Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-20-2018Minutes of the Economic Development Commission City of Mounds View Ramsey County, Minnesota Regular Meeting April 20, 2018 City of Mounds View, Council Chambers 2401 County Road 10, Mounds View, MN 55112 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Jim Freichels called the meeting to order at approximately 7:30 a.m. 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Chair, Jim Freichels, Vice Chair, Dan Larson, Commissioners, Gary Stevenson, Dennis Farmer, Teresa Muckala, & Ken Breske Members Absent: Jason Helgemoe Staff Present: Business Development Coordinator, Brian Beeman Meeting Attendees: Gary Meehlhause, Jacob Martin, Mary Lou Egan 4. APPROVAL OF APRIL 20, 2018, AGENDA Motion/Second: Commissioner Muckala moved and Commissioner Larson seconded the approval of the April 20, 2018 EDC agenda. Motion Carried: 6 Ayes, 0 Nays 5. APPROVAL OF MARCH 16, 2018, EDC MINUTES Motion/Second: Commissioner Stevenson moved and Commissioner Breske seconded the approval of the February 16, 2018 EDC minutes. Motion Carried: 6 Ayes, 0 Nays 6. EDC BUSINESS Review Ramsey County Housing Financing Programs Mary Lou Egan from the Economic Development Department from Ramsey County provided information of available housing loan programs. The CDBG program is for low to moderate income levels and can’t be used for new construction. But can be used for the acquisition of land and job creation. There are limitations to infrastructure and Mounds View has used this in the past for Towns Edge. There are two homeowner loan programs. One for energy efficiency and the other for home safety and general improvements. The First Home program is for first time homebuyers and is income based. CDBG can also be used for business loans up to $10,000 for matching of what the bank puts in. The program is linked to job creation. Business Coordinator Beeman helped Ramsey County structure this program. The Environmental Response Fund is for soil remediation to make it shovel ready. The program can be used for gap financing for EDC Minutes April 20, 2018 Page 2 of 5 multi-family dwellings and the program is currently helping the Boulevard Apartments in Mounds View. The funds can also be used for tax forfeited properties. Chair Freichels asked about the definition of low to moderate income. Egan informed the Commission that it mean up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). For a single person this is about $40,000. Commissioner Muckala asked about the County’s fiscal year. Egan responded by saying it is July 1–June 30. Muckala asked if next year’s programs will have the same level of funding as this year. Egan said the CGBG fund will have about $1.5 mill for next year. About $500,000 comes from businesses and developers. Freichels asked about deadlines. Egan said March is normally the deadline but the County will consider projects all year round. Breske asked about the business loans. Egan said they are tied to job creation. Freichels asked about Rice Creek Commons and how the funding programs would be affected by the project. Egan said the Rice Creek development has a separate set of funding that won’t affect Mounds View. Many of the programs don’t qualify if they are for new construction. Muckala asked if all the programs were loans. Egan said all but the soils remediation are loan programs. Beeman asked about multi-family programs. Egan said most property owners are not interested because of the restrictions and the vacancy rate is so low they don’t have to apply to the programs. Egan informed the Commission that Mounds View has used a program in the past for lighting and other safety features and the owner worked with the Police Department to identify high risk areas etc. The County is working with Minnesota Housing & Finance Agency (MHFA) to come up with a housing program for multi-family owners. The County also has cooperated with larger non-profit organizations to help purchase older homes, fix them up, and keep the rents low. Breske said the owners may be interested in tax incentives. Egan said they are talking with Minnesota Housing to design a program that would address this. Farmer asked if Cities have identified specific buildings and worked with the owner to get financing to fix up the property. Egan said this has happened in the past. Beeman asked about the PACE program. Egan said it is a program that property owners can update their homes through energy efficiency and they pay back the loan through property assessments. She is not aware if anyone in Mounds View has used it. Beeman asked about a County EDA levy. Egan said it is on hold and the County Board may be considering this in the future. Ramsey County is the only county in the area that doesn’t have one. Review Residential Housing Issues-Building Code Official Presentation Jacob Martin, Building Code Official presented pictures of multi-family structures in Mounds View and asked the Commission what types of issues they are seeing. Martin mentioned that the architecture and style is outdated and that may be the reason why the buildings stick out. Martin said most of the buildings are well maintained but look outdated. They may need some minor painting and landscaping to dress up the properties. Freichels asked what can be done. Martin said painting and maybe the City could develop a plan with the owners to address specific issues each year. Egan said in the past, the County has worked with Mounds View property owners to address landscaping projects. Breske said when he looked at the buildings around the city he came to the same conclusion that the buildings look outdated but they are safe. Farmer agreed that it is mostly the architecture and many of the older single-family homes have the same issues. Perhaps landscaping of homes would help improve the properties. EDC Minutes April 20, 2018 Page 3 of 5 Beeman said the Center for Energy and Environment is offering a home improvement loan, a Mobil home loan, and an emergency loan, and none of the programs are tied to income limits. In addition, the Home Energy Squad will complete home energy audits for $50. Freichels asked how many have taken advantage of the programs. Beeman said no one has taken advantage of these programs so far and the programs have been advertised on the City’s website, Facebook, Twitter, local newspaper, the City’s newsletter, and they will be setting up a booth at the upcoming Town Hall meeting. Martin said he used a similar program in Minneapolis and he had a resident take advantage of the program. Egan said it is a good idea for the inspector to distribute information not only on the City programs but also the County programs. Larson asked about the cost and burden of demolishing older homes. Martin didn’t know the costs but said it would be a good program to look into. Update from Comprehensive Task Force Members Commissioner Dennis Farmer provided the EDC with an update on the most recent Comprehensive Task Force meeting. The Task Force met March 27, 2018 and they worked on a community survey to gain a better understanding of what residents and businesses like and don’t like about the City in regards to land use and if the Comprehensive Plan is consistent with those opinions. The City is requesting an extension to the Comprehensive Plan. Farmer said that the Town Hall meeting will have a section on the Comprehensive Plan. The main focus is finding out what the residents have in mind and interpreting their ideas to develop the City’s land use goals. Update from Commissioner Muckala on New Business Categories to fill Vacant Space in Mounds View Commissioner Teresa Muckala provided an update on her efforts in assisting with the new 2018 EDC goal, “Monitor & Explore New Business Categories through Trade Groups like Medical Alley and Identify Available Spaces in Mounds View with the Intent to Fill Those Vacancies with New Companies”. The idea is to attract start-up companies to fill the vacant space in some of our industrial buildings and growing them. Muckala and Beeman met with Medical Alley and Minnesota is rated number two in the country for medical companies behind Silicon Valley and ahead of Boston. Mounds View is a growing area for the medical industry and focusing on the suppliers may be the best approach. There are other areas such as Minnesota High-tech to focus on in recruiting businesses to fill vacant spaces. Beeman said most of the medical companies are situated north and south along Hwy 65 and mostly north of I-694. Many millennials are innovative and wanting to live and work in the same areas with updated amenities and working in information technology medical clusters who are looking for specialized space for research and possibly the need for clean rooms. Looking at incubator or collaborative space could be the solution to attract these millennials for start-up companies into our existing flex space. Meeting with Medical Alley has been a good start but we need to further develop where we go from here. Farmer mentioned the luxury apartments and how the Rice Creek Commons development could affect developments in Mounds View. Beeman said Mounds View has very limited space so being creative in using the existing land or repurposing land in combination with a regional economic development approach is much better that taking EDC Minutes April 20, 2018 Page 4 of 5 an individual city approach to economic development. If a nearby city has a business development and a neighboring city has the housing developments then both cities win. If those same two cities compete against each other, they could effectively take themselves out of the market and the developer may go else ware. 7. REPORTS OF STAFF Crossroad Pointe Redevelopment Project Coordinator, Beeman provided the Commission with an update on the Crossroad Pointe redevelopment site stating that staff has met with the developer and they are trying to decide which of three options to move forward for development. One option is constructing all apartments on all three parcels. The second option is to build apartments with a separate daycare facility. The third option is to build apartments and a grocery convenience store concept. The developers will be presenting the options at the Council Worksession May 7. The developers would like to get into the ground this year but if a decision can’t be made at the May 7th meeting then the development may not start until 2019. Rice Creek Commons No update was given as nothing has changed from the last meeting. North Metro Business Council The next North Metro Business Council meeting will be held at the Mermaid Event Center June 13, 2018 from 7:30-9:00 a.m. The topic will be cyber security. MWF Developers Beeman informed the Commission that he is cooperating with MWF Properties to work through the title and tax forfeiture issues and Ramsey County may be requiring additional steps to complete the purchase agreement. In addition, the investors are challenging the access easement for any new development that would occur to the west of the property. This was a requirement from Ramsey County as a compromise for the County allowing access from Mounds View Boulevard. MWF would like to continue to move forward with the goal of starting this fall. The Triton Beeman informed the commission that The Triton has requested that the Council preliminarily approve a TIF district up to $375,000 for 15 years. The Council approved the request through a resolution and the Mayor has also signed a letter of support for the project to be used for the Tax Credit application. The project would be four-stories above underground parking. Norhart Homes Norhart is looking to construct a 200 unit market rate luxury apartment building with several amenities that would attract millennials. The developers liked the Arden Park site and the five parcels southeast of the Bel-Rae Senior Living building. There are many EDC Minutes April 20, 2018 Page 5 of 5 complications with the Arden Park site like relocating the compost site, water storage, traffic, etc. There was a redevelopment plan for Arden Park in 2003. The other site has holdout homeowners that have increased their asking price to a point that is unrealistic. The City is working with Norhart to determine if any financial assistance is available and if the developers would qualify. The developers are looking to start in 2019 and may be forced to build in phases due to the holdouts. Other Upcoming Events/Reports Beeman informed the Commission that there is an open house April 25, 2018 for Parts- Midwest who is a new business located at Mustang Circle. The Town Hall meeting is April 30, 2018. Displays will open at 5:30 p.m. and the presentations will begin at 6:00 p.m. There will be water main flushing from April 23-27, 2018. Discoloration of the water could occur and residents can contact the City for more information. 8. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Breske said there is a property on Jackson & Quincy across from Lambert Park that has become an eye sour with the removal of trees and parked vehicles. A resident wants to know what can be done about the property. Beeman will address the issue with the Code Enforcement Officer. Breske looked at the properties around the city and concluded that they are in compliance for the most part and in good shape, there isn’t much that can be done with the owners. 9. NEXT REGULAR EDC MEETING Chair Freichels reminded the Commissioners that the next EDC meeting will be held May 18, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. if needed. 10. ADJOURN There being no further business, Chair Freichels adjourned the March 16, 2018 meeting at approximately 8:40 a.m. Respectfully submitted, _______________________________ Brian Beeman Business Development Coordinator