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EDC Minutes March 21,2008 Page 4 of 7 • the newsletter; however newsletters are hard work and perhaps a professional would make the process easier on staff. Commissioner Larson asked how the newsletters are distributed. Ms. Steinmetz believes they are sent directly to the residents; however they are actually distributed with the Sun Focus. He said we need to expand distribution to all Mounds View businesses. Chair Helgemoe said perhaps the U of M could provide assistance with this matter. Commissioner Belting said that there should absolutely be a "go to" marketing/communications person on City staff. Chair Helgemoe added that if there are several staff people doing different marketing/communications jobs,there is not going to be synergy. Chair Helgemoe summarized the discussion by saying that it is the EDC's consensus that it would be a good idea to have a "go to" marketing/communications person at City Hall B. Discuss 2008 Targeted Business List Ms. Steinmetz stated that this agenda item was generated from the Comprehensive Plan Task Force. The Task Force noted that the current Comprehensive Plan contains a phrase that the City's targeted business list should be updated annually. Ms. Steinmetz explained that in years past, the list was updated annually, but since the list never seemed to change, annual updates hadn't occurred lately. Having said that, Ms. Steinmetz recommended that the list be reviewed annually so it is completely clear where staff should be focusing business recruitment efforts. For example, a list should serve the community as a whole rather than one or two residents. She mentioned the current list was based on Jim Ericson's and Aaron Backman's memory and included recommendations from residents and elected and appointed officials. Ms. Steinmetz added that there are related policy questions that the EDC should discuss prior to reviewing or updating the current targeted business list, such as "What is the City's main business recruitment goal?" Chair Helgemoe asked if the EDC should postpone this item until the next meeting when more members are present. Ms. Steinmetz agreed because the related policy questions are important. Chair Helgemoe commented on the lack of restaurants in Mounds View and referenced Commissioner Wagner's comment from the last EDC meeting regarding the lack of a grocery store in Mounds View. He asked Commissioner Entsminger for input. She responded with saying that a large grocery store is not warranted for this size of community. She said Mounds View "doesn't really have anything to draw people to" (an anchor business) and added that she "doesn't mean that in a negative way", however "it's basically a pass-through community". Ms. Steinmetz added that ever since several contiguous properties had become • available for redevelopment (between County Road H2 and Woodale) that developer input is that Mounds View is not going to see a lot of redevelopment interest because