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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011.09.12 EDA MinutesMINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 Miron called the meeting to order at 8:30 am. PRESENT: Arcand, Bever, Denaway, Graff, and Puleo ABSENT: Miron and Klein STAFF: Mike Ericson, City Administrator Bryan Bear, Community Development Director Rachel Juba, Planner APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF AUGUST 8, 2011 Arcand made motion, Denaway seconded, to approve minutes for the EDA meeting of August 8, 2011. All aye. Motion carried. PATRICK FLANAGAN- FLANAGAN LAW OFFICE Patrick Flanagan was present at the meeting to discuss his business that will be locating in Hugo in October. He will be moving into the building located at the south east corner of 147th Street and Highway 61. Mr. Flanagan talked about the background of his business and why he chose Hugo as a place to locate his business. The EDA welcomed Mr. Flanagan and his business to the City of Hugo. OVERVIEW OF 2005 MAXFIELD STUDY At its August meeting, the EDA asked staff to provide a summary of the 2005 Maxfield Study on the downtown area. Staff provided the executive summary in the packet for the EDA's review and presented some of the highlights to the EDA in a presentation. Most of the information is still relevant but, maybe a few years off. The full version of the study can be found on the City's website. DISCUSSION ON TIF DISTRICT Staff provided background on the TIF district in regards to the request and certification. The City has five years from the date of certification to spend money in the district. Staff continues to promote the TIF district. There has been declining value in the district. This means that the district has not created any increment. The values would need to increase for any increment to be created. There may not be any money available for the first projects in downtown. The TIF district may need to be reevaluated at the time the first project proceeds. There are alternatives for incentives, i.e. abatements. There is nothing wrong with leaving the TIF district the way it is. It is not helping us right now, but not hurting. Denaway stated that he feels we need to keep the district in place and that maybe the first projects will not be able to receive TIF but, there are other incentives to provide. This will help the values in the district increase therefore create increment. Graff stated that this is a big deal to developers and needs to be disclosed to them when discussions happen. Also developers may only be interested by TIF. Denaway stated that TIF shows that the City is willing to provide an incentive to developers in the downtown. TIF is not always the only incentives and there may be other incentives that are more attractive to developers. For example, free land. Puleo asked when the information on the values was found out. Rachel Juba, Planner, stated that we knew there were declining values but, until staff meet with the financial advisors last month we did not know how far. Bryan Bear, Community Development Director, stated that this is the first year we would see the declining values because the TIF district was not certified until 2010. UPDATE ON GREATER MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP MEETING ON AUGUST 23, 2011 Community Development Director, Bryan Bear, and Commissioners Miron and Denaway attended the MSP Economic Development Partnership meeting on August 23, 2011. Staff updated the EDA on the discussion at the meeting. The group is coming up with ways to promote the Minneapolis/St. Paul region. They feel there is more potential for the area and want to market it differently. There may be ways to market the region nationally. UPDATE ON CITY RENTAL PROPERTY The Building Official has put together a punch list of items that would need to be repaired in order to rent the property out again. A contractor provided a quote on what it would cost to make it safe to rent out again. Iit came to $9887.00. The roof would need to be replaced in the near future which is approximately $14,000. The City acquired the property in 2002 and has been making some money over the past years. Staff feels that the City will continue to spend money on the maintenance of the building and may lose money from now on. The alternative is to demolish the building which would be approximately $30,000. Staff had a discussion with the EDA on whether to rent the house out again or to demolish the house. Denaway stated it seems to make sense to demolish the building then to keep spending money to maintain the property. Bryan Bear, Community Development Director, stated that the quote is just to make the building safe, not necessarily up to code. Bever stated that is may be the right time to demolish the building since it may be less expensive. Arcand stated that we should be careful because we have demolished a lot of buildings in the area and it may seem like a park setting. Denaway asked about options and if the City could simply board it up. Bryan Bear, Community Development Director, stated that it would not be our first option. He stated that it is a difficult property to use currently for redevelopment, so it would be nice to make some money on it but, it may be at the point of no return. Bever made a motion, seconded by Denaway, to recommend to the City Council to demolish the rental property and to contact the previous owner prior to doing so. All Aye. Motion Carried. UPDATE ON ENTREPRENEUR BOOT CAMP Staff updated the EDA on the Entrepreneur Boot Camp that the Hugo Business Networking International (BNI) and Hugo Business Association (HBA) are putting together. The event is scheduled for October 18, 2011, at Wild Wings Hunt Club. UPDATE ON DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT Staff will update the EDA on the progress of downtown redevelopment. Staff enclosed the activity report from the development team that has a purchase agreement for the City owned property. The development team has been trying to make progress. The Ricci's property is probably going to be demolished by the end of the year. Staff will find out in December 2011, if Pete Sampair's property will be granted money through the Met Council's LCDA Program. EDA/PLANNING COMMISSION CITY IMAGE WORKSHOP ON NOVEMBER 10, 2011 AT 7 PM. Staff had a discussion with the EDA on the Planning Commission's interest in having a joint workshop with the EDA on City Image. The Planning Commission has scheduled the workshop on Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 7 pm. ADJOURNMENT Puleo made a motion, seconded by Denaway, to adjourn at 10:05 am. All aye. Motion carried.