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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.23.21 CITY OF LAKEVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES March 23, 2021 1. Vice Chair Starfield called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. via teleconference. Members Present: Comms. Christiansen, Collman, Dautel, Emond, Matasosky, Seiler, Starfield Ex-officio Members Present: Chamber President Jech Guests Present: Scott Moe, Scannell Properties; Dan Regan, Launch Properties Members Absent: Comm. Gillen, Scherer, Stone Staff Present: David Olson, Community & Economic Development Director; Kati Bachmayer, Economic Development Coordinator 2. Approval of January 26, 2021 Meeting Minutes Comms. Emond / Matasosky moved to approve the minutes of the January 26 meeting. Motion carried unanimously. 3. Review of Two Proposed Industrial Park Annexation Requests Mr. Olson informed the EDC that the City has recently received annexation petitions for two properties adjacent to existing industrial park developments. The first request involves the 115.5-acre Adelmann property, which is adjacent to the Launch Park development east of Cedar Avenue near 222nd Street W. Launch has entered into a purchase agreement with the Adelmanns and proposes to incorporate this property into the existing 200-acre Launch Park that is currently being developed. Sewer, water and road access is near or adjacent to this property. The second annexation petition received by the City is for the 91.37-acre Ruddle property, which is adjacent to Interstate South Logistics Park, located west of Dodd Boulevard near 217th Street. Scannell Properties has entered into a purchase agreement with the Ruddles and proposes to develop this property adjacent to the existing 175-acre Interstate South Logistics Park. Sewer, water and road access is near or adjacent to the property. Both of these properties meet the requirements in MN Statutes to be annexed to the City by ordinance after a 30-day notice has been provided to Eureka Township and the City Council holds a public hearing. Eureka Township was notified on March 5, 2021 that the City received these annexation petitions. Scott Moe from Scannell Properties spoke about the Robert and Kathleen Ruddle annexation application. To date, Scannell Properties has developed 1.1 million square feet in Interstate South Logistics Park and those businesses are paying about $1.6 million in taxes. The Ruddle property annexation will bring additional land to the City and allow for approximately 1.1 to 1.3 million additional square feet of industrial development in Lakeville’s industrial park. Mr. Moe said Scannell is interested in expanding into the Ruddle property because the company has had good success with the park and hope to have more. The company will break ground next month on a new 157,000-square-foot Economic Development Commission Minutes March 23, 2021 Page | 2 speculative building (north of Schneiderman’s Distribution Center) to accommodate smaller manufacturing companies. Annexing this larger site into the City would allow Scannell to capture larger industrial users who are looking at Lakeville. Dan Regan from Launch Properties said his company is enthusiastic about the proposed annexation of the Adelmann Family Farm LLC property. Launch Properties has owned and developed land in Airlake Industrial Park for many years. Mr. Regan told the EDC that there are constraints on parts of their existing land due to gas pipeline easements and the south creek tributaries, which require large setbacks and major storm water mitigation. Launch Properties is seeing record-setting levels of demand from e-commerce retailers, logistics users and onshoring manufacturing operations which is driving huge demand for new space in the market with high ceiling heights and large acreage blocks. The annexation of the Adelmann Family Farm LLC property would add a sizeable contiguous area for potential larger users. Mr. Regan stated that most of the other industrial submarkets in the metro area are fully developed and don’t have the land area needed for the type of demand his company is seeing. Launch Properties plans to continue to accommodate smaller users as well, but this proposed annexation opens the door to a full menu of opportunity and allows the company to attract any size industrial business. Following the presentations, the meeting was opened for questions and discussion. Comm. Collman asked why the companies were interested in additional expansion in Lakeville. Mr. Moe said Lakeville has good access to the interstate, which makes it appealing to industrial users. The expansion of CSAH 70 is also a benefit. The City of Lakeville was described as being pro-business and good to work with on industrial projects that bring quality jobs to the community. Mr. Olson noted that Lakeville no longer has large tracts of land for bigger industrial users who are seeking 40 acres or more to develop. Mr. Olson shared with the EDC that Eureka Township generates approximately $2,000 a year combined from these properties. During past annexations, the City of Lakeville has agreed to a five-year step-down of taxes to Eureka Township, and a similar arrangement is possible with these applications as well. Comms. Emond / Dautel made a motion to recommend annexation of the Robert and Kathleen Ruddle property and the Adelmann Family Farm LLC property into the City of Lakeville. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried. Ayes: Christiansen, Collman, Emond, Dautel, Seiler, Starfield. Abstain: Matasosky. 4. Review of Job Creation in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts Ms. Bachmayer presented a summary of the development projects that have received Tax Increment Financing (TIF) assistance from the City of Lakeville since 2014. These projects include industrial manufacturing, warehouse and distribution businesses. The City of Lakeville Active TIF Funded Projects spreadsheet breaks down the funding dollar amounts, job goals, actual job creation, estimated market value and accumulated tax increment. The two most recent TIF districts (Schneiderman’s Distribution Center and QA1 Precision Products) have both exceeded their job creation goals and brought nearly 100 new jobs to the City. It was noted by Comm. Starfield and Matasosky that the EDC was instrumental in recommending Lakeville’s implementation of TIF as an economic development tool. TIF Economic Development Commission Minutes March 23, 2021 Page | 3 has been beneficial for the City of Lakeville as demonstrated by an increase in tax base, jobs and business attraction outgrowth. 5. Continued Roundtable Discussion of COVID-19 Impacts on Lakeville Businesses Comm. Seiler shared with the group that business has increased at his restaurant but has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Chamber President Jech informed the EDC that the Minnesota Chamber organizations have been lobbying Governor Walz to create a public reopening plan that is tied to measurable metrics the public can follow. It was stated that this type of public plan would be beneficial to the restaurant and tourism industry, so any future changes to capacity etc. can be better anticipated. 6. Director’s Report Mr. Olson highlighted a few items from the Director’s Report, including recent ribbon cutting ceremonies for ETS Performance South Metro and Red’s Savoy Pizza and a groundbreaking ceremony to kickoff construction on the Keokuk Liquor Store. Development has not slowed down in 2021 and the City has already issued 101 single- family home permits through February. Mr. Olson thanked outgoing Comm. Dautel for his three years of service and Comm. Scherer for his six years of service on the EDC. Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 5:18 p.m. Respectively submitted by: Kati Bachmayer, Economic Development Coordinator