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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/07/2002 EDAC Minutes 1 APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES DATE: Thursday, March 7, 2002 MEMBERS PRESENT: H. Juni, T. Vacha, F. Chase, K. Hansmann, J. Schwartz, D. Gorowsky MEMBERS ABSENT: R. Jensen, J. Milbauer, B. Hicks OTHERS PRESENT: D. Carlson, M. Divine, R. Rafferty, M. Grochala (part) GENERAL/MINUTES Minutes of February 7, 2002 were approved. UPDATES Ms. Divine stated that the council would be considering a predevelopment agreement with the Beard Group for development of the Village. The agreement will give the developer a 90-day exclusive right to perform an economic feasibility study and return to the council with a proposal in June. The Beard Group is also the master developer of the proposed Circle Pines redevelopment. Ms. Divine stated that staff has met with the YMCA to discuss preliminary site designs with BWBR. The Beard Group has also met with the Y and is eager to participate in the planning to make the Y integral to the Village design. Ms. Divine stated that once the Beard Group brings back a proposal, EDAC can review it for its contribution to economic development goals and make a recommendation to the council. STRATEGIC PLANNING Mission: Ms. Schwartz suggested redevelopment be added to the mission statement. Mr. Chase wanted to add wording about residential development and the balance of residential and commercial tax base. Ms. Schwartz suggested “diverse” be used to describe the balance. Ms. Divine stated she would work on it some more if no one had specific suggestions. Communication: Ms. Divine stated the other boards are beginning to have their minutes e-mailed to each other. She advised the members the city now has a website at 2 www.ci.lino-lakes.mn.us. EDAC can use this site to market the city. Some members stated they would prefer going to the website if they wanted to read about a particular topic, rather than a lot of e-mails. Ms. Schwartz suggested EDAC’s minutes could have less detail. The amount of detail did not concern other members. Members agreed to try e-mails of board and council minutes for a couple months and see how useful it was. Ms. Divine suggested that as a liaison, Mr. Rafferty report back to Planning & Zoning once or twice a year regarding issues that EDAC is discussing, and updat e EDAC on P&Z items. Ms. Divine distributed business surveys that were sent out in 1993 and suggested EDAC consider whether it would be productive to do another survey. EDAC members could follow up with visits to businesses. She passed around a summary of the city survey from 1996 for EDAC members to consider when discussing goals and priorities. This survey shows what citizens wanted for commercial development. Mr. Chase said the city needed to do something to provide affordable housing for retirees. Ms. Carlson stated that the council is aware of inclusionary housing as an issue. Ms. Divine said the subdivision and zoning ordinances that the city is in the process of revising could provide more opportunities for affordable housing. Some members suggested the citizen survey be sent out again. Ms. Carlson noted the city hired consultants to do the 1996 telephone survey. Ms. Schwartz suggested a shorter version be sent out with the newsletter. Mr. Chase suggested it be put on the next agenda. EDAC Roles: Ms. Schwartz said EDAC should be the Economic Development Authority rather than just an advisory committee. Ms. Divine said EDAC was changed from a board to a committee in the mid-1990’s. Its role didn’t change, but it was to distinguish it from city boards that had statutory responsibilities. EDAC was designed to be a “think tank” that could include business people not living in the city. Ms. Divine said an Economic Development Authority has powers to use city funds for economic development. Mr. Chase said EDAC’s mission is to be a sounding board, not hold the purse strings. Mr. Gorowsky stated the role is to agree with the mission statement and then actively support it. If the mission statement needs to change, then that needs to be dealt with first. Mr. Juni said EDAC’s function is advisory. Staff could lead discussion, but then EDAC responds with citizen and business input. It is helpful to have business owners, people invested in development, and EDAC should periodically look at its mix of members. Ms. Hansmann stated EDAC’s role is determined by the city council and they are the ones that would have to change it. There may be other ways of operating and perhaps the council wants to look at other ways. Ms. Schwartz questioned if the council was more empowered to make economic development decisions than other cities of comparable size, and suggested finding out what other cities do. Mr. Chase stated that EDAC was not set up by the city council. It was a sounding board started by a volunteer. Council has had more input over the years, including appointing members. Ms. Schwartz stated that an 3 independent body as EDA is more democratic and keeps an arm’s length distance between council and EDA. Mr. Chase stated if EDAC took on a stronger role, meetings would be run with rules of order and not be a place for general discussion. Planning and brainstorming opportunities would be gone. Ms. Divine said EDA meets only when there specific EDA items to vote on, sometimes only a couple times a year. Mr. Rafferty said quality development is important to the city. EDAC needs to have input into how the limited amount of commercial land is developed. EDAC could assist the city by assuring architectural guidelines for commercial development. Ms. Schwartz stated that when the Apollo Business Park showed a profit, EDAC could have ensured the money got used to promote economic development if it was the EDA. Mr. Chase agreed a loan program for capital improvements would be a good tool. Mr. Grochala stated EDAC already has the power to recommend to the council the development of a fund. Mr. Grochala said EDAs can have broad authority, including the power to bond. An EDA is committing the city council to backing up the payment of those bonds. Some cities set up an appointed EDA because it is not political. But ultimately the EDA is spending taxpayers’ money. Mr. Juni stated he would be satisfied with pursuing good ideas and taking them to the council for approval. Staff was directed to bring a sample of how EDAs in other cities are set up. Meeting adjourned. 4