HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-24-15CITY OF LAKEVILLE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
March 24, 2015
Chair Starfield called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. in the Marion Conference Room
at City Hall.
Members Present: Comms. Starfield, Emond, Matasosky, Vlasak, Coltman, Longie,
ex -officio members Tim Roche, City Administrator Justin Miller, and Mayor Matt Little
Members Absent: Comms. Tushie and Smith
Others Present: David Olson, Community & Economic Development Director; Rick
Howden, Economic Development Specialist.
2. Approval of January 27, 2015 meeting minutes
Motion Comms. Emond/Longie moved to approve the minutes of the
January 27, 2015 meeting as presented. Motion carried
unanimously.
3. Discussion of 2014-2016 Strategic Plan for Economic Development 2014 Work
Program
Mr. Olson presented an update of the Strategic Plan for Economic Development
2014 Work Plan. An informal discussion started with Strategic Initiative A: Conduct
a market analysis to determine target markets with a special emphasis on higher
education which supports Strategic Priority 1: High Skill, High Wage Jobs. Mr.
Olson stated that as previously discussed with the EDC, that it would not be cost-
effective to hire an outside consultant to conduct a market analysis and that there
was a great deal of information available for the Twin Cities Region through Greater
MSP and the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. This
information will be utilized to identify industry clusters that are present and active in
Lakeville as well as to identify the industry clusters, markets and businesses that
the City should market toward. A question was raised in regard to staff's capacity to
actively market business in certain industries due to the likelihood of a heavy
workload in 2015. Commissioner Longie suggested that an action item be added to
the 2015 Work Plan which would revive the Marketing Committee to enhance the
City's marketing efforts without a burden on staffs time that she would lead.
At this time, Mayor Little provided an update to the EDC on the recent City Council
retreat that took place on Saturday, March 21 st. Mayor Little stated that the Council
discussed utilizing the EDC as an outreach team with protocols in place to respond
to certain developments with potential and existing business news. Reactivating
business retention visits and the "Spotlight on Business" program, attainable
workforce housing and transportation from Park and Ride sites and the industrial
park were also discussed by the Council. Financial incentives in regard to fees were
also discussed by the Council. This includes a study to evaluate all of the City's
fees and compare to other suburban cities in the Twin Cities Metro Area. Also
discussed were fee waivers, fee financing and the City's overall fee policy could
assist in the City's economic development. The Mayor also touched on discussion
surrounding downtown Lakeville and his desire to have this area be different and
better than any other city. In order to accomplish this, Mayor Little suggested that
one potential area to address would be increasing density in order to have more
people closer to downtown. In order to achieve this, condo policies and height
restrictions on buildings downtown should be looked at and potential changes
made.
Mr. Olson reviewed 2014 Progress on Strategic Priority 2: Infrastructure to
Leverage Opportunities including Co. Rd. 50/Kenwood Trail Economic
Development Study, the Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) for Interstate
South Logistics Park and the City's recent use of Tax Increment Financing. Due to
the time, the rest of the work plan was reviewed individually by the EDC.
Mr. Olson stated that staff would take the EDC's comments and those from Mayor
Little on behalf of the City Council and draft a 2015 Work Plan for discussion at the
April 28th EDC Meeting.
4. Update on the Status of the County Road 50 Study
Mr. Olson stated that the City and County have retained Hoisington Koegler Group
Inc. and SRF for an Economic Development / Planning Study for the proposed
expansion of Co. Rd. 50/Kenwood Trail between Dodd Blvd. and Ipava Ave. The
purpose of the study is to review options to mitigate the impact on existing
businesses adjacent to the County Road. Staff has had numerous meetings with
the existing businesses along this corridor and are close to coming up with a
concept that is agreeable to all of the business owners. Once a concept is
approved, then the challenge will be coordinating the implementation.
5. Director's Report
Mr. Olson reviewed the Director's Report. City staff recently confirmed United
Products/Allied closed their business location at 21470 Grenada Avenue in Airlake
Industrial Park. The company plans to lease the property which consists of a 45,000
square foot building on nearly 10 acres.
Mr. Olson also mentioned the letters that were recently sent to MOM Brands by
both the City of Lakeville and the State of Minnesota indicating our willingness to
work with them and Post Holdings to attempt to ensure that they maintain a base of
operations in Lakeville.
Mr. Olson mentioned that the City Council re -appointed Jim Emond Sr. and Sheila
Longie to fill the remaining one and two year terms created by the resignation of
Joel Akason and Joe Julius. The new members that were appointed to three year
terms are Quenton Scherer with Metro Equity, Bob Gillen, owner of Porter House
Restaurant in Lakeville along with other restaurants in other communities, and
Steve Rajavuori with REI Property Management.
7. Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 5:56 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Rick Howden, Economic Development Specialist