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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011.10.10 EDA MinutesMINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF OCTOBER 10, 2011 Miron called the meeting to order at 8:35 am. PRESENT: Arcand, Bever, Denaway, Graff, Puleo, and Miron ABSENT: Klein STAFF: Mike Ericson, City Administrator Bryan Bear, Community Development Director Rachel Juba, Planner APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 Arcand made motion, Denaway seconded, to approve minutes for the EDA meeting of September 12, 2011. All aye. Motion carried. UPDATE ON THE MARKETING CAMPAIGN Staff has started to compile information for the multimedia marketing campaign. The next steps are to showcase the information in an interesting way on the City's website. Staff is working with Gov Office, which hosts the website, to make updates to the website. Staff enclosed the strategic plan for the marketing campaign for the EDA's review. Rachel Juba, Planner, gave background on the strategic plan. Miron stated that he would like to see quality and unique restaurants in downtown Hugo. Bryan Bear, Community Development Director, asked if the City should target major chains or the private local restaurateur. Miron stated that the local restaurateurs may be more inclined to locate in the downtown. Arcand stated that we need something unique in downtown to attract other businesses. Miron agreed and stated that the downtown needs a project to spark development which may include significant assistance from the City. Bever talked about attracting projects that are geared towards kids. Graff stated that the goal for downtown should be a restaurant to spark development. He stated that it's a matter of effort and getting prospects to the City. Puleo agreed it's a great spot for a restaurant. Miron talked about a community center in downtown, it is shown on the downtown master plan. Miron stated there are several in other cities. Denaway stated that the cities are lucky to cover operating costs. Mike Ericson, City Administrator, stated that we thought of that as the new City Hall was built in 2004. The City decided to include a community room and donate one million dollars to Oneka Elementary School for an extra large gymnasium. Puleo stated that he does not think the City is ready for the community center, but maybe there is a way to partner with the development team with the purchase agreement for the City owned property. Bryan Bear, Community Development Director, stated that there have been meetings for the planning of Lions Park and there was a visual preference survey. No one mentioned having a community center, and a covered skating rink was desired. Denaway stated that we should also target professional serves, such as lawyers, medical, offices. Puleo stated that the downtown needs exposure. Graff stated that residents could be surveyed to see what they would like to see in downtown. Denaway stated it's also a matter of creating spaces several users can go into. Miron stated that we may have all the information on the services that people get out of town. Miron, Denaway, and Graff stated we need to compile of the information in the strategic plan and showcase Hugo. Denaway made a motion, seconded by Graff, for staff to do an analysis on a hypothetical development that includes a restaurant. This will show the EDA how much the development would cost in Hugo and in the surrounding cities. All aye. Motion carried. UPDATE ON GREATER MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP Staff attended the Greater MSP meeting on September 29, 2011. Bryan Bear, Community Development Director, attended the second meeting. He stated that our City marketing outline is not a lot different from Greater MSP. Their goal is to get contact information from cities and provide them with prospects. The focus has been on manufacturing and industrial businesses and they are doing regional marketing to get leads. Hugo is part of the group that is being responsive to Greater MSP. UPDATE ON DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT Staff updated the EDA on the progress of downtown redevelopment. The LCDA Grant for Pete Sampair's property in downtown has moved to the second step of evaluation. The bids for the demolition of the Ricci's building should be in next week. There will be a sheriff's sale on the Carpenters and Antique Store properties on October 21, 2011. They will have six months to redeem the property. Anyone has an opportunity to bid on the property. Graff and Denaway stated that the City should not bid on the property. Bryan Bear, Community Development Director, stated that the one thing the City may lose if the full access onto and from Highway 61. UPDATE ON BOOT CAMP FOR ENTREPRENEURS Staff updated the EDA on the Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs on October 18, 2011. Miron made a motion, seconded by Graff, to post the boot camp as an EDA meeting. All aye. Motion carried. CITY WIDE BUS TOUR — OCTOBER 15, 2011 The 6th Annual City Wide Bus Tour is on Saturday, October 15, 2011, at 10 am. EDA members were encouraged to attend. UPDATE ON MEETING DATE CHANGE FOR THE EDA/PLANNING COMMISSION CITY IDENTITY WORKSHOP — NOVEMBER 17, 2011 AT 7 PM There is a conflict with the previous meeting date of November 11, 2011. The I-35 W/E coalition is meeting that night. The Planning Commission rescheduled the date to November 17, 2011. Several members of the EDA were not able to make the November 17, 2011, date and asked for it to be rescheduled to December 8th or 15th. Staff will check with the Planning Commission and find out what date works best for them. ADJOURNMENT Denaway made a motion, seconded by Bever, to adjourn at 10:38 am. All aye. Motion carried.