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EDC Minutes March 17, 2006 Page 2 B. Report of Staff: Backman asked to switch the agenda items to move up the Silverview Plaza Presentation by Jim Stimmler and Mike Gross from Kraus-Anderson Realty Co. since they were in the audience. 1. Silverview Plaza Presentation—Jim Stimmler & Mike Gross, Kraus-Anderson Realty Co.: Backman distributed a survey of residents that was conducted by Kraus-Anderson. He noted the top ten types of businesses desired were: restaurant, coffee shop/bakery, grocery store, dry cleaner, salon/barber, clothing store, ice cream parlor, dentist. Backman introduced Mr. Gross and Mr. Stimmler. Mr. Gross indicated that the survey letters (131) were sent to the townhomes located behind Silverview Plaza. He discussed current tenants in the strip mall. Laundry King is a new tenant. Silverview Chiropractic and Appearance Plus will be leaving. KA is negotiating a new lease with Calvin Academy, which was purchased by Nexus. Mr. Stimmler talked about the trends that the property is experiencing and potential future tenants. He sees the property moving away from straight retail to more service-type or destination businesses. Currently he is working with an anchor tenant for about 5,000 sq. ft. of space. It is a national chain that deals with tools and contractor supplies. KA has approached a number of restaurants with national chains, however, they do not find the site attractive due to access concerns. Non-chain restaurants are possible, but harder to find and often financially weaker. Field asked about recruiting more tenants that generate retail traffic for evenings and weekends. Stimmler indicated that the landlord would prefer to have retail businesses, however, they are finding that retail in not working well at this site. Therefore, KA is looking at alternative tenants to fill the vacancies. Backman commented that KA reps met with the City a couple weeks ago to discuss options—one is broadening the types of businesses eligible under the current zoning. Belting inquired if the landlord has considered undertaking a building facelift. Mr. Stimmler indicated that it has been a topic of discussion and they have considered new signage. The challenge is funding additional investment in a center that is not performing the best. The types of improvements undertaken are impacted by the types of tenants. Given time constraints, Johnson asked Backman if he wished to reprioritize the remaining agenda items. Backman suggested reversing the order for the remaining five items. 2. Environmental Processing Center—Merlin Brisbin, Star Environmental: Backman provided some background. Over the past 30 years the Metropolitan Council, and more specifically the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) division has operated up to twelve liquid waste disposal sites in the Twin Cities region. Permitted haulers discharge septage into the interceptor system without pretreatment. This has led to problems of sedimentation, corrosion, and reduced line capacity. The Met Council has had to clean out lines, a cost that is passed onto everyone. A recent study recommends that the private sector could develop an environmental processing facility that would separate solids from the liquid waste and one that would facilitate the closure of one or more liquid waste sites. MCES indicated that the new facility would need to be within 15 miles of existing waste sites. Backman commented that the Skyline Motel location is within the 15-mile radius of several MCES sites. One of the existing haulers, Merlin Brisbin, is interested in pursuing the processing facility in the City. He has hired an architectural/engineering firm (MFRA), lined up financing, and negotiated a purchase agreement with the existing owners of the Skyline. The Brisbins would invest about $5+ million into the project. On March 15, the principals went before the City’s Planning Commission seeking a conditional use permit for the project. The Commission recommended approval of the permit. Backman distributed the Heidi Heller’s report to the PC, described the facility’s processing steps, and indicated that he was not seeking action by the EDC at this time. Johnson cited this project as a good example of the private sector finding the right location for a project. Field indicated that he liked the design of the plant and redevelopment of this visible site. He was concerned about potential odors. Backman noted that there would be a Biofilter to remove odors.