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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-23-07 EDC Meeting Minutes ~ ~HILLS CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 23, 2007; 7:30 AM CITY HALL --1245 WEST HIGHWAY 96 I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chair Kunkel called the meeting to order at 7:38 a.m. New member Ed Van Holtum was introduced who provided background on himself. II. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Bruce Kunkel, Nancy Kneeland, Ed Van Holtum, Rob Davidson, Jim Paulet, Mayor Harpstead, Community Development Director Karen Barton, City Administrator Michelle Wolfe. Absent: Dale Beane, Ed Werner, Chris Ashbach, Ray McGraw. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - MAY 16. 2007 The minutes from the May 16 meeting were approved as amended. IV. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN A. Review Revised Plan B. Discnss Presentation to the Council The Mayor noted that he polled Council members regarding the plan and they were receptive to it. Two members expressed concern. The Council expressed they want the plan to be market driven and not City driven. He also indicated the Council had a reluctance of using eminent domain for commercial business purposes. The group also indicated they were concerned about this as well. Chair Kunkel said his only exception would be if the City had a blighted property then he could see using eminent domain on the property. City Administrator Wolfe expressed that she felt it is important for the EDC to build a relationship with the Council. She indicated in the past, committees have not worked on relationship building with the Council. The Mayor indicated the revised budget for this plan was considerably lower so the Council was more comfortable now. Jim expressed concern with not going through all the specific items in the document thoroughly to make sure they were all comfortable with the document. The group expressed that they feel the document has been reviewed for two years and they were comfortable moving forward at this point. Nancy asked if the Council accepted the plan ifit was binding to them. The Mayor indicated by law nothing is binding to the City Council. Nancy suggested that that point should be noted to the Council as well. EDC Minutes May 23,2007 Page 2 of 4 Chair Kunkel reminded the group that the document is being presented to the Council at a work session and there will more than likely be more changes and edits that the EDC will need to make before the Council formally is presented with the plan for approval at a regular Council meeting. He also asked that the City Attorney be present at that meeting. Nancy asked the group if calling the document a "vision" versus a "plan" might be helpful in gaining Council acceptance of the document. Chair Kunkel said the document is a "plan" to get to an end point and wants to emphasize this when the document is presented. Rob made a motion that the group approve and then present the plan to the City Council. The motion was seconded by Nancy. The group suggested the presentation of the document be listed first on the June 18 work session agenda. The Mayor suggested the spirit and passion that Ray McGraw demonstrated at the last meeting be demonstrated when the document is presented to the Council. V. BUSINESS LICENSING DISCUSSION Community Development Director Barton noted that 12 surrounding communities were polled as to their business licensing program - whether or not they had one, their fees, and their reason for the program. Six communities had responded to date. She indicated she would like more time to be able to gather input from the other 6 communities to gain a broader sampling. Community Development Director Barton informed the group the City took in approximately $13,000 last year in business licensing fees. The money was directed into the General Fund. The Mayor expressed he thought the timing on altering the business licensing was important as it affects the budget. Community Development Director Barton will continue soliciting feedback from surrounding communities and present this information at the next EDC meeting and the group can then work from that data on how they want to proceed with reviewing the City's licensing program. EDC Minutes May 23,2007 Page 3 of 4 VI. REDEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION A. Redevelopment Designation Process B. Redevelopment Tools Community Development Director Barton presented a memorandum on redevelopment designation processes and tools available. She indicated redevelopment designation is helpful if the City intends to pursue grants for a specific redevelopment project. Designation can be done through Council resolution or placed in the City Comprehensive Plan. Timing for adding it to the City's Comprehensive Plan would be good as that plan is currently being updated. Community Development Director Barton noted that a Redevelopment Plan could utilize a Master Developer or the City could go in and acquire properties. The City can also choose to solicit developers as well. Some tools include creating a TIF district, tax abatement of the City portion, the Economic Development Authority (which is the City Council) could levy, grants can be pursued, the City can levy or referendum, special legislation can be created for a special service district tax. She asked the group how they wanted to proceed. The Mayor noted the City currently has two TIF districts which are the Cottage Villas area and the Gateway area. Rob asked if a TIF district time can be extended, or if it can be terminated and redesignated so it can encompass a longer time frame to help the City and Developer gain more benefits from it. The Mayor thought this was not possible. Ed noted that in his past experiences, a lot of community involvement and outreach is important when developing a redevelopment plan. He also thought developing priorities early and gaining a "buy-in" from the community early on is essential. Chair Kunkel indicated he believes the group needs to focus in on a specific property and not try to work on several properties at once. He suggested the next meeting be about selecting what property to focus the group's efforts on. The Mayor suggested the group start by working on the former City Hall site that is located along Highway 96 because it is not on the City's tax roll. He indicated it is important that it be pointed out to the purchaser of the property that any development at that location has to have a "right in" and "right out" only. VII. COUNCIL UPDATE No update was provided. EDC Minutes May 23, 2007 Page 4 of 4 VIII. OTHER BUSINESS Community Development Director Barton distributed the City's CIP plan to the group for their review as some of the groups' direction could have impact on the City's infrastructure which is part of the CIP plan. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 a.m. t Director "'" 'Bruce Kunkel, Chair NEXT MEETING The next regnlar meeting of the EDC is scheduled for June 20, 2007 at 7:30 a.m.