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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-06-10 EDA MinutesCITY OF COTTAGE GROVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MINUTES June 10, 2008 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 June 2008. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:30 a.m. by EDA President Luden. Rnl I CAI I Members Present: Tony Jurgens, EDA Member Fred Luden, EDA President Paul Poncin, EDA Member Richard Remackel, EDA Member Sandy Shiely, EDA Vice President Gerry Weingartner, EDA Secretary /Treasurer Sara Westall, EDA Member Members Absent: None Staff Present: Howard Blin, Community Development Director Joe Fischbach, Management Analyst Ron Hedberg, Director of Finance & Administrative Services Ryan Schroeder, EDA Executive Director Ken Smith, Management Analyst Jesse Swenson, Management Analyst Others Present: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by EDA Member Jurgens to approve the May 13, 2008 Economic Development Authority minutes. Seconded by EDA Member Poncin, All Present in Favor. DEVELOPMENT UPDATE Economic Development Authority - Minutes June 10, 2008 Page 2 EDA Executive Director Schroeder gave the EDA a development update. The Home Depot building is on the market for $6.7 million, which is about $70 /square foot. The City Council awarded the US Bank retaining wall project to Rosti Construction at a cost well under the engineer's estimate. Construction is expected to begin in July. The G -Will Center has changed its name to 80 Street Crossing and site improvements are expected. Tradehome Shoes has requested a variance to parking requirements to allow for a 3,000 square foot office expansion. The Planning Commission recommended the approval of the variance. It is expected that Council will take up this item at its June 18 Council meeting. Renewal by Andersen applied for a zoning text amendment to allow for an outdoor testing accessory use at their facility. The Planning Commission recommended approval of this amendment. It is expected that Council will take up this item at its June 18 Council meeting. At its May 21 Council meeting the City Council authorized plans and specifications to realign Lehigh Avenue with Manning Avenue. A larger project had been proposed to also address some drainage issues in the area but Council moved forward with the base project. The project will bid in late 2008 with construction commencing in 2009. The City has contracted with Braun Engineering to test for possible contamination on the Joe -Bob site and the site to the south. The tile found on the Joe -Bob site appears to be an anomaly as no other material has been found. On the site to the south, reporting is not yet complete but it is anticipated that contamination will be minimal with mitigation to be minimal as well. Culver's has begun tearing up the parking lot to begin construction of their new restaurant on 80 St near Kohl's. Due to surface bedrock for the pond north of Werner Electric the contractor has been blasting throughout the area. Werner Electric has experienced vibration in their building because of this and has expressed concern. As a result the City has contracted with American Engineering and Testing to analyze seismic monitoring. Preliminary results show that the readings are within parameters. Final reporting however will not be available for several weeks. Staff has been preparing business attraction mailings and packets to be sent out to specific retail end users as well as industrial end users. Staff will also continue to send out mailings and packets to developer /builder /real estate contacts as has been done in the past. EDA Executive Director Schroeder also went over the building permit data thus far in 2008. A request was made to break out commercial /industrial data from institutional data. REVIEW OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DRAFT Community Development Director Blin presented this item. It is anticipated that the draft plan will go to the City Council at their June 18 meeting for review. It is further anticipated that it will go before them again at their July 2 nd meeting for action. After that the plan needs to be submitted to adjacent communities to allow them to review the plan. The plan must then be submitted to the Met Council by December 31 There are several components of the plan. Under the Community Vision portion the Comp Plan Steering Committee identified several components. They include small town character, a walkable community, more commercial activity, increased employment, enhanced access to the Mississippi River and improved sustainability. Under the Land Use component several were also discussed including the natural resources inventory, the East Ravine plan, the transitional planning areas, Grey Cloud Island, a new golf course designation, the Langdon area and the staging plan for future development. A Economic Development Authority - Minutes June 10, 2008 Page 3 few members of the community approached the Comp Plan Steering Committee and /or Planning Commission to try to change their land use designation or object to the proposed changes that are being recommended. There is also a Transportation element that was worked on. Several on the EDA inquired if there was going to be another bridge between Hastings Bridge and the Wakota Bridge. Staff indicated that it was unlikely in the near future. The EDA would like to see the discussion started to get it in a plan somewhere. It was expressed that it would be very beneficial to the City of Cottage Grove. RIVER OAKS LEASE EXTENSION EDA Executive Director presented this item. The current lease with 3M for the 59.89 acres River Oaks uses as part of the golf course is up on April 30, 2010. Staff would like to instruct the City Attorney to begin negotiating a lease extension. The lease runs in 5 year terms and staff is recommending negotiating out through April 30, 2025 and facilitating discussions for lease terms even farther out in to the future. EDA Vice President Shiely moved to authorize staff and the City Attorney to begin negotiating lease extensions with 3M for the land used for the River Oaks Golf Course. Seconded by EDA Secretary /Treasurer Weingartner, All Present in Favor. SHOP LOCAL CAMPAIGN Woodbury Lakes retailers have begun sending out mailers to Cottage Grove residents to entice them to shop at their stores. Staff thought it would be prudent to get this item on the agenda to start discussions of how Cottage Grove businesses could get Cottage Grove residents to shop locally at their stores. It was suggested that the Chamber of Commerce work on this issue. The EDA would like someone from the Chamber to attend a future EDA meeting to discuss this topic. WORKFORCE TRAINING WORKGROUP MINUTES The minutes of the May 28 Workforce Training Workshop were presented to the EDA. Right now the workgroup is in the fact finding stage. The next meeting will be June 25 EDA GOLF TOURNAMENT UPDATE Management Analyst Jesse Swenson reported that twelve foursomes have already signed up for the event. The premiums for this year's event will be a hat and ball marker. CALENDAR The EDA members were reminded of upcoming meetings and events. MISCELANEOUS BUSINESS ITEMS None Economic Development Authority - Minutes June 10, 2008 Page 4 ADJOURN EDA Secretary /Treasurer Weingartner moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by EDA Member Jurgens, All Present in Favor. The meeting adjourned at 8:56 AM. Respectfully Submitted, Joe Fischbach Management Analyst