HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-27-19
CITY OF LAKEVILLE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
August 27, 2019
1. Vice Chair Starfield called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. in the Marion
Conference Room at City Hall.
Members Present: Comms. Collman, Emond, Dautel, Gillen, Matasosky, Seiler,
Starfield, Stone
Ex-officio members: Mayor Anderson, City Administrator Miller, Chamber President
Jech
Members Absent: Comm. Scherer, Smith
Others Present: David Olson, Community & Economic Development Director; Kati
Bachmayer, Economic Development Specialist; Cindy Nolan, Career Pathways
Coordinator for Lakeville Area Schools
2. Approval of June 25, 2019 Meeting Minutes
Comms. Matasosky / Emond moved to approve the minutes of the June 25
meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
3. Update on Lakeville Works Program
Chamber President Jech and Career Pathways Coordinator Nolan presented an
update on the Lakeville Works program to the EDC members. The Lakeville Area
Chamber of Commerce started the Lakeville Works program in 2018 and secured
twelve investors. The program’s focus is to build a skilled trade workforce pipeline to
fill jobs in Lakeville, mainly in the city’s industrial park. The Chamber hosts a career
website called LakevilleWorks.org that allows job seekers to find employment and
local employers to post their jobs for free. So far, the Lakeville Works program has
used its budget to purchase equipment for both North and South High Schools in
2018 and will focus on marketing and an increased awareness campaign in 2019.
Ms. Jech and Ms. Nolan spent the past two days filming interviews and on-location
footage to be used in upcoming promotional videos discussing topics like ‘why
pursue a career in the trades.’ The Lakeville Works committee is also looking at
ways to increase retention and is working on a HR continuing education event in
2020. Ms. Jech and Ms. Nolan have been busy organizing several pilot programs
between the Lakeville schools and local industry experts and look forward to
reporting back on the outcomes at a future meeting. As an example of a pilot
program, the first teacher externship took place this summer and that teacher will
use what they learned to write curricula based on their real-world experience at
Advanced Wireless Communications.
Economic Development Commission Minutes August 27, 2019 Page | 2
After the presentation, there was discussion about the best methods for tracking
program results, long-term sustainability for the program, and ways to reach post-
high school students who are looking for information about technical careers. An
EDC member shared an awareness that a lack of workers in the construction
industry is already contributing to higher costs and project delays and more trades
workers are definitely needed. It was noted that there can be a stigma attached to
technical education and Lakeville Works is trying to change students and parents’
perception so more of the post-secondary options may be considered and explored
by Lakeville high school students and parents.
4. Presentation of City Development Fee Information
Mr. Miller informed the EDC that Housing First Minnesota (formerly Builders
Association of the Twin Cities) recently released a report on building permit fees that
claims metro municipalities are charging excessive fees and therefore negatively
affecting home developers’ ability to construct affordable homes in the Twin Cities.
Mr. Miller stated that the report included inaccuracies and lacked transparency. In
response to the report and in an effort to provide transparence to homeowners and
developers, the City has put together a report that shows the average amount of
building permit fees charged to build a $415,000 home and what those fees pay for.
On average, the City fees account for 4.1% of the total cost of home construction on
a $415,000 single-family home. Those fees help to pay for things like water
connection, new parks and trails, sanitary sewer connections and traffic control. Mr.
Miller noted that Lakeville asks growth to pay for growth – meaning that new home
developments are asked to cover the cost of new infrastructure, instead of placing
the cost burden on the existing residents. Mr. Miller will be speaking on an upcoming
panel about this issue, as well as testifying during an upcoming legislative hearing.
Mayor Anderson noted that the City has an excellent relationship with our housing
developers and encouraged the EDC members to share the facts about this issue
and contact their legislators. Mr. Miller noted that Lakeville has a good reputation
with home developers thanks to our professional staff and processes. The City of
Lakeville reviews its fee structure regularly and have made adjustments based on
past review. Mr. Olson reminded the EDC that Lakeville has issued the highest
number of residential permits in the Twin Cities for the past six years, so the existing
fee structure does not appear to be hindering housing development.
Discussion was held about the differences in fee structure from city to city, flexibility
on lot sizes to help developers bottom-line and the options available to incentivize
building lower cost affordable homes.
5. Overview of the City’s Business Marketing Efforts for 2017-2019
Ms. Bachmayer presented an update on the economic development marketing
efforts that have taken place during the 2017-2019 Economic Development Strategic
Plan. Over the past three years, the Community and Economic Development
Department has promoted the City of Lakeville and encouraged economic
development in the City through a variety of marketing efforts, including print and
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digital advertising in several business publications, attending commercial real estate
expos and presenting during continuing education events, sharing economic
development-related videos online through the City’s social media channels and
distributing a monthly newsletter via email and lakevillemn.gov.
Mr. Olson noted that staff make adjustments to the City’s economic development
marketing strategy based on what is working and what is not. EDC members were
pleased to see the variety of marketing outlets used and encouraged that strategy to
continue in order to best extend our reach to business owners, real estate brokers
and site selectors.
6. Director’s Report
Before the Director’s Report, the EDC discussed a recent article included in the Sun
ThisWeek about Heritage Commons. The City currently serves in a support role to
areas like Heritage Commons – meaning city staff share information about available
commercial and industrial property with potential developers but do not control the
market trends or private sale and lease prices.
The Strategic Plan RFP has been distributed to three consulting companies and final
proposals are due on September 6 at noon. Mr. Olson asked EDC members to plan
for a three to four-hour meeting in September or October in order to update the
Strategic Plan for 2020-2022.
The new Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh gas and convenience store opened this morning and
held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate. The store offers grab-and-go meal
items, wood-oven made-to-order pizzas, and grocery essentials. It also includes a
full-service Starbucks with drive-thru and a pickup location for Hy-Vee Aisles Online.
Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 5:39 p.m.
Respectively submitted by:
Kati Bachmayer, Economic Development Specialist