2012.07.09 EDA Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Jane Harper From: Danette Parr[dparr@cottage-grove.org] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 2:25 PM To: Jane Harper Cc: Molly O'Rourke Subject: Washington County Economic Development Hi there Jane! As I mentioned originally, I'm not able to make the meeting if held on June 15th. No worries however, I know firsthand how hard it can be to find a date that works for everyone. Nonetheless, we wanted to share our thoughts related to where it makes the most sense for the County to focus their efforts related to economic development. Please see our thoughts below and let me know if you have any questions. Thanks much, Danette It likely isn't the best use of resources for the County to get into what cities are already doing. For instance, attempting to develop/maintain relationships with business owners and Chambers is likely not something that makes sense for the purposes of economic development. 2. It would be helpful if the County coordinated on topics for which efficiency can be gained by that coordination; Top choices would be fiber, storm water and the like, or if there are ways to help cities become more efficient such as facilitating consolidation of efforts that every city does, but not every city has to do (such as police and fire or road sweeping and striping etc that makes sense). 3. It would likely be most beneficial for the County to focus on what it does best and have the City focus on the other things. It the case of the County, one of the things they do well is transportation and transit...if we had the best county transportation/transit in the State it would be easier for cities to attract jobs investment 4. Having the lowest tax rate in the state should not be the goal. Having a tax rate that represents a good value for the property tax paid makes the most sense. There were a number of references in the attached exhibits that were distributed via the email that was previously sent out that reference activity related to identifying leasable property or the best parcels on which to develop. That is redundant of what cities, MSP and MNcorp are already doing. 6.As part of their land use responsibilities, it would be helpful if the County worked with the townships to discourage development that is not geared to townships. For instance, cities should not be in the situation of townships developing industrial parks right outside the city border so they get the tax base and the city gets the infrastructure burden. The County should make sure that townships pay for the extra services they receive from the county...City taxpayers should not be subsidizing townships. Danette M. Parr Economic Development Director 7516 80th Street So Cottage Grove, MN SS016 Phone No: 6S1-4S8-2824 Fax No: 6S1-4S8-2881 wwwgrowthpartnerscg.com Support where you live...BLJY LOCALLY!1