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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-11-18 EDA Meeting Minutes - Approved APPROVED CITY OF CENTERVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING MINUTES Wednesday November 18, 2020 6:30 p.m. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City of Centerville held a regularly scheduled Economic Development Authority meeting on November 18, 2020 via videoconference. I. CALL TO ORDER President Hanzal called the meeting to order at approximately 6:34 p.m. II. ROLL CALL* PRESENT: President Jeff Hanzal Commissioner Michael Giovinazzo Commissioner D. Love Commissioner Jim Weatherhead Commissioner Wilharber joined the meeting at 6:44 p.m. STAFF: City Administrator, EDA Executive Director, Mark Statz *Note that “present” is construed to mean that the noted individuals were visibly and audibly present on the videoconference call III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 1. Call for Changes to the Agenda Executive Director Statz added a check to be approved under Bills, and a discussion on two candidates for the vacant seat on the EDA Commission under Old Business. Motion by Commissioner Love, seconded by Commissioner Weatherhead to approve the Agenda with changes. A roll call vote was taken. All in favor. Motion carried. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. Motion by President Hanzal, seconded by Commissioner Weatherhead to approve the October 21, 2020 meeting minutes. A roll call vote was taken. All in favor. Motion carried. City of Centerville EDA Minutes November 18, 2020 V. BILLS AND COMMUNICATIONS 1. Bills Executive Director Statz presented a check in the amount of $1,579.06 from Todd Steffan, owner of Corner Express, for fabrication costs for the Blue Logo Sign Program. He said that the commission should reimburse Mr. Steffan $1,184.30, which is 75% of the cost. (per program resolution guidelines). Commissioner Love asked if there was room in the budget to handle this expense. Executive Director Statz presented a list of budget items and explained that there were sufficient funds in the EDA checking account, but only half of it was represented on the sheet. Commissioner Love asked if the check could be presented next month when a clearer explanation could be given. Executive Director Statz stated that he would withdraw his request to have the check authorized so that he could present a better picture at December’s meeting and explained that the money for the EDA budget had been divided – instead of receiving $22,800.00, City Council had given them $10,000 and withheld $12,800, but the two deposits hadn’t been reconciled. President Hanzal said to strike this check from the list, and move forward with the check for Lonnie Olson Design and Consultation for the EDA flier in the amount of $162.50. Motion by Commissioner Love, seconded by Commissioner Weatherhead to approve the check for $162.50 to Lonnie Olson Design and Consultation. A roll call vote was taken. All in favor. Motion carried. VI. REPORTS 1. Administrator’s Report Executive Director Statz presented his Administrator’s Report and spoke about the following: Mr. Statz commended City Clerk Teresa Bender for her efforts during the election. He also congratulated Mayor D. Love for being re-elected as Mayor and Mr. Steve King, Mr. Russ Koski and Mr. Daren Mosher for winning their respective elections. Mr. Statz stated that he was hoping to open City Hall to the public by February 1, 2021, which is when he hoped the renovation project would be finished. He felt that even though Covid-19 numbers were going up, City Hall renovations included separation of the lobby from the staff, and a separate office for each staff member. The November Planning Commission meeting was canceled and the December meeting was moved from December 1 to December 8, 2020. He stated that Council would likely cancel their December 23, 2020 meeting, but more would be learned on December 9. CenterStage has had a lot of progress in the last couple of weeks, and a lot of ads have been released. Mr. Statz stated that he attended the Anoka County Business Summit. This was an online event with 60 people in attendance. He also attended a partner meeting which is comprised of all the Page 2 of 7 City of Centerville EDA Minutes November 18, 2020 stakeholders that pay for a membership. A flat budget was approved for 2021, with no changes from 2020. Round three of the grant program for businesses is now closed. This round was for new applicants only. The city’s $304,902.00 in Covid expenses have been completely allocated and accounted for. The city’s 2021 Budget is on the docket for the December City Council meeting for final adoption. He anticipated them staying with the preliminary budget with a .9% increase to the levy. 2055 Phase II of Old Mill Estates infrastructure is complete and building permits are being issued. A builder has purchased several lots. Paving at Bayview Villas will be done on November 19, 2020. President Hanzal asked if Block 7 was in a TIF district. Executive Director Statz explained that there had been a public hearing to establish a TIF district, but they decided not to move forward with it. He also stated that the reason the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting was moved out one week was because there were two different developers who were interested in the property. Both developers were proposing 18-20 units of row homes. Atlas Villas Memory Care has broken ground. Executive Director Statz shared a picture of the rendering from LinkedIn. The Planning Commission now has two openings. Commissioner Mosher won a seat on the City Council, and Commissioner Haiden is retiring and moving out of Centerville. Mr. Statz asked North Metro TV to put the EDA promotional video on Centerville’s Community Channel. This should run in a circle with the other programming on the channel. There is an interim use permit for Rehbein Black Dirt on the docket for the next Planning and Zoning meeting. The office area of the City Hall renovation project is complete, and staff started moving in this week. On November 19, 2020 there will be a proofing meeting to go over placement of the dais television screens and other items. Construction will begin on the Council Chambers on Monday, November 23, 2020. The downtown street project is complete. It has been hydro-seeded and should come up in the spring. The Parks and Recreation Committee has set dates for skate nights. Concessions will not be offered this year. Page 3 of 7 City of Centerville EDA Minutes November 18, 2020 The Adopt a Garden program needs more volunteers. We have two so far; Mrs. Love and the - Scouts. All of the city’s alcohol and tobacco checks passed. This was the first year that we had to check for tobacco sales at 21 years of age. There are new faces in the police department and Officer Wahlberg has been promoted to sergeant. Commissioner Weatherhead asked about an item he saw on Executive Director Statz’s report about a restaurant that wants to expand. Mr. Statz explained that the Blue Door Pub in St. Paul wants to expand, and he thinks they are looking at a site in Blaine and another possible site in the northern metro. He explained that he pitched two sites to them; the 1537 site and the former Vincenzo’s Catering site. 2. Year to Date Financials This item was handled out of order 3. Ongoing Programs a. Blue Logo Sign Executive Director Statz explained that we had recent activity from Corner Express. He said the receipt that was presented was only for fabrication costs, and he was hoping to get their receipt for their participation in the program. He said that Kelly’s Bar had signed up last month and he was hoping to hear from Wise Guys and Center Mart. b. CenterStage This item was handled out of order c. Business Assistance Grant Program (CARES Act Funds) This item was handled out of order VII. OLD BUSINESS 1. Data Center Study (Excipio) Executive Director Statz explained that the EDA had been asked to participate in a study to look at a 55 acre site and the feasibility of building a data center. Jeff Gilmer from Excipio introduced himself and asked if anyone was familiar with data centers. He explained that data centers hold all data from all of us in everything we do. It stores all Page 4 of 7 City of Centerville EDA Minutes November 18, 2020 information for an organization that the organization needs to have. If a data center is down, most businesses would have a difficult time functioning today. Data centers hold information for critical facilities. Critical facilities are facilities that the government designates need to be up and functioning if a disaster hits. For example, hospitals, banks, and city offices. There are two types of structures; one type is where a company owns their own data center, such as Target Corporation. The second type is called a hosted data center, where different providers own the center and break it up for the companies to share. The host runs and maintains it so the individual businesses don’t have to. Data centers are also highly secure facilities. They are often accessed through man traps and biometrics. Man traps are set up for someone to open a door with a card key and wait in a secure area for the door to close behind them. Once that door is fully closed, then they may open a second door with their card key and walk through. An example of biometrics may be an iris reader. Mr. Gillmer gave examples of how data centers continue to grow, as data becomes more a part of our daily lives. For example 10 years ago people called a taxi cab when they needed a ride. Today people use their cell phones to call an Uber. All data for Facebook is stored in data centers, and so is the information we stream on our televisions. He explained that “shovel ready” isn’t good enough for a data center. Other factors taken into account are the costs, the amount of network connectivity, and a low risk for natural disasters. The cost of cooling can be expensive, and a data center in Minnesota would need to be cooled less than other parts of the country. Minnesota also has the best rebates and incentives for people to build data centers. There were a lot of data centers in the southern metro, but they are full, so owners are looking to move somewhere that is not on the same power grid, but still close enough to drive between facilities. A data center will usually only be built if they can make a profit. The site in Centerville has a 49% return on investment. Most sites have a 25-30% return. Mr. Gillmer laid out the objectives of the report which were to assess the viability of multiple sites for suitability of a data center, and assess the utility and telecommunication infrastructure available. The study estimated physical size and created a financial model for construction. Mr. Gillmer also spoke about the study’s approach: Excipio provided data collection requests to client’s representatives and received input from subject matter experts such as the City of Centerville, Comcast and Connexus, and provided weekly status updates and progress reviews. Mr. Gillmer also spoke about site attributes, including incentives at the state and city levels that make the property attractive to buyers. Another factor considered was whether or not local government is open to negotiation for prospective partnerships. Page 5 of 7 City of Centerville EDA Minutes November 18, 2020 Commissioner Weatherhead asked which type of data center was being proposed for this site. Mr. Gilmer explained that the model was built to target both types of data centers, but the concept of companies owning their own data centers is going away because people are going to cloud storage and cloud storage has increased due to COVID. Discussion was had amongst members of the commission regarding the advantages of a data center for the community. The commission pointed out a note in the report that said that a data center is exempt from Property Tax. Mr. Gilmer thought that this note was most likely in error and should, instead discuss the tax exemption from sales tax for computer equipment. Mr. Gilmer would change that note. 2. Discussion regarding two applicants for vacant seat on the EDA Commission. Executive Director Statz spoke about two individuals who had expressed interest in the vacant seat on the EDA Commission. One was a business owner named Justin Knabe who had an insurance agency in the town office park. The second person is a resident named Pete Carlson who lives in the Eagle Pass development. Executive Director Statz would like the committee to interview the individuals at the December 16, 2020 meeting and then make a recommendation to City Council. VIII. New Business 1. Printed Business Directory Executive Director Statz spoke about printing a paper business directory. Discussion was had with the general consensus that it is better to keep the directory online and market it to the city’s residents. 2. Vincenzo’s Catering Building President Hanzal presented a picture of the Vincenzo’s Catering Building. Discussion was had regarding whether or not to release the grant funds with general consensus being that the funds should be released to the business owner. Motion by President Hanzal, seconded by Commissioner Love to release the grant funds to the business owner and forgo the permits for the tenant build out being in compliance. A roll call vote was taken. All in favor. Motion carried. IX. ADJOURNMENT President Hanzal made a Motion to adjourn the November 18, 2020 EDA Commission Meeting, seconded by Commissioner Weatherhead at 8:34 p.m. A roll call vote was taken. All in favor. Motion carried. Page 6 of 7 City of Centerville EDA Minutes November 18, 2020 Page 7 of 7