HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015.09.15 EDA Agenda PacketAGENDA
CITY OF HUGO
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
5-.00 PM
5:00 pm
1.
Call to Order
5:01 pm
2.
Roll Call (Denaway, Gallivan, Houle, Klein, Petty, Puleo, Weidt)
5:02 pm
3.
Approval of Minutes
• EDA Meeting of July 21, 2015
5:03 pm
4.
Update on Broadband Internet
5:15 pm
5.
Update on Railroad
5:30 pm
6.
Update on Solar Power Subscription
5:45 pm
7.
Update on Downtown Redevelopment
• Purchase of 14715 Forest Blvd. N.
• Lions Park
6:00 pm
8.
Adjournment
BACKGROUND MEMO FOR THE EDA MEETING OF
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Staff recommends approval of the minutes from the July 21, 2015, EDA meeting as presented.
4. UPDATE ON BROADBAND INTERNET
Staff will provide an update on the City's and County's efforts in providing better broadband internet
access in the City, especially in the rural areas.
5. UPDATE ON RAILROAD
Staff will provide an update on the railroad and improvements to the rail.
6. UPDATE ON SOLAR POWER SUBSCRIPTION
Staff will provide an update on the previously proposed solar site east of the Hugo Post Office and an
update on the City pursuing a solar power subscription through both a Met Council RFP and a small
solar company, SolarStone.
6. UPDATE ON DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT
Staff will provide an update on downtown redevelopment, including the purchase of 14715 Forest Blvd.
N. and an update on Lions Park.
MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF JULY 21, 2015
Weidt called the meeting to order at 5:03 pm.
PRESENT: Denaway, Gallivan, Klein, Petty, Puleo, and Weidt
ABSENT: Houle.
STAFF: Bryan Bear, City Administrator
Rachel Juba, Planner
Rachel Leitz, Community Development Assistant
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF JUNE 16, 2015
Klein made motion, Gallivan seconded, to approve minutes for the EDA meeting of June 16, 2015.
All Ayes. Motion carried.
UPDATE ON BEAUTIFICATION SUBCOMMITTEE
Planner Juba updated the EDA on the Beautification Subcommittee, formerly known as the Gateway
Subcommittee. The Beautification Subcommittee had their first meeting on July 9, 2015 and evaluated
the group's principal goals and work plan for their future meetings. Planner Juba discussed the work
plan with the EDA and requested feedback.
Weidt thought that the committee came up with a lot of good topics that need to be addressed within the
City. He suggested that the logo modification may need to be evaluated if the logo will be placed on the
City's entry monuments and banners.
Juba asked the EDA if there were any more topics they would like to see on the work pian for the
beautification subcommittee.
Weidt suggested that the subcommittee evaluate some type of design element on Highway 61.
Juba stated that incorporating a design element on Highway 61 will be discussed within the
subcommittee. She described that Staff would like to get the County involved, as they are planning to
add more features to the Highway 61 trail corridor.
UPDATE ON MARKETING OF CITY -OWNED PROPERTY
Planner Juba updated the EDA on the marketing of the City -owned property. She described that the
property is currently on commercial real estate sites and she sent out e-mail blasts to some of the top
commercial brokers in Minnesota. Juba stated that she has received some interest in the site and has been
providing information as the requests come in. A developer from Ohio seemed interested in the property
for a hotel and restaurant use or an event center. Juba stated that she may expect to see a concept plan
soon.
3,
y.
Rachel Leitz
From: Bryan Bear
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2015 1:28 PM
To: Rachel Leitz
Subject: FW: Century Link Meeting
For the EDA packet
From: Michele Lindau
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 2:14 PM
To: Kevin Corbid <Kevin.Corbid@co.washington.mn.us>
Cc: Bryan Bear<BBear@ci.hugo.mn.us>; Phil Klein <philklein7@msn.com>
Subject: RE: Century Link Meeting
Thanks for the recap, Kevin. Please forward me sample letters of support you receive from CenturyLink. We are
scheduling a meeting with them to discuss Hugo specifically. Servicing these rural areas is important to us, and we
appreciate the attention the County is giving this project.
Michele Lindau
Hugo City Clerk
651-762-6315
From: Kevin Corbid [mailto:Kevin.Corbid co.washin ton.mn.us]
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2015 11:56 AM
To: Nate Sparks (nsparks@nacplannine.com) <ns arks nac tannin .com>; Bill Voedisch (wkvoedisch@frontiernet.net)
<wkvoedisch@frontiernet.net>; Fran Miron <Fran.Miron@co.washineton.mn.us>; Phil Klein < hilklein7 msn.com>
Cc: Mjyke Nelson <Mivke.Nelson@co.washin ton.mn.us>; Michele Lindau <MLindau ci.hu o.mn.us>; Molly O'Rourke
<Molly.ORourke@co.washington.mn.us>
Subject: Century Link Meeting
Chairman Voedisch, Nate and others,
I thought while the information was fresh in my mind I would send just a few notes from our meeting with CenturyLink
yesterday. It was a great opportunity for us to talk with them, so I appreciate May Township and Hugo's leg work on this
to get this started.
Here is a little of what we learned:
• CenturyLink has accepted Connect America Fund (CAF) II funding for Minnesota, as well as 32 other states they
do business in. They did not accept the funding in four states.
• They said that the other two main providers in Minnesota (Frontier and Windstream) also accepted the CAF Il
funding.
• CenturyLink will be receiving $54 million per year for the next six years for just their MN work (Total of roughly
$324 million over the six years.
• They are able to use CAF II funding to do build outs in census blocks that have been identified by the FEC as
being underserved.
However, if at least two homes or more have the required access, even if the rest of the homes or businesses
do not, the FEC considers that whole census block to be served and therefore not eligible for CAF funded
projects.
• However, it is likely that investments in areas that are eligible for CAF funding may allow investments in other
areas not CAF eligible because the fiber may be getting much closer to those areas and therefore make it more
economical to serve that area.
• CenturyLink anticipates starting their CAF II build outs somewhere in the suburban metro area and then just
moving in a circle around the metro area.
• CenturyLink sees a critical role for the MN Broadband grant program to help in those areas that have large
numbers of underserved or unserved homes, but are not eligible for CAF II funding.
• CenturyLink is completing an application for 2016 funding from the Broadband grant program for the areas of
May Township, Hugo and Afton. They would appreciate letters of support from the county and cities for these
applications. There may be a potential role as a funding partner for these grants, if we want to improve our
chances of being awarded a grant.
4 CenturyLink also talked about the role of ordinances and how cities can work with them to lower the cost of
providing the access. They may reach out to cities individually as they know more about the builds in each city
to talk about that.
Again, a lot was learned and appreciate CenturyLink meeting with us. They certainly brought the folks with the
knowledge. If there are other key points that I have not noted here, please let me know.
I sent an email to them today asking for some samples of support letters they have gotten in the past from local
governments for their broadband grant applications.
Thanks. Have a great weekend.
Kevin
Kevin Corbid
Washington County Deputy Administrator
Office of Administration
Phone: 651-430-6003
Email: kevin.corbid@co.washington.mn.us
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�. City of
14669
July 23, 2015
Washington County
Attn: Kevin Corbid
1494962 nd St. N., P.O. Box 6
Stillwater, MN 55082-6132
Dear Mr. Corbid,
Avenue North,
MN 55038 (651} 762-6300 www
The City of Hugo Economic Development Authority reviewed the revisions to the Economic
Development Abatements Policy and Tax Increment Financing Policy at their meeting on June
16, 2015.
The EDA was supportive of the policy changes and believed they looked to be well improved
from the previous versions. The EDA thanks Washington County for their efforts in
modifications to the policies and believes these changes will lead to a more business friendly
model.
The City of Hugo EDA appreciates the County's goal to strengthen its role and increase its
support of economic development efforts within the County. The EDA would like to encourage
the Board to continue with their economic development efforts and reach out if any extra
comments are desired in future efforts.
Sincerely,
Rachel Juba
Planner
Cc: Hugo EDA
Washington County Board of Commissioners
VAUGUST Zoi s
N A T 1 0 N A L G U L F c 0 11 R 5 E O W N E R S A S S 0 C I A T 1 O N
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A NEW Wq(QF LIVING- 1FE
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PERFORMANCE -41' LIGE CONVERSATIONS1 EMPLOYE1=sMAYd1yH vING
The Arcands (I -r: Scott Arcand, cousin
Jennifer Trusty; cousin Patty �opeland;
and brother ale,Arcandf) ma a �anage-
ment of Oneka Ridge a amily attair
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BY DAVID GOULD
ndustry types will discuss
a public golf operation for
only so long without ask-
ing about "that number" --the
course's annual tally of rounds
played. At Oneka Ridge Golf
Course in suburban St. Paul,
Minnesota, the total came to
just under 36,000 for 2014. That's
pretty robust business in a season
spanning less than eight months,
and the rounds total has kept at that
level for a good stretch of years.
Scott Arcand, president and gen-
eral manager of the family -awned,
6,360 -yard course at the northeast -,f_,
E ern edge of the. Twin Cities, speaks
f abdut his steady customer flow with
no trace of hubris.?t"s �w
"I'm a bit shy even saying that
our play hasn't fallen off during this
down period for golf, generally;' Ar-
cand admits. "We pull from a fairly
wide area geographically and from
many different socioeconomic pock-
ets. Everybody's welcome here, that
much I can tell you:'
Fashioned out of lightly rolling
cropland, the course opened in 1995
as an artifact of that golf -course -a -
day construction boom. Its rack rate
i
currently tops out at $32 plus cart on
TAKEA�A�Kf�y
Oneka Ridge's value
proposition is grounded
in making golfers feel
particularly at home.
A robust league prograr5
forms the foundation of
business at Oneka Ridge
and has helped the course
maintain consistent rounds
played numbers.
Management uses small,
., constant, low-cost fix -ups
to show customers that
ey're willing to reinvest `..
in the course.
r
weekends, and you can to
ship for $1,400 a year—though it's a bargain at just $1,400
per couple if both are age 62 or older. A full -year range
pass is $300, and a three -lesson instruction package with
one of the PGA professionals costs $150.
"We don't do banquets, and our food -and -beverage
facilities are pretty modest, says Arcand, whose activity
with corporate and civic golf outings adds up to "about
30" events a year, most of them numbering 60 players or
fewer. "But; he adds, "we still do well on a per -round rev-
enue basis for all our play"
Arcand's head golf professional, Jon Hatcher, brings addi-
tional emphasis to that statement. The value proposition at
this facility in White Bear Lake, which was named Course of
the Year in 2013 by the Midwest Golf Course Owners Associa-
tion, is that golfers feel particularly at home there. Looking at
the various lines of business, Hatcher doesri t hesitate to say
that "revenue is strong in the bar, strong on the range and
strong in our golf shop;' directly based on that extra sense of
connection that public golfers feel for the place.
34 GOLFSUSINESS J u I y/ A u g u s t 2 0 1 5
at,
o understand that sense of at-
tachment calls for a close look
at the Oneka Ridge approach to
golf leagues. The facility has a men's
league, a senior men's league, a wom-
en's morning league and a women's
afternoon league. It hosts a couple's
league, a nine -hole evening league and
a junior league. If you have an idea for
some other type of league—and you
can talk management into giving up
some of the open -play space still on the
tee sheet—you have a shot at adding to
this already lengthy list.
Even when an adult beginner learns
the rudiments of the game at Oneka
Ridge through Get Golf Ready, the
course has a decent track record of
drafting the newbie into a league
within a year of his or her GGR expe-
rience. "We've done that quite a few
times, Hatcher says. "Moving people
on from Get Golf Ready to league par-
ticipation is a pretty logical next step,
the way we look at it."
It's worth pausing to think a mo-
ment about golf leagues. They're
commonly associated with outside
parties—usually industrial or civic
groups—that organize on their own
then shop for a course that will set
them up with a consistent block of
times through the seasons. Oneka
PPOPLE
eYi U Q I
GOLFREADY
TO LEAGUE PARTICIPATION
IS A PRETTY LOGICAL
NEXT STEP
THE WA'(WE LOOK AT l.{„
Ridge caters to some of these, but
management also creates and main-
tains leagues of its own, to para-
phrase the old movie title. This end
of the business has been nurtured for
the last five or six years, according to
Hatcher, who is a Minnesota native
but whose previous posting was the
resort -centric world of Pawley's Is-
land, South Carolina. Nonetheless, he
was drawn to the idea of leveraging
the league experience proactively.
"We did have leagues that came
to us from the outside, and still do,
he recalls. "Our idea in organizing
our own was to take advantage of the
guaranteed income"
It was also driven by a wish to mar-
ket more effectively in response to
inbound phone inquiries. "People call
up public courses and they might ask
about weekend availability or green
fees, but often they're asking in gen-
eral about your golf program;' Hatcher
says. "They want to know if there's a
comfortable place for them so they
can play regularly!'
That's a wise observation, but
aren't golf leagues a burdensome
building that comes with them any old
time. To those who doubt the allure
of a league invitation, Hatcher sug-
gests an experiment: Script staffers so
that incoming calls from golfers who
are unfamiliar with your facility get
answered with a basic set of bullet
points, plus the open-ended question,
"Would you be interested in joining
qualifies you from walk-up play and
the rack -rate green fees that are so
important to profitability? "Maybe in
the past that was the case;' surmises
Hatcher, "but open -play revenue isn't
even close to what it used to be, now
that we have all the coupons and cards
and third -party reselling."
These days, Hatcher will take
league bookings and the relationship -
an effective form of invitation. Early
on, there were 12 golfers in Oneka's
self -initiated Tuesday league; now,
that number is up to 85.
Of course, there's often a second
knock on heavy league activity, one
based on market positioning. The
belief is that it pushes the image of
the facility down market, which in
turn will reduce its green -fee pric-
GOLF$USINESS.COM 35
A GIFT THAT
KEEPS GIVING
Lvrti, stulace water and leav-
lwi :r arounriv.rater its your ago+tt:i
li a .:iy
tapped IS cine c+[ the "good
r avv ` 5 e ,ar,05 fot ;any gulf [casJrse
Tlic I `iia arre� that corTiprise Oneka
,�!dc,e rirlf Course in Mrsuie,�ota vlere
fe"W,,sly 9,#=sd vmh. a i;aw water haz-
ar.-. jT ,u,4 ct-);+Nets a rd ,teas some 32
illi car; ywllons of atrz-m vat+?r run )ff
as i ye ar. Jelivered alc;nq an agrrCui-
xur?', <,ay.Al J ,a1 originates near Bald
Lake. The resOt Is a projected
. aivioi3 (;T grcundwrater ;j -;e at r mA-,.
R�=�I9c; c3rin9 fc-,wiard_
T.-� fund the project, president
brad genera' r::anager Scott Arcand
sec.ur,ed public 9ran6 for $493,101;
lvl>~an.vhlle, so many cubic yards ro
,Airr wore.:inearthed during excava-
tion tl a{ lar:anal _'Ind ?xls staff had to
g,tlrry nrotrl c the prap:rty Vinding
;I,.j9 vej-7 rtn to tees, greeyi site,,,
ruid,aiivYa3 adclesthat tJouldabso-b
Ilik! Gfr;i Wfiiit, cn:lC Uig rtiU5r5P,,-9nd %7oS-
4�r_• to the 04-,9,31al layout.
A frit 4olo;ert utrfolded and galf-
i.}•..;;: 1Yi ifi l.lpg,,-,,IcisthatraIth^ t'!'ica-
t;::,,r<i'sry,;ai'F+:.
c-r,rc� rf;:.1 , tl,, r• alas a lzig bump
Ov;a',-o Midge. AT:3rrd a6is ;hat'+hire
Was'lis", a se^:ie anlorg gotfers and
iu:Ftri rt,-;rr6or o tho i xublic: tliat gr.*if
ht:d dor,^ A by Oi(u loci uruloyy
`°Af,,� rt Haat ieo dback frorr,
p,��opie, ov..- cwi tomens arta; people `
1�rca�,gl�o.r��th�,�,-.!rri�c,nity," �ivcarEd .
s ys "it +vas- a Mlessn,)C! about gulf
c;cilrjs: otr+??�.n; bf,; ny-aewdreti5 of
36 GOLFBUSINESS J u l y/ A u gust 20 1 5
Ing power. This notion may well be
valid beyond the borders of Oneka
Ridge and its unpretentious, family -
built facility, but to listen to Hatch-
er, the league -building tactic would
have legs in a lot of places. "Golfers
them early and you can hook them
early," is the rule of thumb Hatcher
espouses. As proof of that belief,
you'll find a strong contingent of
league juniors continuing to partici-
pate up through age V.
want a little competition, they want
the friendship aspect, and they want
a steady golf game" Just as poker
buddies want their regular poker
night, joining a league commits a
person to golf, provides the cama-
raderie of low-key competition,
adds legitimacy to mid -week beer
consumption, and makes it easy to
maintain friendships.
Further testifying to O cka
Ridge's league -centric programming
and marketing is the popularity of its
junior leagues. At a time when PGA
Junior League Golf is earning praise
for drawing a dozen or so youth play-
ers from any given facility, the junior
leagues at Oneka Ridge have built
themselves up to a participation level
of 125 -plus. There's golf instruction
for children as young as age 3, using
the "Tiny Tots" approach that origi-
nated in California years ago. "Start
For any golfer who plays multiple
rounds each year at Oneka Ridge,
the appeal of coming back lies
partly in the Arcand family's belief in
constant small improvements to the
facility. in fact, listening to the "honey -
did" list Scott Arcand and his crew have
steadily compiled, the whole idea of
how capital-imnro parent schedules
are bunt. rias to be rethought. Yes, the
basis of it is to plan for spending on the
HVAC in year one, on the cart paths in
year two, on front -nine bunkers in year
three, and so forth. But Oneka Ridge
seems to have a "shadow" improvement
schedule consisting of small, constant,
low-cost fix -ups that get scattered in
among the expensive jobs. These add
up to a constant sense of important up-
grades, even though most of them don't
qualify as "capital" investments.
'To give you an example',' confess-
es Arcand, "there was a message that
made its way to me about one of the
stalls in the women's restroom. The gap
between the door and doorframe was
uncomfortably wide, apparently' Some
slight settling of the units atter installa-
tion must have widened this one gap,
such that it violated the modesty factor
for at least a few female customers -and
Scott -a mortgage -loan executive by
trade -was tapped to help run things.
"I'm second generation,' explains
Scott, "but I was part of that first gen-
eration of our family that got things
going. Now they have passed on, and
it's my cousins who have ownership
shares. But we're all patient, and if
FrTLE
C U-MPETI rr-t
X I - U,6,� N
16,
11
STEADY GOLF GAME.
motivated the general manager to per-
sonally take action.
"I went to the hardware store and
invested S2 in a weather Strip, then I
rigged it to fill that gap; Arcand says.
'wouldn't you know, pretty soon I
had people coming up to me and say-
ing, 'I really like what you did with
that stall in the ladies' room' Now, if
that doesn't prove to a golf operator
that the little things make a big differ-
ence, 1 don't think anything will. We
rebuilt tee boxes along one section of
the course, we brought in a brilliant
shaper who built new mounding and
new bunkers, but when you fix some-
thing small, it's got a similar effect"
From a coldly business -like stand-
point, it must be noted that the Arcand
family places a very light levy on Oneka
Ridge as a cash -generator that needs to
support anyone's upkeep. Twenty years
ago, when family patriarch Warren Ar-
cand laid out the course and matriarch
Janice Arcand assumed oversight respon-
sibilities on the finished product, nephew
there's a distribution in a given year,
that's a bonus for everyone"
indeed, management of Oneka Ridge
truly is a family affair. Arcand's cousins,
Jennifer Trusty and Patty Copeland, sit on
the club's board, and his brother Gale Ar-
cand serves as executive vice president.
Even as managing partner, Scott
Arcand works without cash compen-
sation, although he seems to enjoy
the intrinsic rewards of overseeing a
people -oriented golf links in a tightly
knit community. "Our superintendent
and our golf staff keep challenging us
to improve the facilities, and we keep
challenging them to tighten the oper-
ation so it runs just a little better, Ar-
cand notes. "We have very productive
discussions, then we make a decision,
execute it, and see where it brings us."
Where it seems to have brought
them is a very good place -you might
even say to a league of their own. 'M
David Gould is a Massachusetts-based freelance
w iterand frequent contributor to GolfBusiness.
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