MINUTES EDA 07.17.18 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF JULY 17, 2018 Weidt called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm. PRESENT: Denaway, Klein, Petty, Puleo, Weidt. ABSENT: Gallivan, Houle. STAFF: Bryan Bear, City Administrator Rachel Juba, Community Development Director Pierre Giguere, Community Development Intern APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF JUNE 18, 2018 Klein made a motion, Petty seconded, to approve minutes for the EDA meeting of June 18, 2018. All Ayes. Motion carried. DISCUSSION ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORK PLAN Juba introduced the EDA board to Chris Eng who is a member of the Washington County CDA. Juba and Eng have been working on forming a new Economic Development Workplan that can be implemented within the Hugo community to encourage development, expansion, and success among local businesses within the City. The workplan will consist of a number of action steps and deliverables that will work to strengthen the relationships between the EDA and local businesses. Specific action steps have yet to be identified. Eng approached the podium to further explain how the workplan will function within the City's EDA. Eng stated that the City of Hugo recently received a $9,900 grant from the Washington County CDA. This grant will be used by the City to evaluate the potential cost of extending City utilities to 165th Street. The process of evaluation will be included within the proposed workplan. Eng stated that the workplan will consist of five goals. These goals include evaluating the expansion of utilities to 165t' Street, marketing of downtown and City owned property, updating the current EDA website, developing a list of business resources and City incentives, and forming partnerships with property owners who are interested in selling land. Eng explained that the workplan will be a process that will take time but is a sound investment for the City. Eng emphasized the importance of shovel ready sites within the City, which help simplify and expediate development of new and expanding businesses and that it should be a focus within the workplan. Eng also explained that talented individuals within the Hugo community are extremely valuable and the workplan should focus on keeping these individuals present within community. Eng then requested feedback from EDA members on what they think should be added to the plan. Members of the EDA agreed that an economic development workplan could provide a great benefit to the City in terms of economic development. President Weidt stated that reaching out to the top 25 developers within the Washington County area should be listed as an action step within the workplan. Commissioner Petty added that updating the City's list of businesses and notifying these businesses of City actions and business opportunities could greatly benefit local businesses, small businesses in particular. Commissioner Puleo stated the fact that although the City of Hugo is pro-business and wants to help businesses in all stages of their development, not all businesses within the area are aware of this. Puleo suggested that the EDA distribute a monthly newsletter made specifically for businesses within the area. This will help increase interaction between local businesses and the EDA.