Are these signs impactful? What is the goal of installing these signs? If the goal of the EDC is to create a bridge and create a stronger business community, he’d prefer to make sure that the dollars we are spending is going to help create that. Commissioner Poelzer pointed out some identified locations that can’t be seen unless you exit the freeway. You can see the wording on that sound barrier. She thinks the location south of 694 won’t be seen by anyone on 35W. The flags were on County Road E and there was nothing on Lexington because the businesses that are currently there weren’t there at the time. She wants to see us do flags up the Arden Hills side of Lexington. Chair Murchie said for next time we can continue to focus on where the major business intersections are. He said until we started this discussion he hadn’t noticed signs. Now he sees them. There’s nothing along Lexington that lets people know they are turning into an Arden Hills business. B. Arden Hills/Shoreview Business Connect Discussion Senior Planner Fransen said the next Arden Hills/Shoreview Business Connect meeting will be Wednesday June 17 at Flaherty’s and it will be focused on networking. They received feedback from attendees that they want time to network. There will still be city updates but it will primarily be networking. We want to create the EDC process when we partner with Chamber to host this event. The idea is that if a new EDC member starts, we can share the tasks list. Senior Planner Fransen asked if refreshments should be provided at the June 17 Business Connect meeting? Also, June 24 would be the next regularly scheduled EDC meeting. We can hold the EDC meeting as a special meeting on June 17 and not meet on the 24. Chair Murchie is okay to change the meeting if we’ll have a quorum of the EDC. He wouldn’t want to change the meeting and have just one or two people show up. He can commit to the 17th. Other EDC members committed to attending. The Business Connect meeting will be a special meeting of the EDC and there will be no meeting held on June 24. Chair Murchie said he is happy to help however he is needed. He just needs direction. We can have refreshments. Commissioner Poelzer said Staff and Councilmembers present should not congregate together. They should spread out and meet others. We should be the conversation initiators. Chair Murchie said there is a difference between attending and showing up for a reason. Are there things that we would be interested in learning about? Are there any businesses we want to meet? How should we approach this? ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MAY 27, 2026 7 Commissioner Brausen said it’s always good to listen to businesses about what is working and what isn’t. Council Liaison Rousseau said it would be nice to have our EDC get together with the Shoreview EDC to compare notes. It could be a casual coffee meet up. Commissioner Daniels said if our objective is business relationships, it feels effective to talk to the attendees. The past few times she has attended there were good connections. Council Liaison Rousseau would be interested in learning about how Shoreview supports new businesses. She hears time and time again that Arden Hills can be challenging to work with and has been for many years. What are the barriers? Commissioner Brausen said he has worked with both cities. Shoreview doesn’t go into details like shrubs/trees. Our Council will discuss trees and windows in a car wash for hours. It cost him a lot of money by the end. That doesn’t happen in Shoreview. He thinks the Council in Shoreview takes Staff recommendations better. He will talk to Staff in Shoreview and by the time he gets to the Shoreview Council meeting it’s pretty clean. Chair Murchie said our agenda can be getting businesses to attend and we can ask them what is working and what isn’t. The other aspect is building relationships with the other EDC in Shoreview. Commissioner Brausen said we should talk to the big companies about where we have property that we want to have businesses on. If they want to expand, we want them to expand here. Community Development Director Reilly said we could meet with the Shoreview EDC. Chair Murchie said he will reach out to Shoreview and discuss a joint meeting with both groups. Commissioner Daniels serves on both commissions. There are common challenges about how to connect with local businesses. This EDC continues to ask what our purpose is. Do we want to maximize our tax base? How do we get businesses to fill out the forms? How can we prioritize and clarify our objectives? That is not the way the Shoreview EDC operates. Theirs’ is more relational. Council Liaison Rousseau said we don’t talk about the tax base much but that is a great conversation. If we get into a spot where it feels like we’re over reaching, we have the Economic Development Authority (EDA). Two EDC members are on that authority that can bring things to the EDA once those meetings start happening. Mike Dvorak from the Chamber did a presentation to the Council two meetings ago. Commissioner Daniels said she’s been to the past few of these meetings. People were interested in the last speaker. The presentations can be a draw for these meetings. If we don’t have refreshments and no program, it may not feel like we are hosting. Senior Planner Fransen said it will be held at Flaherty’s. She will check in to see if they will provide coffee. Refreshments are supplied by the host city. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MAY 27, 2026 8 Commissioner Brausen said he can provide donuts and cookies. He just needs to know how many. He said Jack’s Baskets could be a good speaker. Commissioner Poelzer said we need something. Even if someone just gives a few minutes. We need a headliner. Senior Planner Fransen said the feedback has been that people want networking. There won’t be a program. We will host a networking event and learn from the experience. Commissioner Daniels said there should be some ice breaker questions or prompts to help facilitate those networking discussions. Chair Murchie said it will be a good learning experience. Our goals are to get to know the businesses and meet our peers. 5. ADJOURNMENT Chair Murchie adjourned the meeting at 9: 07: a.m.