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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-12 MINUTES9 EC Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516 80" St. S. Cottage Grove, MN 55016 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 12 day of July, 2011. •• a � -r The meeting was called to order at 7:31 AM by EDA President Myron Bailey. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Others Present: Justin Olsen, EDA Vice President Tony Jurgens, EDA Member Paul Poncin, EDA Secretary/Treasurer Richard Remackel, EDA Member Chris Reese, EDA Member Craig Patterson, EDA Member Myron Bailey, EDA President Ryan Schroeder, EDA Executive Director Ken Smith, Community Services and Communications Coordinator Danette Parr, Economic Development Director Justin Fox, REMAX Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce A motion was made by EDA Member Richard Remackel and seconded by Secretary/Treasurer Paul Poncin, to approve the June 14, 2011 Economic Development Authority minutes. All present were in favor. The EDA greeted Justin Fox. Economic Development Authority - Minutes July 12, 2011 Page 2 DEVELOPMENT UPDATE / BR&E UPDATE / BUSINESS LEADS EDA Executive Director Schroder explained with 8 permits for July we are now at 24 new homes for 2011. This compares to an average since 2001 of 102 units year to date, 2007- 09 performance of 49 units YTD and 2010 of 19 units YTD. In a comparison to 2010 performance the 2011 activity puts us a on a pace of 56 units for the year although given our restricted lot count it should be expected that we will drop below that activity level. He explained that he was tracking unemployment #'s lately; our numbers are different then national numbers. In 1991 national unemployment was 7.8 and ours was 4.5. Currently, we are about 3 percent lower than the national unemployment. As of April 2011 we had 5.7 percent unemployment and the national number was 8.9 percent. Home Depot — the developer is doing soft marketing. They have letter of intent to rent the property for a fitness facility. Cottage View — Not a lot of developers are looking at the site at this time. There is a letter of intent on 22 acres of the larger parcel. It is a long way between LOI and an agreement he warned. No planning submittals expected until at least the 4th quarter. EDA Vice President Olsen asked if the Cottage View owners have expressed a sense of urgency to sell. EDA Executive Director Schroeder stated that if the theater required a significant investment it would close. Owner is concerned about his Agricultural tax status. PSCH / Community Center — EDA Executive Director Schroeder stated that on June 24 the City Council provided direction to the bid stage for this project. As a best value bid process this stage will take a bit longer than the more traditional low bid process. As a result it is anticipated that a bid award will occur on September 21, 2011. Mr. Schroeder explained that if the financing choice does not require a referendum then Council will not go to referendum. Private Placement financing is typically used for smaller projects. Bank of America created a new mechanism to bring our cash into their investment pool. Cost basis is very low. Some other banks have contacted us to get in on it. EDA Vice President Olsen said the Mayor stated he will not raise taxes. It's cheaper to use private placement. EDA Member Reese left the meeting at 8:10. EDA Vice President Olsen mentioned that the referendum on financing option is not on this project. Mr. Olsen, in response to the question by Justin Fox replied that a community center is a want, an extra and will result in a tax increase. General Government is a core function of Government. EDA Remackel commented that individuals expressing opposition to the PSCH were doing so for political reasons. It was felt that all the commotion around this topic might hurt the City's reputation in the long run. The City Council is a non partisan body. There was concern that staff had been treated with disrespect by certain parties during this process. EDA member Jurgens asked Ms. Parr how this debate affects selling Cottage Grove. She mentioned that currently it was difficult to quantify. Unfortunately, a lot people know about our situation, hopefully we can move through it. EDA Vice President Olsen stated in spite of the situation we will continue to answer all questions honestly. Economic Development Authority - Minutes July 12, 2011 Page 3 Ribbon Cuttings — EDA Executive Director Schroeder stated that on July 15 we will be hosting a ribbon cutting at El Sol Mercado located on the private drive south of 80`" St. 7155. This Mexican grocer has been in business for four months. We have also scheduled a ribbon cutting at White Pines Phase If for August 12 during their grand opening. The ceremony will be at 10:00 a.m. Tom Moy Restaurant is celebrating 50 years in business. We should come up with a way to recognize long standing businesses. Ms. Parr suggested a plaque or certificate. ICHOR Building — Mr. Schroeder mentioned that the ICHOR building has a purchase agreement on it. This is an end user that we initially began working with back in the 2003 — 2005 time frame. Instead of relocating from their existing building they expanded and will continue to operate out to that building in a nearby community. The ICHOR building will become their corporate headquarters with a portion of their production activity. Business Incubator — EDA Executive Director Schroeder stated that he didn't bring back Mr. Jacobs at this time because the City has been interviewing other interested parties first. Paul Poncin has been a great resource in this effort. Ms. Parr stated that the City met with two individuals from a St. Paul, a bio tech operation. They will tell us what we need to do to our building. EDA Treasurer Paul Poncin mentioned that Mr. Jacobs name came up a lot in his discussions about business incubators. Ms Parr said she would tour facilities and is curious to see numbers on how many really turn into success stories. EDA Executive Director Schroeder explained to Justin Foxx what our plans are for the current City Hall Public Safety building. EDA Member Jurgens asked about the Library. EDA Executive Director Schroeder said that the County Capital Improvement plan currently denotes a project for 2015. They don't know what model of a new library will look like in future; books vs technology. EDA Work Plan Discussion Ms Parr handed out her department's work plan. Its topics were Goals & Priorities, Business Recruitment Efforts, Business Retention Efforts, Marketing City Owned Property and the Growth Partners Website. EDA Vice President Olsen stated the plan meets our Council goals and objectives. Ms. Parr talked about marketing folders. EDA Vice President Olsen brought up the idea of highlighting businesses and EDA activity on a cable TV show. The group talked about the Growth Partner's web site. Mr. Foxx said it was not engaging and not user friendly. Ms. Parr thought more pictures were needed. EDA Vice President Olsen said he wants the City to work with Chamber of Commerce to sell what's good about being in Cottage Grove. Mr. Fox stated he thought that was a good idea. He likes seeing Ryan at meetings and sharing info. He would like to know about current use of vacant spaces. EDA Member Poncin suggested we have business commercials on cable. EDA Executive Director Schroeder stated we did this two years ago and showcased all the Industrial Park business. Mr. Smith mentioned that he interviewed many of the businesses and that the business aspect of the Cottage Grove Spotlight show was moved to another cable business show that has since been discontinued. Mr. Schroeder mentioned we will be having a meeting in September with local businesses. EDA Member Jurgens suggested talking to people at the drive -in. It was suggested that we identify which businesses draw people to town. EDA Member Poncin stated a giant strawberry would help bring people to town. EDA Vice President Olsen suggest Ms. Parr hang on to suggestions for the next meeting. He then asked Mr. Foxx what is the Economic Development Authority - Minutes July 12, 2011 Page 4 perception out there about Cottage Grove as a place to do business. Mr. Foxx replied he didn't hear anything negative. EDA Member Jurgens mentioned he would like to find a way to get people to spend their money in Cottage Grove. Mr. Foxx said the buy local campaign had a limited budget. At ICSC our delegates heard a lot of feedback about day time population deficits as a determining factor. Housing_ Economic Development Director Danette Parr directed the EDA to her handout about housing. She stated that when a business considers locating within a community, they often evaluate numerous factors, some of which include: the quality of the workforce, access to key transportation corridors, taxes and availability of shovel ready land. In the case of service oriented businesses, a factor of concern can involve access to affordable housing for their workforce. Typically, economically vibrant communities have a healthy mix of uses, including housing options that meet the full spectrum of the demographics that exist within the community. Problems can arise when service businesses have difficulty attracting workers, due to limited affordable housing within the community. According to the Metropolitan Council, housing is considered affordable /attainable when a family with a moderate or low income pays no more than 30 -40% of its monthly income for housing. She shared housing stock data: HOUSING UNITS BY TYPE Number of Units Percentage Sin le-Famil Detached 9,734 80% Sin le -Famil Manufactured 132 1% Twinhomes 94 1 % Attached Townhouses 1,33 11% Detached Townhouses 20 0% Multiple Fam il — -- 812 7% Total 12,129 SINGLE- FAMILY DETACHED PRC)P RTY'1/ALUES jLand and Building # of SF Units % < $200,000 2,301 23.6% $200,001 - $300,000 5,643 58.0% $300,001 - $400,000 1 ,288 13.2% $400,001 - $500,000 373 18% $500,001 - $600,000 > $600,001 35 0.4% Average Value $250,939 Median Value $229,000 Economic Development Authority - Minutes July 12, 2011 Page 5 She asked for feedback on the following questions: • Does the City of Cottage Grove currently offer an adequate amount of affordable housing? • Should we engage the Washington Co HRA in investigating ways to more proactively create affordable housing? • Are there other segments of housing stock that should more actively be encouraged? • If certain housing needs exist, what role should the City play in creating this type of housing? Mr. Fox said Cottage Grove is a first ring suburb and we have affordable housing, so we seem to be ok. EDA Vice President Olsen mentioned that the Met Council thinks we don't have enough affordable housing. It was stated that there are townhomes in the City selling for $60,000 - $80,000. EDA Golf Tournament Community Services and Communication Coordinator Ken Smith gave an update of the planned EDA golf tournament. As of July 8, 2011 there were seven foursomes registered for the August 9`" EDA golf tournament, and this includes 4 Silver and one Bronze level sponsor. This is in line with last year's pace. EDA Member Poncin and EDA Vice President Olsen agreed to play in the tournament. Growth Partner's Award Members of the EDA were given a voting sheet to select their preferences for the 2011 award. White Pines, Hoeft Builder, Inc., Pulte Homes of MN LLC and Lennar Homes Calendar — Members reviewed the calendar. Miscellaneous Business Items The EDA was directed to an article that talked about the number of rounds Eagle Valley Golf Course hosted for 2010 and this was compared that to River Oaks. We picked up market share and Eagle Valley was down for the same time period. ADJOURN EDA Member Jurgens moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by EDA Member Poncin. All present were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 9:32 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Kenneth L. Smith Community Services and Communications Coordinator