Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-06-16 PACKET 04.A.i.REQUEST OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION COUNCIL AGENDA MEETING ITEM # DATE 6/11 /10 0 PREPARED BY Administration Ryan Schroeder ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST Approval of EDA Minutes from May 11, 2010 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve minutes BUDGET IMPLICATION BUDGETED AMOUNT ACTUAL AMOUNT ADVISORY COMMISSION ACTION SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ❑ MEMO /LETTER: ❑ RESOLUTION: ❑ ORDINANCE: ❑ ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION: ❑ LEGAL RECOMMENDATION: ® OTHER: minutes ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS -3 City Administrator COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN: APPROVED ❑ DENIED ❑ OTHER http:/ /156 .142.9.3 /intranet/Administration Forms /City Council Action Form - Read Only.doc DATE REVIEWED APPROVED DENIED ❑ PLANNING ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ PUBLIC SAFETY ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ PUBLIC WORKS ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ PARKS AND RECREATION ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ HUMAN SERVICES /RIGHTS ❑ ❑ ❑ ® ECONOMIC DEV. AUTHORITY 6/8/10 ❑ ® ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ❑ MEMO /LETTER: ❑ RESOLUTION: ❑ ORDINANCE: ❑ ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION: ❑ LEGAL RECOMMENDATION: ® OTHER: minutes ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS -3 City Administrator COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN: APPROVED ❑ DENIED ❑ OTHER http:/ /156 .142.9.3 /intranet/Administration Forms /City Council Action Form - Read Only.doc C N ti VZ S7 Z i Z� 11 i r.AW44:191TA t E CONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MINUTES May 11, 2010 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a regular meeting of the Economic Development Authority was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516 80 St. S., Cottage Grove, Minnesota 55016 on the 13th day of April 2010. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:32 a.m. by EDA President Bailey. ROLL CALL Members Present: Myron Bailey, EDA President Tony Jurgens, EDA Member Justin Olsen, EDA Vice President Craig Patterson, EDA Member Paul Poncin, EDA Secretary/Treasurer Richard Remackel, EDA Member Members Absent: Chris Reese, EDA Member Staff Present: Howard Blin, Community Development Director Robin Roland, Finance Director Ryan Schroeder, EDA Executive Director Ken Smith, Communications Coordinator Others Present: Brian Voelker, Public Works Management Analyst Perry de Stefano, Chair, Chamber of Commerce Governmental and Development Committee • • • A motion was made by EDA Member Remackel to approve the April 13, 2010 Economic Development Authority minutes. Seconded by EDA Member Poncin, all present in favor. Economic Development Authority - Minutes May 11, 2010 Page 2 DEVELOPMENT UPDATE / BR &E UPDATE / BUSINESS LEADS / WEB STATS Building Permits EDA Executive Director Schroeder gave the EDA a development update. We are about 15% ahead of 2009 in total economic activity but are lagging typical activity during the past decade by about 40 %. At the current rate we should realize $15 to $16 million in remodeling compared to a typical year at $13 to $14 million. Activity has been stabilized by residential remodeling which for the first four months of the year is above the pace of the past three years by 19 %. A significant portion of C /I /I activity is institutional although the BP Amoco redevelopment and the White Pines Phase Two projects should be considered May projects. Norris Marketplace We are working with Norris Marketplace on redesign options for the property. Staff is also looking at this site as one that could include public and or non - profit uses along with the potential for some additional senior housing opportunities. A design meeting took place this week with potential resulting design options proposed for early June. Community Development Inspection Staffing City Inspectors have entered into contracts with St. Paul Park and Newport to conduct building inspections for those two communities. Denmark Township approved a similar contract that will go before the Cottage Grove City Council at their next meeting. SW W DNBW D /BW SR The lower St. Croix Water Management Organization (WMO) dissolved itself into the South Washington Watershed District (SWWD). However, through various policy board challenges at the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) for a time that action was over turned resulting in most of the WMO being foisted into the Valley Branch Watershed District (VBWD). The result of all this is Cottage Grove and Denmark Township (but for small sliver of land) will again be included in the SWWD, which was the initial requested action last May. Upgrades to our central Ravine District will occur prior to December 31, 2014. Business Leads Executive Director Schroeder reviewed the Business Leads. He mentioned a grocery store was looking at a location near US Bank. The City was contacted about a performance theater site in Cottage Grove. A restaurant is interested in the City but waiting to see what happens at Norris Square. EDA Vice President Olsen expressed interest in a bowing /entertainment complex. Community Development Director Blin responded that entertainment centers are having a hard time finding financing. EDA Vice President Olsen described a joint partnership in Rosemount where an old grocery store was turned into an ice skating training facility. He stated it did not compete with the Ice Arena and had Wild players show up to volunteer. Finance Director Roland explained that these businesses are successful because they can change fees to cover costs and she also believes some TIF was involved. EDA Member Jurgens asked about a Economic Development Authority - Minutes May 11, 2010 Page 3 sandwich shop. No one had information at this time. EDA President Bailey asked about the Hollywood Video Store site. EDA Executive Director Schroeder replied that 4 businesses had asked about the site. EDA Member Remackel space near the railroad. Schroeder stated he emissions from any activity at the site. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & EDA LIAISON asked about a Chemical Company looking for wasn't sure but passed on his concern about EDA in April expressed interest in having a liaison from the Chamber attend EDA meetings. The Chamber responded positively and sent Perry de Stefano, the chair of the Chamber's Government and Development committee. He expressed his desire to continue attending meetings and to work with the EDA on various events and projects. EDA Vice President Olsen stated that the EDA is here to help local businesses. EDA Member Jurgens asked about membership numbers on the Chamber Committee. Mr. de Stefano informed him they were up 2 or 3 members. RECON LAS VEGAS 2010 UPDATE Communications Coordinator Ken Smith gave the update on the RECon ICSC Las Vegas meeting. As of May 7, 2010 the City has scheduled 17 meetings with over 25 meetings pending. He also handed out a meeting information sheet with detailed information about the people the group would be meeting with, booth locations and times. EDA GOLF TOURNAMENT UPDATE As of April 30, 2010 there are two foursomes registered for the August 10 EDA golf tournament, and this includes a Silver and Gold level sponsor. This is slightly behind the amount of registrants we had at the same time last year. Invitations for the tournament were mailed to 1,300 Cottage Grove Growth Partners contacts in April. This past winter the EDA agreed upon $20 gift certificates to the River Oaks pro shop as the premium item. EDA Vice President Olsen heard from another Councilmember who suggested we use the tournament as a perk to bring people to the community. He also suggested that the tournament be free and we have more giveaways. EDA President Bailey mentioned that the tournament used to be free and most businesses have a problem taking in kind gifts. EDA Executive Director Schroeder mentioned that if the golf is free you'll get a lot no shows because they have no skin in the game. EDA President Bailey suggested we check with other cities to see what they are doing. EDA Member Jurgens suggested we give away more prizes. EDA Executive Schroeder stated we could give away bigger premium gifts. It was mentioned that the committee should look into events to attract female business owners who don't necessarily play golf. Economic Development Authority - Minutes May 11, 2010 Page 4 HOLIDAY LIGHTS Mr. Voelker gave a presentation on the efforts of the city to choose and display holiday lights along the streets of our business district. After residents voted on Facebook, in person and on the phone the votes were tallied and the winners were: the Christmas tree, candy cane with bow and the snowman banner. Mr. Voelker included prices and quantities needed to present a stunning holiday picture. The EDA decided to give their support to using all three by rotating every decoration along Cottage Grove's business districts. EDA President Myron Bailey left the meeting a 8:15. RIVER OAKS GOLF COURSE Update — Finance Director Robin Roland gave a financial update of River Oaks. In her presentation she discussed revenues and net assets. Total 2009 golf activity revenues were flat when compared to 2008. Revenues in 2010 are expected to mirror those of 2009. Club House banquets and weddings are up from 2009. Ms. Roland stressed it was necessary in an enterprise fund for the revenues to match incurred expenses. She did an analysis of 39 municipal golf courses using information from the State Auditors website and found 13 had revenues over $1 million dollars. The top revenue earner was Edina with $3.6 million in revenue. Only five showed a profit and eight showed losses of 1 to 4 %. She stressed that River Oaks is not unusual. The City of Edina transferred $13,000 to their golf course to help with operations. The trend in other cities is to treat their golf course as an amenity not a profit generating center. Director Roland stated it would take $65,000 in additional revenues starting in 2010 plus an annual increase of 3% to break even on the club house loan. In 9 years there has been only 1 year when profit in the club house added to the bottom line. However, River Oaks operations have shown profit until you add the cost of the debt. This puts us in the same boat as other cities we compare to. She was not sure that expanding the club house would increase revenue. In the future, capital outlays will make numbers go negative again. EDA Member Jurgens asked if anyone partners with golf galaxy in their golf shop. Ms. Roland stated she didn't know. EDA Executive Director Schroeder stated that Bruce would say the perception is, is that golf items are more expensive in a golf shop. EDA Member Jurgens stated he thought there would be more memberships. Ms Roland stated there was apparently no benefit to having a membership because getting tee times is not a problem. She also stated that having a private party run the restaurant would require them to show a profit in the first year or there'd be no incentive. It was said that the planned highway 61 construction would be problematic. EDA Member Remackel stated that if we don't have staff to do proper maintenance and sales we would create a downward spiral. Bruce should be working the floor. EDA Member Patterson asked if we linked our facebook page to River Oaks. Ms. Roland stated yes using the fish fry as an example. She stated one key to customer service in the club house was sending people to the wedding expos and she knew we had a presence there. She informed the EDA that the main draw to River Oaks is the golf and the club house was an amenity. EDA Vice President Olsen asked the question how do we grow the business and increase revenue. He stated a business owner should have staff that sells. He was disappointed that East Ridge HS is playing at the Dunes. He asked if other golf courses had 5 year business plans. Ms. Roland said she would check around. He inquired as to the value of Economic Development Authority - Minutes May 11, 2010 Page 5 using outside caterers. EDA Executive Director Schroeder stated we used to use outside caterers and made $1.00 /plate. EDA Vice President asked if we should readdress issue. EDA Member Remackel informed the EDA that he thought the pricing in the club house was good because they were too busy for him to have his son's wedding there. Hacker Guide 2010 — Communications Coordinator Ken Smith gave an overview on the 2010 Hacker's Guide. The 2010 Hackers Guide has been published and River Oaks Golf Course received the 15` highest score out of 283 municipal and semi public golf courses. Our score is 852 out of a possible 1000 points in the areas of: hospitality, playability, usability, facility and value. In the 2008 Hackers Guide, River Oaks was rated the 2 best golf course in the Twin Cities with a score of 873 using the above criteria. However, that rating included 87 metro golf courses. The new book looked at 283 municipal and semi - private golf courses in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The highest ranking score for the number one rated courses is 867, which is less than our second place finish in 2008 by 6 points (873). Our biggest drops from 2008 to 2010 seemed to be in hospitality and value. We increased our score in usability and facility. Hospitality is an area we can always work to improve even thought this rating is a snap shot rating on a particular day. Value is subjective when not compared evenly to other courses but is an area to watch for improvement (tee pricing, rental cart pricing, food and beverages etc.) When compared to the number one rated course (Coffee Mill in Wabasha) for 2010, we did better than them in playability and usability, but fell short in hospitality, facility and value. Our strengths seem to be usability, facility and playability. Fairway & Greens Advertisement — the EDA was provided with an article in Fairways & Greens a local publication that highlighted River Oaks on their second page. Ken said that Bruce Anderson referred to it as good advertisement for the Course. CALENDAR There was a reminder for the, June 15 Chamber Golf Tournament, and the October 27" 2nd annual Real Estate Forum. Miscellaneous Business Items EDA Member Remackel stated that perhaps we could use an online retailer of golf equipment in the golf shop as a way of changing the perception that equipment in the golf shop is more expensive. EDA executive Director Schroeder said he would check with Bruce. ADJOURN EDA Member Jurgens moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by EDA Secretary/Treasurer Poncin, all present in favor. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 AM. Economic Development Authority - Minutes May 11, 2010 Page 6 Respectfully Submitted, Ken Smith Communications Coordinator