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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-02-10 EDA MinutesCITY OF COTTAGE GROVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MINUTES February 10, 2004 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a regular meeting of the Economic Development Authority was held at City Hall, 7516 80th Street South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota on the 10th day of February 2004. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:30 a.m. by EDA President Jim Wolcott. ROLL CALL Members Present: Jim Wolcott, EDA President Gerry Weingartner, Authority Member Glen Kleven, Authority Member Sandy Shiely, EDA Vice - President Mike Wennen, Authority Member Al Boche, Authority Member Dick Pederson, Authority Member Members Absent: Others Present: Ryan Schroeder, City Administrator Howard Blin, Community Development Director Ron Hedberg, Finance and Administrative Services Director Scott Johnson, Management Analyst Colby Johnson, South Washington County Bulletin APPROVAL OF MINUTES Authority Member Sandy Shiely moved to approve the January 13, 2004 EDA Minutes. The minutes were corrected to show that EDA President Jim Wolcott was present at the January meeting. Mike Wennen seconded the motion with the correction and the motion carried unanimously. PROJECT UPDATES Scott Johnson updated the EDA on project ED -03 -018, which is for an auto body repair shop in the Industrial Park. The auto body shop plans are moving forward slowly. Economic Development Authority — Minutes February 10, 2004 Page 2 GATEWAY UPDATE The Planning Commission will review the plans for a Ruby Tuesday's Restaurant in February and will reach the City Council in March. They plan to close on the property in May or June. The preliminary grading for this project will be complete on June 1St 6,000 yards of dirt will need to be moved differently to accommodate the parking lot. Ruby Tuesday's has agreed to change the grading plan at a cost of $10,000. There is no purchase agreement with Oppidan. They are currently reviewing the changes. A purchase agreement with Oppidan will be presented to the City Council in the near future. Plans are currently being refined for the project on the Bruhn /Stoltz property. They will be at the next Planning Commission meeting asking for a zoning amendment and site plan approval. Jim Wolcott mentioned that the turn out in the back of the building may be insufficient for deliveries and he wanted to know how far the building was set back from the green space. Howard Blin informed the EDA that staff is currently reviewing the site plan and these concerns will be addressed at the next Planning Commission meeting. The Kohl's project is currently one month ahead of schedule. Turn over of this project is scheduled for June 1 st COTTAGE SQUARE Staff included a copy of the letter that was sent to all Cottage Square tenants informing them of the purchase agreement with Presbyterian Homes. Griffin Companies will partner with Presbyterian Homes to re -do the site plan concepts. They will proceed into the formal review in March or April. Revenue bond financing will be used for this project. The bonds will provide an additional revenue source for the City from this project. GATEWAY STREETSCAPING The current plan is to build bituminous sidewalks with grass boulevards south and north of 80 St. Staff suggested using washed concrete for these heavy commercial areas instead at a cost of $67,000. Staff also suggested using washed concrete for the south portion by Grove Plaza at a cost of $58,980. $80,000 of this expense could be paid out of the MSA fund. The additional $45,980 would be paid for out of the EDA Trust Fund. Ryan Schroeder informed the EDA that a Council Resolution would be needed to borrow ahead from the MSA. Also, MNDOT would be fine with the City using the MSA for this reason. The exposed aggregate would be used in the medians to get rid of the grass. Mayor Shiely commented that the investment is warranted in this situation and it will help attract favorable commercial projects to the area. Dick Pederson made a motion to use washed concrete for the sidewalks and boulevards south and north of 80 St. and also a portion south of Grove Plaza. Mike Wennen seconded the motion and the motion Economic Development Authority — Minutes February 10, 2004 Page 3 carried unanimously. 2004 MARKETING AND ADVERTISING Glen Kleven suggested running more ads and he also commented that the Real Estate Journal advertising has worked well, but not the advertising in the Business Journal. Ryan Schroeder mentioned to the EDA that they may want to run 13 quarter page ads over 18 months. Mayor Shiely asked if he thought it would be better to run four or six post cards. Mr. Schroeder suggested running six post cards for 2004. The EDA decided to run 13 quarter page ads in the Real Estate Journal over the next 18 months and run six post cards for 2004. CLEAR CHANNEL Staff has negotiated a purchase agreement on property with Clear Channel for the purpose of ponding, which was approved at the last City Council Meeting. The new billboard signs will be staked out 10 days after the approval of the agreement. The new structures will be phased in and are limited to no more than 2,800 square feet of space. Clear Channel will also remove old electrical and telephone polls from the property. They will install underground electrical utilities on the property. Ryan Schroeder asked the EDA for input on the design of the signs. Mayor Shiely liked the lighthouse design. All of the lighting for this sign would be from below. All of the EDA members liked the lighthouse design option for the billboard sign. Jim Wolcott liked the design, but asked staff if it would be possible to stay with the north gateway theme for the signs materials. Ryan Schroeder said staff continues to negotiate with Joe -Bob properties on a land exchange. They are currently looking for property to run a dealership. A 4 acre exchange is not likely because of the difference in market values due to utility costs. 2003 ACCOMPLISHMENTS / 2004 GOALS Ryan asked for the EDA's input on the economic development section of the document. The EDA liked the economic development section and thought it was well done. FOCUS AND CG REPORTS ARTICLES Ryan Schroeder informed the EDA that staff has put together articles to run in the Focus and CG Reports. He asked the EDA for input and additional article ideas. Mayor Shiely liked the articles because they cover topics that citizens usually have questions about. She suggested adding another example in the 3 rd paragraph of the first article to make the topic less confusing. Glen Kleven suggested posting the articles on the City's website. Economic Development Authority — Minutes February 10, 2004 Page 4 CALENDAR East Ravine Meeting February 24 EDA Meeting March 9 Joint City Council and March 10 Planning Commission Meeting MISC Jim Wolcott mentioned to Ryan Schroeder that EDA input will be needed for the commercial sections that are being proposed under the East Ravine Study. He would like staff to bring maps of the different options and include information on the process for discussion at the next meeting. Mr. Schroeder informed the EDA that an East Ravine item will be included on the next agenda. ADJOURN The EDA adjourned at 8:25 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Scott Johnson Management Analyst