Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-25-2008 CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING AGENDA MOUNDS VIEW CITY HALL Monday, August 25, 2008 6:30 PM 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL: President Marty, Vice President Stigney, Commissioner Flaherty, Commissioner Hull, Commissioner Mueller 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 4. PUBLIC INPUT: Citizens may speak to issues not on tonight’s agenda. Before speaking, please give your full name and address for the minutes. Also, please limit your comments to three minutes. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. July 28, 2008, EDA Minutes. 6. CONSENT AGENDA 7. EDA BUSINESS A. Consider Budget Amendment to Allow for Distribution of a Foreclosure Prevention Notice B. Resolution 08-EDA-247, a Resolution Authorizing Exercise of Certain Duties of Treasurer C. Resolution 08-EDA-243, a Resolution Appointing Officers of the Authority 8. REPORTS 9. NEXT EDA MEETING: Monday, September 8, 2008 at 6:30pm. 10. ADJOURNMENT Changes made by Council Member Mueller, Clerk-Administrator Ericson, Community Development Director Ken Roberts, and Economic Development Specialist Heidi Steinmetz PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOUNDS VIEW EDA 1 CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW 2 RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA 3 4 Regular Meeting 5 July 28, 2008 6 Mounds View City Hall 7 2401 Highway 10, Mounds View, MN 55112 8 6:00 P.M. 9 10 11 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER 12 13 2. ROLL CALL: President Marty, Vice President Stigney, Commissioner Hull, 14 Commissioner Flaherty, Commissioner Mueller, and Executive Director Ericson. 15 16 NOT PRESENT: None. 17 18 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 19 20 MOTION/SECOND: Mueller/Flaherty. To Approve the Monday, July 28, 2008 Agenda as 21 Presented. 22 23 Ayes - 5 Nays – 0 Motion carried. 24 25 4. PUBLIC INPUT 26 27 None. 28 29 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 30 31 A. Monday, June 23, 2008 EDA Minutes 32 33 MOTION/SECOND: Mueller/Hull. To Approve the June 23, 2008 EDA Minutes as Submitted. 34 35 Ayes – 5 Nays – 0 Motion carried. 36 37 6. CONSENT AGENDA 38 39 None. 40 41 7. EDA BUSINESS 42 43 Mounds View EDA July 28, 2008 Regular Meeting Page 2 A. Consider Resolution 08-EDA-246, Authorizing City Staff to Negotiate a 44 Branding Services Contract with Risdall Marketing Group 45 46 Economic Development Specialist Steinmetz suggested that the EDA authorize City Staff to 47 negotiate a Branding Services Contract with Risdall Marketing Group. The RFP went out to 19 48 consultants and the City received ten proposals. Staff narrowed the field to three, then conducted 49 interviews with those three and has recommended Risdall as the top candidate. 50 51 Patrick Bettenberg of Risdall Marketing Group appeared before the EDA and provided 52 information on their branding and marketing services. 53 54 Commissioner Flaherty said that he feels that the City is in need of branding to get the City’s 55 name out. 56 57 Commissioner Flaherty asked why the branding is proposed to be more expensive than the 58 marketing plan. 59 60 Mr. Bettenberg explained that there are necessary steps of discovery to begin branding to 61 understand whom the City is and how the City wants to be identified. 62 63 John Risdall noted that the City would retain all rights to the branding, logos and work product 64 should the City contract with them to do the work. 65 66 President Marty indicated that he appreciates the efforts of Staff to provide further explanation 67 on the recommendation. He then said that he feels comfortable with the recommendation and 68 appreciated the opportunity to meet with Risdall. 69 70 MOTION/SECOND: Marty/Mueller. To Approve Resolution 08-EDA-246, Authorizing City 71 Staff to Negotiate a Branding Services Contract with Risdall Marketing Group as Amended to 72 Require a Not to Exceed Amount of $23,500. 73 74 Vice President Stigney said that he does not feel that this is necessary at all and it seems to him 75 to be a big money pit. 76 77 President Marty said that what helped him decide was a meeting held three months ago with 78 developers and mortgage holders where marketing City properties was discussed and they said to 79 start with marketing. 80 81 Ayes – 4 Nays – 1(Stigney) Motion carried. 82 83 8. REPORTS 84 85 Mounds View EDA July 28, 2008 Regular Meeting Page 3 9. NEXT EDA MEETING: Monday, August 11, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. 86 87 88 Mounds View EDA July 28, 2008 Regular Meeting Page 4 10. ADJOURNMENT 89 90 President Marty adjourned the meeting at 6:54 p.m. 91 92 Respectfully submitted, 93 94 95 Recorded and transcribed by: 96 Joan Lenzmeier, Recording Clerk 97 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 98 Item Number: 7A Meeting Date: August 25, 2008 Type of Business: EDA Administrator Review: _____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Economic Development Authority From: Heidi Steinmetz, Economic Development Specialist Item Title/Subject: Consider Budget Amendment to Allow for Distribution of a Foreclosure Prevention Notice Background One of my responsibilities as Economic Development Specialist is to market the City. Successful marketing depends on a positive image of the City and a healthy housing stock is important to this image. I maintain the City’s “Housing Resources" and “Foreclosure Prevention” Webpages to provide residents with information about housing. Other Mounds View foreclosure prevention tools include: • Mounds View “Foreclosures” brochure designed by Jeremiah Anderson (based on the City of Brooklyn Center’s brochure) • Mounds View Matters articles written by Heidi Heller & myself • Cable Channel 16 foreclosure prevention billboard designed by me While these staff efforts are a good start for the City to help prevent foreclosures, I believe there is a need for additional outreach from the City. A new way for the City to reach the owners of single-family homes would be a direct mail postcard. This memo outlines the benefits of such a mailing and how the cost of this additional outreach is minimal compared to the dollar value of staff time already devoted to this crisis. Discussion The postcard idea came from a free foreclosure prevention training I attended on June 26, 2008 at Shoreview City Hall, which was sponsored by the MN Home Ownership Center. It was at this training that I found out that the MN Home Ownership Center “co-sponsors” direct mail pieces with communities. The MN Home Ownership Center has a design template that other cities have used, such EDA Item 7A August 25, 2008 Page 2 of 4 as Blaine, Minneapolis and St. Louis Park. These direct mail examples are attached for your review. Since the Spring of 2007, the number of vacant and foreclosed properties in the City has been steadily increasing. Currently, there are 72 vacant and/or foreclosed properties in Mounds View. Jeremiah and Justin Solberg have been continually monitoring these properties. Their time, in addition to other costs associated with foreclosures in Mounds View, are outlined in the following table: City Service Cost to City Foreclosure prevention training Two staff people = $150 Staff’s monitoring of vacant and/or foreclosed properties Up to 12 hrs. staff time per week = $300 (every week since Spring 2007=$18,000) Initial long grass inspection & follow up ½ hour staff time per property x 12 properties = $180 Development & maintenance of “Foreclosure Prevention” Webpage 8 hours staff time = $224 Development of City newsletter articles & cable billboard 3 hours staff time = $84 Total to Date $18,638 On a related note, Hanson’s General Lawn Care’s invoice to the City for services on July 1, 2008, in the amount of $636.87, included 12 vacant and/or foreclosed single family properties. Although Hanson’s costs are reimbursed to the City through assessments, the initial long grass inspection & follow up are not reimbursed. City Benefit It would cost the City $1,500 to complete a direct mail postcard outreach project. A breakdown of those costs are listed below under “Staff Request”. The $1,500 investment is minimal vs. the $18,000 worth of staff time devoted to the crisis since Spring 2007. The benefit of additional outreach ensures that the City has used each communication avenue currently available (Website & downloadable brochure, newsletter, cable channel and direct mail postcard). It is the hope of Jeremiah and myself to prevent one or more foreclosures through this mailing. If the number of foreclosures and/or vacant properties decreases, Jeremiah will be able to focus his efforts elsewhere, such as licensing rental dwellings and other complaint-driven code enforcement matters. EDA Item 7A August 25, 2008 Page 3 of 4 Staff Request The $1,500 request is based on the following estimates provided by the MN Home Ownership Center: $446 2,500 postcards (based on 2,500 Mounds View single-family households) $25 shipping postcards to City Hall $275 sorting required for usage of City’s bulk mail permit $675 standard postcard postage rates (.27 x 2,500=$675) $1,421 Total The purpose of the postcard would be to reach the following Mounds View single- family property owners: • Those who don’t have access to the Web (can’t view the City’s “Foreclosure Prevention” page) • Those who may have missed the attached foreclosure prevention information included in the summer edition of Mounds View Matters • Those who don’t have Cable Channel 16 (can’t view the “Foreclosure Prevention” billboard) • Those that have seen similar information in the past but need a reminder of the available resources A direct mail piece such as a postcard tends to gain more attention than a newsletter article or an insert to a utility bill. Furthermore, I talked to Debbie Jasper about inserting a piece into a utility bill and she said there are size requirements (8.5x11 in size) and it would be delivered to both businesses and residents (there is no sorting mechanism for utility bills), plus if there other inserts going into the utility bill, the postcard may get “lost in the shuffle”. Regardless of the subject matter, marketing experts say that direct mailing has a low rate of return. However, the attached article entitled “Measuring Direct Mail Results: Cost Per Qualified Lead” quantifies the rate of return by explaining “qualified leads”. For Mounds View’s direct mail postcard, Jeremiah believes that it would be reasonable to expect a 2 percent or less response rate. Optimistically speaking, a 2% response rate would motivate 50 people to take action (2,500 x 2%). The cost to deliver the message to those 50 people would therefore be approximately $30.00 per person ($1,500 / 50). EDA Item 7A August 25, 2008 Page 4 of 4 Summary Unfortunately, the foreclosure crisis is not a problem cities created, however cities must deal with many of the affects of the crisis and are expected to assist in fixing the problems that occur due to foreclosures. Additional outreach to single-family homeowners is a proactive way to help prevent foreclosures and to assist with the maintenance of a healthy housing stock in Mounds View. Recommendation Staff requests that $1,500 of the 2008 Housing Replacement Program budget (230-4650-5210) be redirected to fund 230-4650-3430 to print and mail the attached foreclosure prevention postcard to Mounds View single-family property owners. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________ Heidi Steinmetz Economic Development Specialist Attachments • Direct mail examples: Blaine, Minneapolis and St. Louis Park • Article “Measuring Direct Mail Results: Cost Per Qualified Lead” by Alan Sharpe • Mounds View postcard example Item No: 7B Meeting Date: Aug 25, 2008 Type of Business: EDA Business Administrator Review: ___ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Economic Development Authority From: James Ericson, Executive Director Item Title/Subject: Resolution 08-EDA-247, a Resolution Authorizing Exercise of Certain Duties of Treasurer Introduction: It was been brought to the Authority’s attention that various EDA officer positions have not been appointed or elected. In the course of its review of the positions of the authority, it became clear that certain procedural activities that have been conducted by City staff on behalf of the EDA were not formally authorized by the Authority. The primary area of concern related to the position of Treasurer and the duties and responsibilities so assigned to that office. Background: Originally brought forward for the Authority’s consideration in February of this year, the appointments were put on hold pending review and research of the position of the treasurer and whether past practice could be continued in light of certain provisions addressed in Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096. Staff solicited the services of Briggs and Morgan as well as Ehlers to research the issue and respond with an opinion as to the legitimacy of the financial practices of the EDA as provided by the City and to prepare a resolution to formalize the Authority’s delegation of certain duties relating to the position of the Treasurer. Discussion: During previous reviews of the EDA Bylaws, the Authority expressed concern regarding the position of the Treasurer and the duties associated with that office. It was pointed out that the Commissioners of the Authority have not previously served in a capacity that would require one to individually oversee funds, accounts, financial statements, sign checks and provide a bond to the State “conditioned for the faithful discharge of official duties.” The past practice has been that the City’s Finance Director serve generally as the Treasurer, however no documentation formalizing this arrangement has been adopted. As a result of the research that has been conducted by the City’s advisors and in consultation with the Office of the State Auditor, a resolution has been prepared to clarify the role of the Treasurer for the Mounds View EDA and the duties and responsibilities that will be provided by the Assistant Treasurer on behalf of the Treasurer. The resolution appoints the City’s Finance Director to be the Assistant Treasurer for the EDA, in effect formalizing the present arrangement. As to the issue of signing checks, the resolution states that disbursement of funds will be done by the City according to City policies and procedures, at the direction of the Authority. Finally, as to the Treasurer’s Bond, the resolution states that the bond already in place covering the faithful discharge of the City’s Finance Director’s duties shall satisfy the requirement of MN Statutes 469.096, Subdivision 6. EDA Treasurer Duties Report August 25, 2008 Page 2 Recommendation: Approve Resolution 08-EDA-247 authorizing the exercise of certain duties of the EDA Treasurer in compliance with MN Statutes 469.096. Respectfully submitted, ________________________ James Ericson Executive Director Attachments: 1. Minnesota Statutes 469.096 2. Memo From Ehlers, dated July 8, 2008 3. Memo from Briggs and Morgan, August 7, 2008 Minnesota Statutes 469.096 OFFICERS; DUTIES; ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS. Subdivision 1. Bylaws, rules, seal. An authority may adopt bylaws and rules of procedure and shall adopt an official seal. Subd. 2. Officers. An authority shall elect a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, a secretary, and an assistant treasurer. The authority shall elect the president, treasurer, and secretary annually. A commissioner must not serve as president and vice-president at the same time. The other offices may be held by the same commissioner. The offices of secretary and assistant treasurer need not be held by a commissioner. Subd. 3. Duties and powers. The officers have the usual duties and powers of their offices. They may be given other duties and powers by the authority. Subd. 4. Treasurer's duties. The treasurer: (1) shall receive and is responsible for authority money; (2) is responsible for the acts of the assistant treasurer; (3) shall disburse authority money by check only; (4) shall keep an account of the source of all receipts, and the nature, purpose, and authority of all disbursements; and (5) shall file the authority's detailed financial statement with its secretary at least once a year at times set by the authority. Subd. 5. Assistant treasurer. The assistant treasurer has the powers and duties of the treasurer if the treasurer is absent or disabled. Subd. 6. Treasurer's bond. The treasurer shall give bond to the state conditioned for the faithful discharge of official duties. The bond must be approved as to form and surety by the authority and filed with the secretary. The bond must be for twice the amount of money likely to be on hand at any one time, as determined at least annually by the authority provided that the bond must not exceed $300,000. Subd. 7. Public money. Authority money is public money. Subd. 8. Checks. An authority check must be signed by the treasurer and one other officer named by the authority in a resolution. The check must state the name of the payee and the nature of the claim that the check is issued for. Subd. 9. Financial statement. The authority's detailed financial statement must show all receipts and disbursements, their nature, the money on hand, the purposes to which the money on hand is to be applied, the authority's credits and assets, and its outstanding liabilities in a form required for the city's financial statements. The authority shall examine the statement together with the treasurer's vouchers. If the authority finds that the statement and vouchers are correct, it shall approve them by resolution and enter the resolution in its records. Memorandum TO: Mounds View Economic Development Authority and Mr. Jim Ericson FROM: Jenny Boulton, Briggs and Morgan DATE: August 7, 2008 RE: EDA Organizational Matters In connection with your questions regarding Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096, I spoke to Dave Kinney and Tom Carlson at the Office of the State Auditor. Generally, they did not see problems with the manner in which the Mounds View Economic Development Authority (the “EDA”) is currently conducting its operations. Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096 Subd. 9 provides: Financial statement. The authority's detailed financial statement must show all receipts and disbursements, their nature, the money on hand, the purposes to which the money on hand is to be applied, the authority's credits and assets, and its outstanding liabilities in a form required for the city's financial statements. The authority shall examine the statement together with the treasurer's vouchers. If the authority finds that the statement and vouchers are correct, it shall approve them by resolution and enter the resolution in its records. In Dave Kenney’s and Tom Carlson’s view, because the EDA Board is composed of the members of the Mounds View City Council, it would be treated as blended component unit for accounting purposes so that the City’s financial statement would include the financial information regarding the EDA and would be the EDA’s financial statement, as well, for purposes of Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096 Subd. 9. Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096 Subd. 8 provides: Checks. An authority check must be signed by the treasurer and one other officer named by the authority in a resolution. The check must state the name of the payee and the nature of the claim that the check is issued for. In Tom Carlson’s view there was no need for the City to have a separate checking account (apart from the FDIC $100,000 insurance limit on each account) so that payments could be made on behalf of the EDA from the City’s checking account and signed by the City’s treasurer in satisfaction of Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096 Subd. 8. He did, however, recommend that the EDA Board adopt a resolution or sign a formal delegation of that duty to the City’s treasurer. Briggs and Morgan Memo Page 2 Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096 Subd. 6 provides: Treasurer's bond. The treasurer shall give bond to the state conditioned for the faithful discharge of official duties. The bond must be approved as to form and surety by the authority and filed with the secretary. The bond must be for twice the amount of money likely to be on hand at any one time, as determined at least annually by the authority provided that the bond must not exceed $300,000. If the EDA authorizes the City’s treasurer to act for the EDA, Tom Carlson recommended that the bond obtained for the City’s treasurer be sufficient to meet the requirement for “twice the amount of money likely to be on hand at any one time” for the EDA together with the amount required for City purposes EDA RESOLUTION 08-EDA-247 CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW COUNTY OF RAMSEY STATE OF MINNESOTA RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXERCISE OF CERTAIN DUTIES OF TREASURER IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED by the Board of Commissioners (the “Board”) of the Economic Development Authority of the City of Mounds View, Minnesota (the “EDA”) as follows: 1. Exercise of Certain Duties of Treasurer. The Board hereby appoints and approves the City of Mounds View Finance Director as the Assistant Treasurer of the EDA. The Assistant Treasurer shall act as the Treasurer’s agent and assistant to perform the following duties, subject to the Treasurer’s approval thereof: (a) The Assistant Treasurer, on behalf of the Treasurer, shall keep regular books of accounts showing receipts and expenditures and shall render to the Board, at least annually (or more often when requested), an account of such transactions and also of the financial condition of the EDA. (b) The Assistant Treasurer, on behalf of the Treasurer, shall have the care and custody of all funds of the EDA and shall deposit the same in such bank or banks as the City Council has selected as depositories of the City of Mounds View, Minnesota (the “City”) in the name of the EDA or in accounts established in the name of the City. The Assistant Treasurer, on behalf of the Treasurer, shall maintain books and records to identify and funds of the EDA held in accounts established in the name of the City. (c) The payment or disbursement of funds of the EDA shall be at the direction of the Board from moneys of the EDA held in accounts of the City as provided in Clause (b), above. All orders and checks for such payments or disbursements by the City on behalf of the EDA shall be signed in accordance with the policies and procedures of the City and shall state the nature of the claim for which the check is issued. (d) In accordance with Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096, Subdivision 6, the Assistant Treasurer, on behalf of the Treasurer, shall give bond to the state conditioned for the faithful discharge of official duties. The bond provided by the Assistant Treasurer for the faithful discharge of his/her official duties as treasurer of the City is hereby approved and accepted in satisfaction of Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096, Subdivision 6. Resolution 08-EDA-247 Page 2 2. Financial Statement. In accordance with Minnesota Statutes, Section 469.096, Subdivision 9 and applicable accounting standards and practices, the detailed financial statement of the EDA shall be included as part of the City’s financial statements. Adopted by the Board of Commissioners on August 25, 2008. ________________________________ Rob Marty, President Attest: _______________________________ James Ericson, Executive Director (seal) Item No: 7C Meeting Date: Aug 25, 2008 Type of Business: EDA Business Administrator Review: ___ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Economic Development Authority From: James Ericson, Executive Director Item Title/Subject: Resolution 08-EDA-243 Approving the Election and Appointment of Officers to the Authority Introduction: It was been brought to the Authority’s attention that various EDA officer positions have not been appointed or elected. This report will identify the required officers and reference both the EDA Bylaws as well as MN Statutes Section 469.096 which governs Authority appointments and their duties. Background: Originally brought forward for the EDA’s consideration in February of this year, the appointments were put on hold pending review and research of other matters relating to the Bylaws which are in need of revision. The Bylaws have been preliminarily revised and will be presented for purposes of generating discussion at the September 22, 2008 EDA meeting. Discussion: Past practice has been that the Mayor serves as the President of the Authority and the Clerk - Administrator serves as the Authority’s Executive Director. A Vice President is typically appointed annually. MN Statutes however requires that the EDA elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. The President, Treasurer and Secretary shall be annual appointments. The Secretary and Assistant Treasurer need not be a Commissioner. The Bylaws, adopted in 1994, identify two other officers of the Authority—the Executive Director/Assistant Treasurer and a Clerk. While Statutes do not require that the Secretary be a member of the board, the Bylaws do, thus the only officers not required to be a Commissioner is the Executive Director/Assistant Treasurer and the Clerk. Based on the action recommended in Item 7B, the resolution that follows separates the responsibilities of the Executive Director and Assistant Treasurer for sake of consistency with the applicable MN Statutes which will need to be reflected in the revision of the EDA Bylaws. The City Attorney notes that the Bylaws are not consistent with Minnesota statutes relating to the offices of the Secretary and the Treasurer. MN Statutes requires the office of the Treasurer to be held by a Commissioner of the Authority while the Bylaws indicate the opposite. As to the office of Secretary, MN Statutes does not require a Commissioner of the Authority to hold the office however the Authority’s Bylaws do. W hile this is inconsistent with Statutes, it is not otherwise invalid. The Authority’s Bylaws pertaining to the Treasurer’s office however is contrary to law and should be made consistent. As noted above, the Bylaws will be presented for discussion at the September 22, 2008 meeting of the Authority. EDA Appointment Report August 25, 2008 Page 2 Recommendation: Approve Resolution 08-EDA-243 Approving Election and Appointment of Officers to the Authority. Respectfully submitted, ________________________ James Ericson Executive Director EDA RESOLUTION 08-EDA-243 CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW COUNTY OF RAMSEY STATE OF MINNESOTA RESOLUTION ELECTING OFFICERS TO THE MOUNDS VIEW ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes section 469.096 addresses Officers, Duties and Organizational Matters relating to an Economic Development Authority; and, WHEREAS, the Mounds View Economic Development Authority (the “Authority”) has adopted Bylaws which govern the operation and function of the Authority; and, WHEREAS, together, MN Statutes and the Authority Bylaws require that certain officers of the Authority—the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary—be elected annually and by necessity be Commissioners of the Authority; and, WHEREAS, MN Statutes and the Authority Bylaws do not require that certain officers of the Authority—the Executive Director, Assistant Treasurer and the Clerk—be Commissioners of the Authority or be elected annually. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mounds View Economic Development Authority hereby appoints the following individuals to serve as officers of the Authority as noted below: President: _______________ (EDA) Vice President: _______________ (EDA) Treasurer: _______________ (EDA) Secretary: _______________ (EDA) Executive Director: City Clerk – Administrator Assistant Treasurer: City Finance Director Clerk: Assistant City Administrator Adopted this 25th day of August, 2008. _____________________________ Rob Marty, President ATTEST: _____________________________ James Ericson, Executive Director (seal)