[Music] we are a little after 5:30 I'll call tonight's Eda meeting to order and um Abby could we a w please uh commissioner Larson here commissioner leges president commissioner LGE here commissioner Hoy here I'll note for the record Commissioners husnik and and grindall are absent this evening uh president Bane here thank you Abby and I'd like to invite everyone to rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all members of the Eda we have an agenda before you I will entertain a motion to approve or any changes make a motion to approve second we'll take a we have a motion and a second all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and our agenda is approved next item this evening is open Forum open forum is any any participants opportunity to address the Eda on any topic of your choosing do we have anybody online for open Forum this evening uh there is nobody online this evening all right we'll close open forum and bring the meeting back to the Eda and um we have a consent agenda it a consent agenda this evening um I'll entertain a motion or any changes to the consent agenda makeing a motion to approve it as before us second motion and a second all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose consent agenda is approved next item is our regular agenda and we have a single item on our action item action agenda this evening that is consideration of the southwest Forest Lake roadway alignment and Construction Construction phasing study commencement and gra Grant application submission and Abby it's a mouthful a mouthful indeed um so in the eda's 2425 work plan you identified a stud planning study to be done on the Southwest area of the city um coming up on your screen is a the city's functional classification map our street map that was included in our comprehensive plan which kind of shows that Southwest area bordered by 61 mwat Parkway um down to the city's southwest corner where we see those future collector roadways it's a reminder to the Eda this is an area that is largely undeveloped the roadways and the infrastructure system utilities are not in place so the intent of the planning study that that had been discussed was to look at roadway alignments and the phasing of infrastructure in this area I think I brief the Eda but include it in your staff memo we're starting to see um that development pressure in that area near the headways uh Headwaters Parkway and Fenway Avenue to the South but then also we've fielded conversations and had conversations with our local adjacent agencies Hugo Leno Lakes city of Columbus Washington County and OK County but the development of elm crest for future non-residential expansion coming from the south more than maybe some of that residential pressure from inside the city moving to the Southwest so tonight for your consideration is twofold one is to authorize that study to start and the second would be to apply for a 5050 matching Grant from the Washington County CDA predevelopment Finance fund so as I noted in the just now and in my staff report the lack of the road way Network in this area is really a hindrance to Future development um while we have the motto development pays its own way we still have lots of question marks in that planning how is Headwaters um Parkway going to line up with Elm Crest and especially in light of all of the wetlands through that area some of the other um potential significant resources in the area additionally um how how can we develop policies and standards for the here and now so we're getting inquiries for residential developments right around that Fenway Headwaters neighborhood in an area where we've designed a major collector road so we're looking at very wide roads possibly divided roads maybe a four-lane road um all of those things are things we're going to need of the Forest Lake of 2040 2050 20 20 long term but for the here and now um developing some policies which would allow the developers um in this area to contribute and to constr ruct the infrastructure system that's required to service their developments but to do it in a fashion that's really serving what we need now but allowing for that development to expand those roadways to expand in the future so um the city has received a scope of services from Bolton and mink to conduct the planning assessment at a cost of $44,500 the Eda has budgeted $25,000 for contracted services this year um that is why staff is uh recommending we apply for a Washington County Ceda predevelopment Finance fund Grant which would if approved cover 50% of the cost with bringing that total cost down for the Eda down to 22250 I might have gotten my number wrong when I wrote down 44500 but it's just under 23,000 so tonight for your consideration is to do two things one would be to authorize the work for the Southwest area infrastructure phasing or study and then two would be to submit um the or to approve the resolution for the submission of the Grant application uh do you have any questions for me thank you Abby just open it up um what questions might we have for Abby this this evening I have all sorts of questions but they're probably more for Ryan so I'm glad he's here um Ryan when we look at the map that's on the the screen there's a a yellow dated line that's right she's she's pointing to it can you elaborate if that will be included in the study at least the the alignment's going to specifically look at dialing in a final approved alignment for the parkway extension because that's what's uh kind of delaying and holding up and questioning how the next phase of infr or development is going to come forward so that would be just another road that would be built in with a a subdivision in time as it you know connecting through the neighborhood but uh we're going to be looking at the final alignment for the Parkway and then every all the other side roads would fall into to place with that I apologize uh president Bay and members of the commission I should have showed the secondary maps that were included in your packet so the study does look at two Concept Designs one going to 195th and one going to are our numbers off there oh what is that that one right there it's not a road it's not a marked Road the unmarked Road in between 190th and 195th um even though the the roadways kind of Bend and curve and go straight the way they are a lot of this is really going to depend on the wetlands and the area and how we might be able to best design that infrastructure to meet all of the engineering needs safety standards that sort of thing the final alignment might deviate slightly from one of the two options that's shown but it is does need to meet a 40 mph design curve to meet state aid standard so in long term when the termin ey of each end of this roadway is connected to a state qualifying another roadway we could designate this major roadway as a state aid Road in the future so there's some technical design criteria that's going to be already looked at that design and what radius can we have on that road uh so little a lot of things going into and these two uh preliminary alignments they're showing are obviously the path of least resistance of knowing wet LS by just looking at a map U first thing would be to complete field workor and complete the wetlands and then go through the te process and stuff like that I have a few other questions president B that's okay floor is yours um Ryan could you correct me if I'm wrong there is zero chance that Headwaters Parkway could eventually connect with I35 is that correct that's correct all right um when you do the alignment on this road or the preferred alignment will you be looking at um potential ponding for that region so the area of Headwaters Parkway between Fenway and 61 has ponding within the parkway which I think has a very positive aesthetic feel versus putting ponding along the sides where it separates the roadway is that something that will be in consideration in your report yep so one of the bullet points in the scope uh talks about storm water design and uh lowle look at where that would be located what size that would have to be based on the previous area that would be generated from the section of the parkway were you involved at all with the maalla study you remember that off of 96 and how we showed the realignment of Forest Road to go up to that property then around about a 97 I I recall it so that then had the storm water to scale the volume needed and the cost estimates dialed in what that would be so it would look look something like that right thank you and then um I believe my my last question is the or it's kind of a two-part it it does include infrastructure like sewer and water and and those components is okay you're noding yes thank you can you can you tell me if the topography in this area and I I know that this will be coming for the study but I would imagine that for sewer it would actually make more sense for that portion to cut across 190th to the Fenway Interceptor versus going north on Headwaters and connect back in am am I wrong on that or if you look on your screen right in that area where the cursor is there's a deep lift station there that was purposely put there and at the elevations it is to serve that entire area back to that area by gravity uh which will be the first parcel line to the south of here which is perfectly in alignment with the green alignment if you just cut that off maybe we can sewer that a little bit further south but eventually we're going to have to probably identify a location to put a lift station in somewhere just north of 190th and all the flows would come to that and they'd be forc M back to the Met Council line because the topography you know the Met Council Line's high up here right and the topography goes down so we wouldn't be able to get gravity and have adequate cover with what we would need to do so we know that we'd be looking at some sort of a lift station to serve that entire area and just force man it back to the Met Council line down 190th and then I I'm sorry I have one more question I think um so excuse me so when I look at the um the the two potential alignments um I I have preference for the the more southerly or blue line um I I I know that there's tons of things that will come in the report and other standards that meet but one thing I I want to note is that I think that creates a better inflow for traffic or at least perceived from drivers if they're curving up that Parkway and heading north and east at the same time um so that when there is an eventual 180th or 170th exit on i35e um in Hugo or on the edge of Forest Lake that that would push traffic for that region off of 97 and onto there and I I hope that some component of traffic study um comes in with the report or at Le even if it's your opinion versus actual data um we was connected at CR is what you're looking for yes yeah there would be supporting reasons why we get to that and we'll still preliminarily look at both Alternatives and go through some discussion uh because you guys still might bring up something that I don't you know recommend or outline or point out and that would be valuable information why we're all working together through this great thank you mayor Bay and members of the council if I might just add no traffic study will be a part of the analysis we will be looking at the L land use in the area for sure to kind of see where there's maybe logical break points that an area that you identified does lead right into the area that's been identified for that Highway Business Development so you really are connecting the nonresidential uses at Headwaters Village down over to the non-residential uses on on El crust may be something that is mentioned in the report thank you are any other questions member of the members of the Eda may have I only had um one one question related to timeline I noticed um this timeline and the timeline that's outlined on I think it's page 10 of our packet of course I just scrolled past it um the outline that Ryan has listed on page 10 of our packet are we maybe starting a little bit later is are we anticipating a date later than February 2025 yes I do believe it'll be later than February 2025 uh Ryan's team has gone out to start some of the Wetland delineations so we were able to do that um while the weather still was cooperating so some of the work has started but that work could have could be encumbered even if you didn't do the project funds are available in both Community Development and Public Works in terms of financing that if the project doesn't go forward but yes that that February 2025 would probably get pushed a little bit later into the spring okay especially because we may not get all of the Wetland assessment done and then um do you anticipate the the results of that report coming back to Eda Eda joint counil what does that audience look like and um I'm I think updates will be provided to the Eda and the council opportunities for input to both bodies but then it would come to this body you would um you know bless set of sorts we bring it to the Council for the council's acceptance of it not necessarily like anyone's um unless we had to approve something specifically in it which I do believe by that point we're going to get some pressure for some of the policy adoption roadway alignments so it'll come back to you and the council understood very good out of curiosity what is um what is left of the budget for Eda this year I know we haven't spent we have a very healthy budget because our next topic talks about we haven't used any of the funds for the CIP so the CIP program I believe we dedicated $50,000 to that alone um and then I would have to look back but I believe we have exactly 22,500 to be used for Consulting Services which would be the exact amount of half of the grant if the grant wasn't awarded we do have the funds to pay for the entire study out of the Ed's 2024 budget given that we didn't use any of the improvement loan dollars okay so and the motion that you want to move forward is it going to be depending on the grant or not there would be two actions my recommendation would be to authorize the commencement of the study and to submit the application so even if the grant application isn't awarded that we still have the project approval perfect any other questions all right so two separate actions tonight the first being um approval of the project commencement anyone ready for a motion a motion as uh recommended by staff there's a motion is there a second I'll second it motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose and motion carries separate action approval of Eda resolution 1118 2401 authorizing submitt of the application to the Washington County CDA predevelopment Finance fund quick question on this before we move forward with action what is the anticipated timeline for turnaround of the application um we can defer to Chris Chris's team though meets this week I was reluctant to have it on his agenda before this body head so the actual Grant submission will be considered by their board until middle of December so Chris will have it in the next couple weeks he said he'd take a look at it turn around on review and approval Chris um president B members the um CDA board meets every third Tuesday of every month so December 19th will be the consideration and hopeful approval for the consideration of the application thank you and again I know you said this but I just want Bears repeating there is money in either budget or fund balance to cover be yes a recipient of the grant funds okay any other questions related to the Grant application all right I would move that Eda approve resolution 11182 2401 is there a second second motion and a second any discussion hearing none all those in favor sign no by saying I I oppose and motion carries we're going to move into a couple of discussion topics that don't require official action this evening anything that we talk about that requires official action will come back before the Eda for approval um first item is the 2024 Chamber of Commerce brne annual report and 2025 agreement great thank you president Bay members of the Eda um including in your packet was the annual Chamber of Commerce uh year-end report for business retention and expansion efforts as the Eda might remember we Contract Services with the Forest Lake Area Chamber to conduct certain Outreach uh and engagement opportunities with our local business Community included in the report um goes through all the parameters of the agreement that we have with the chamber and how the chamber is Meeting those expectations I noted in my staff report that they've been sust substantially meeting our expectations for a number of years so tonight before you is just um discussion of the annual report nette is here to chat with you if you have any specific questions or want to give kudos with anything in particular the other thing for your discussion is we would want to have an amended agreement or a new agreement for 25 back before you in December so whether or not there's direction to staff to amend the agreement I noted two areas that you might just want to consider is whether or not the Eda would like to see any specific measurements or indicators in our BNR program we've been in discussions with more tailored business Outreach efforts and whether or not there's anything we want to be asking of our local businesses have asked the chamber to track for us we've already talked about things like size of the employer number of employees products offered or made or whatever so some of that Baseline data is already things that the chamber is going to start collecting anyways and then one of the provisions in our agreement is that the chamber would partner with us on one city sponsored event we've kind of the last couple years really looked at home town holiday to be that where the chamber has been helping us get volunteers and sponsorships um so whether or not the Eda had any input on that matter because it does say a city sponsored event or program and so I didn't know if the Eda had any specifics on that um lastly in the annual report from the chamber the chamber is making the request uh for an increase to $10,000 a year for three years um if we would agree to the $10,000 a year they would like a three-year agreement um staff thinks that's appropriate we don't have an adopted 2025 budget but our 2025 budget didn't necessarily accommodate that $110,000 increase however the eda's budget if approved by the council could ad accommodate that $2,500 increase um if we used less program funds from the incentive and program so it just could offset that somehow else in other words the money could be there for next year but it's not dedicated at the moment to the chamber we could re-evaluate how we're going to spend our money next year um so Nanette is here to discuss this with you do do you have any questions for me at this time any questions for me what is the current amount $7500 into two so it's a 3750 paid twice a year I did have one yeah please um Abby do you know what the historical cost has been for like the last five years or so yeah so this year and last year were 7500 and then that was an increase from the years prior I'd have to go back and look I don't remember what that increase was maybe nette knows better yeah it was 5,000 prior to a couple years ago had been 5,000 for quite some time I think like we had gone a long time without any sort of an increase I think Al go ahead yeah there and there was a excuse me U president uh there was a lapse uh somewhere towards the end of the previous director's role and so then as I looked through the budget and we we took a look and uh brought that before the Eda again back when I first started so there has been discussion over the years around both increasing um Eda support of the chamber well just say increasing overall um the relationship both um the dollar amount of the contract but then also the the level of specificity and what's being performed and um I think that's just kind of been a topic of ongoing refinement of what does the city need and what specifically would we like to ask of the chamber um knowing that there's a fairly healthy appetite on both sides for both the services being done um and to make that as extensive as possible especially as we've had some staffing transitions here on the city side um nette before we talk about any specific feedback points anything you want to hire anything you want to highlight for us around the program um or both maybe wins of the last year and maybe requests looking forward for 2025 thank you I thank you for that opportunity so uh president Bay and Eda members uh I again without reading the whole the whole um update again that's a great way for me to have it documented as well just a couple of the things I guess um you know really being that resource for uh for not only businesses but residents we are finding that with our improved website we are getting many more reach outs and so I have noticed that as well as um being able to provide job job opportunities and community events and things like that so we are seeing uptick there and then under section c you know a little bit more on the collaborative nature and so with Chris here it's been fantastic we've worked with the uh Washington County uh chamber coal of which Chris is a part of Washington County CDA is a part of and so that education component has been fantastic um we are evaluating that at this time it seems uh you know we're taking a look at maybe what our next steps are with that and then the other piece that I'm just elated about is the career launch Summit collaboration with the schools uh with the forest secary schools which uh was our first time this year and we brought together 250 teachers and business professionals all across our service area again that's not for us like specific but again uh engaging with both U members and non-member businesses and so that uh that was really I think in my opinion a win-win and as we talked with the schools and um Chris Ang here with Washington County CDA we decided that that's definitely a relationship we'd like to continue so having that collaborative uh piece I think is is fantastic um let's see I think the rest of it pretty St straightforward um we are at um Abby mentioned are work with the hometown holiday and uh we definitely have uh stepped that up a a step or two for this year and so we're I guess the proof isn't the pudding yet on uh how that all goes but we're very looking forward to um to another great event last year was fantastic and so again just uh bringing that up a notch I think is fantastic as well then there's one other piece uh Abby I thought I'd bring up the uh so probably gosh six months ago maybe even longer uh Abby uh Tyler hilbeck with open the business and I had a conversation about a leave behind peace when we are visiting uh businesses and so um fortunately just in the last month to six weeks we decided that yes we'd like to move forward and again this the what you have before you is a rough copy again none of the content has been proof r or anything but I wanted to have this for you today uh just as a general piece that's a collaboration between the city of Forest Lake the chamber and open to business um with the support of the Washington County CDA and so this will be an wonderful piece for us to use as we make those visits uh and have a leave behind also bringing to the point of some of the other services again because when we visit these things maybe don't come up and so I really like the fact that we're also mentioning uh the city Improvement assistance program as well so um and with that too as and follow up to that um we've had conversations both Tyler uh Chris and I on uh doing some visits together and so uh targeted visits uh depending certain certain types of businesses for Chris and with Washington Colony CDA and then Tyler a different set of businesses for open to business so with that I'll entertain any questions you might have thank you nette any any questions for nette any points of feedback on the program overall for 2024 or thoughts going into 2025 are you finding new businesses are reaching out to you as far as background and stuff of the city or not would you repeat the question would you find that some of the people that are coming into the city for new businesses are reaching out to you and kind of exploring what the program all offers for them as far as a new new business or Insight we do it again it depends on where they come from sometimes Abby you know it's kind of a coll collaboration as to how we find out about new businesses and so we're constantly up up um informing each other where we're at with that but again uh I think we have seen a definite uptick in I'm trying to think who we just have one recently um as far as looking for information on relocating or our new businesses as well so okay definitely thank you yep what's your membership total uh chamber membership is at 232 at this time and do you know how many new this year I should know yes I do know that there are uh 32 new members 33 sorry we added one this month just to comment that I think the chamber has done a phenomenal job under than that and I can't believe the growth you've come um went to the gala that Chris and Abby it was packed and a lot of new faces I don't know a lot of businesses that I had no idea we in there so I think you're doing a phenomenal job you know love the more collaboration with Chris and with Abby and I know the Outreach you're doing and I know the The Joint chamber Regional things you go to very very active and it shows it shows some the numbers I think it's dollars well spent one um one point to maybe to carry into 2025 that might be helpful um would be this kind of came up as a topic of conversation as mayor elect Roberts and I were just talking about transition and um what's next for Eda and what's next for city um and he was remembering the days when a lot of the business retention efforts were done by this body and we actually had people out know doing visits and making reports um I think it'd be help now that we've kind of transitioned that on to the the chamber which I still think is the right move I think it'd be helpful to do sometime in 2025 maybe end of first quarter just a specific working T working group working session um of the chamber chamber staff this body um upstairs informal of just walking through what that program looks like um and just so that now that I I feel like now that we've contracted it we this body is just a little bit more um arms length away and we're just a little bit out of touch with what's happening um and there you may find some level of interest in additional involvement that is wanted or um just some knowledge transfer of what's Happening a just general awareness in an informal working session I think would just really be helpful it doesn't need to happen over and over maybe once a year would just be kind of the maybe the year kickoff and just thinking about plans for the year um and would just kind of bring the work together a little bit because again I think there are a fair number of members that remember the days when we as a body were doing that um and so kind of connecting those pieces and making sure we're staying in L I think would be good kind of the precursor to the annual report right I certainly can put that on next year's kind of working work plan um of where we'll bring it back in sir super informal and what are the pieces just just not we had discussed when uh Tyler and Chris and I were having conversation Abby I believe was in this conversation as well too is just having a um some sort of a record not specific named businesses and and but more of a numbered system right so that you'd have some feedback as to what we learn with the visits without getting right specific right that also would be good and also remember um we have a fair number a fair number of positions turning over on this Eda and so this body is going to have a number of new faces this time next year and so um and so certainly a good way to kick off the year with um kind of some knowledge transfer and some education on what's in the program and why the partnership is so strong yeah I think that I think that's a great idea thank you any other thoughts any feedback on the additional the request the additional request go ahead so I want to First say I'm very happy with the chamber um I think that when we specifically look at this contract which we have oversight of um I'm I I think the performance is exemplary and and deserving of an increase um that said I am never a fan of increases in bump years once every three years or five years and I would much prefer that if there was an increase and I'm I'm very open to what that amount is but if the increase were for 2025 it were 8,000 2026 it were 9 for 2027 it were 10 or maybe it was 9 10 11 and then it balances out to be the same amount that the chamber's seeking but I would much prefer a staggered value amount um and I I hate to put you on the spot in nette but is that something that you're open to in the chamber with regard to your budget yes yes maybe um something to think about as we're as you're putting together the 2025 plan of what does that look like other are there other points of feedback on that topic though it is a it it is a sizable it is a sizable onetime increase and we have taken that approach in a number of different areas where we've just tried to get into a world of annual increases or make it more of a built in than um you know a sizable jump I do think though there's also opportunity and need where um to articulate what's being done and so one of the reasons it's not just we're going from 7500 to a th000 for the same I think there's an appreciation or recognition that the value of what's being delivered has also increased um and so while we may not have the metrics specifically in the contract to point to line by line what the increase is that's just foundationally is part of why I'm comfortable supporting um The increased size so um certainly as we measure that to the um the time spent from the Staffing side there is you know we're getting a tremendous value so president ban if I might add I certainly can talk with nette as well as potentially Chris I know he's had lots of experience in kind of the BR program we probably can beef up the agreement a little bit even into 25 asking for some specific metrics for those business visits that kind of help support those increases over the next three years um so that way we can by December bring back an increased cost if you'd like to see that in 25 but then have some of those performance not perform I don't want to say performance indicators but some of those numbers that you know will come back to you the the other option is waiting for an increase or giving a nominal increase into 25 waiting for a long longer term or a threee term till after we have that working session in 25 pref my preference would be that we do a larger increase here in 2025 that we don't wait for that um large driver of that is you think about the the if you were to just do a Time study in particular on um our former assistant administrator time on this particular topic and how that's transitioned over that alone is worth an addition $2500 so I'm comfortable that there's value exchanged um I'd rather not wait because of that value we also you know there's POS there's positions on the table but the city fully taking on a lot of that role just doesn't I mean this is working so let's let's fund what's working is my opinion I think Jenny you had a comment about the chamber budget bottom line is it will there be a project that won't get done if you don't get the $2500 increase she knows me oh too well um I can't speak directly to what that might be um so the the additional funds will that be going for um additional hours for your assistant would it be going for printing and getting you know more Publications out trade shows definitely um well definitely uh more staff time involved in uh and logging logging the visits and that kind of thing that's um that's that's where I can see staff time would be uh you know keeping track of what our Metro TR s which we've already decided as a entity our group that uh we feel that that would be valuable and also uh prevent duplication so I think that you know that for us to do this I whether the money is there the whether whether it's not I think it's a necessary you know it's a necessary tracking and so that's why I'm hesitant to say that it won't happen that seems a little I'm just not comfortable making that statement yeah I I can appreciate it's not there there it becomes a a builtin to the foundation of what you're doing to specifically I I can appreciate that that challenge and that's part of the reason why I just we have a bit of a similar Challenge on measuring measuring what the city assistant to the administrator was doing as well um it was a portion do we have a exact time and hour tracking study to point to of exactly what it is no but is it sub substantial and valuable I'm comfortable that it's at least the value of what's being proposed so well the reason I asked was I'm in favor of the 2500 now because if they've got it in the bank she doesn't have to worry about okay where are we going to get the funds to do this how are we going to pay for going there um it's there it's it's gives them a a comfort level and a little something to fall back on if something unexpected comes up something unexpected opportunity comes up then she doesn't have to come back to us for Project funding it's there so I'm really in favor of not stepping it up but um and Jenny in in regard to uh to your comment um one of the things that is on our plate is hiring and so I think that's that's a that's a from our standpoint a capacity piece we are looking to hire another person at a part-time level so again uh how you know does this increase affect that of course it does because it's all part of the part of the puzzle so if that helps your operation runs so well and as you grow you know that you're going to need right more man hour so right so maybe maybe a question that helps to um kind of because we've had a number of large step UPS do we anti like as a group anticipate that this onetime like $2,500 bump to this level does that get us to the point that we can look to more normalized annual increase from this point going forward um I think to your concern is that are we going to be jumping in 2026 by another 2500 and I think what we would be looking for is no this gets us to a long-term operating position that now we can take kind of annual cost of living type adjustments um is that I'm seeing some heads now does that seem to be kind of the longer term exactly that's exactly where my my mind is at does that give you some so Comfort level of so so president Bane um I I am I I I don't have huge objection on on this $2500 amount I I don't see it as a a big budget Buster for the city it's not going to be a breaking point for me at the end of the day but I think if and and I said I was very flexible in the numbers so if maybe you're it was 9500 then it was 10 grand and then it was 105 I I want to see some sort of staggered increase in in that plan so we can look back in three years and say Here's the increase we've had and we have some sort of normalization moving forward versus and if and if that means a huge bump in year one to play catch-up from where we've not had it over the last few years I think it's a good conversation for staff to have with nette offline versus us to try to negotiate a contract here in a public meeting um I will say I did look back uh that $5,000 payment went back to the best I can tell in our records at least 2020 so I agree with you commissioner less overall I don't mean to jump in pres B I hear a lot of you in support for the chamber continuing the agreement for 2025 that an increase is appropriate that you may be favorable to even a longer term three-year uh agement but that nette and I should go and talk and bring something back to you at your next meeting well well summarized great excellent that's the only Direction any need at this time on that one perfect uh do you mind if I move right along I know some of you have a meeting after this um next on the agenda tonight was the commercial incentive Improvement program so for some of you that may or may not know in 2015 the city created a downtown and a Highway 61 um exterior incen program essentially helping offset costs associated with renovations to the exterior properties my understanding is it was a fairly underutilized program and in 2022 this Eda expanded it to include a couple other zoning districts we haven't used the program since and so I think that there's probably two factors I note this in my staff report one is um well in addition to I think that there just hasn't been General marketing of it um one of the items the challenges is it's a cumbersome process so if many of you have worked with me for a little while and if you don't know one of the big things that I'm kind of big about is what's good for our business Community what's good for our development Community what's good for our residents is easy understandable processes um and right now the process that's identified I don't think I could go through it right now confidently to know that I did all the touch points that needed to go with the Eda and the applicant also there's a lot of checkpoints for the applicant to come back to the city which generally just tends to dissuade people from wanting to do things in the first place and then secondly I I just really question why this program isn't open to all not to all non-residential properties so I've received a couple inquiries for property owner that owns a piece of property on Highway 8 in the B3 District which is kind of a little bit more industrially this is maybe where a lot of our um stuff back behind Target is located some of our dealerships are located I actually have a zoning map in the packet and make more sense to show you that than just get you all to be thinking of those areas but I question why it is we're not necessarily allowing for um not the dealerships but where the Ford dealership is why we wouldn't be allowing for it in these areas where arguably might need need a little infusion of cash if or an incentive to do some exterior work so up in Highway 8 area and then again that back behind Target area that I was talking about so tonight um I'm coming for you just a brief discussion because we are getting a little tight for time tonight of whether or not you're favorable to amendments to the program in two ways one I know that I need to change the point of contact to Dan undam or from Dan UNAM to myself um but to to streamline that process for greater efficiency so that that might be a little bit more favorable to applicants then um to see your interest in opening this up to all non-residential districts I will note if you did take a quick peek at the new brochure that the chamber has drafted um one of the things that we do include in here is City Improvement assistance so just it would really help by allowing for any nonresidential property so that Nanette doesn't have to know our zoning Cod before she goes out on a br visit yeah so um any thoughts I would just add um so I I would Advocate that the Eda um take this move make the process simpler and also expand to all non-residential um I would also just add there is a self- governor in that the funds the the fund is limited by budget and so should we have the Good Fortune of having all sorts of interest and all sorts of applications there is a natural Governor that just says when we're done at the end of the at when we're fully funded at the year programs closed until the next year I don't know maybe that's happened once um and so because we're continuing to fund this and it's underutilized there's no I don't really see much harm in opening it up um should you find that there's all sorts of applications that come in for things that are not palatable can always come back and modify the program um but just my two SS one of the things um if you don't mind I didn't included in here but that I have thought about too is just process efficiency it's processing them four times a year so you kind of get to see all of the applications at once um those would be though after the fact projects often and we want to try to catch them on the front end because ideally we want them to come to you you guys say yes bless it and then they never even have to come back before you again so any other points of feedback go ahead I have um two questions so and I'm looking at page I think it's 28 yes 28 under ineligible properties it states that properties owned by corporate chains multi-state Chains would be excluded however local franchise owners are eligible to apply can you share why that Clause may be in there um so one of a a good example is our local cers Culver is a a regional chain but the actual owner is is a local business owner he owns his store and so the I think intent was we want to support our local owners but not necessarily support giving funding to Target that makes sense Target's an easy maybe you know one of the other larger box that might be owned by the actual company I hear what you're saying but I don't know that it makes sense I didn't create that provision so anybody else I would could say and I I don't want to be critical critical too much here but I think if the the the primary purpose of this plan or this incentive program is to improve blighted properties and if we have a blighted property and a corporate chain is going to come in and fix it and an incentive helps them do that I don't know why we would turn them down or at least I I don't know why we wouldn't even consider them I don't know either I just know that it's the program that this body created so Chris might be able to give a little more um context of where this came from um but I would say I think Abby's example is a good one in that you know that Culver's has a local proprietor and there is a local there's a local um ownership interest I don't I'm going to go on a limb and actually I won't say the business name out loud the new bank that has been a target of interest that has taken over a chicken establishment um I I just for this body to get I don't know if there would ever be interest for said Bank to come here to look for that type of an incentive to me that we don't need local taxpayer subsid sub subsidy of that I just um there are that those Redevelopment decisions are made on a scale that are just so much larger than what this body is able to accommodate um that I I would rather us really use those to really focus on local dollars that are more apt to stay here in the community and here's where I'm coming from so if if that said unnamed Bank yes were to move into a said um building downtown Min or downtown uh Forest Lake that is extremely blighted and also the focus of a lot of conversation and they said they were going to move in there and this incentive helped them do it I'd be very pleased to have that application come in front of us and so I don't I think all these applications would come in front of I just don't want to prohibit them right off the bat from being able to come forward with something along those lines and if it means that they have extra stipulations if they are a large multinational or multi-state Corporation I'm I'm happy to have those Clauses in there and focus on the local side of course I I see that same value but um that that was one point I would like to see changed in the program or at least looked at um and then the second is on that same page Ag and this is more of a question um so item C which says conflict of interest um and just for full disclosure I have no ownership of any business property in Forest Lake in part or whole so this isn't for me personally but it says an officer of the city or Eda shall not have a personal financial interest and personally benefit from the business to be assisted and then it states a Minnesota statute and I did read through those statutes and I'm not an attorney but if as I read those statutes it basically says that that person couldn't vote that is correct whereas this statement here says they could not personally benefit from and so I think if we had somebody in our Council or we had somebody in our Eda which are often times business owners and if they had a property that was somewhat blighted that could use Improvement through this program I don't think they should be prohibited from receiving that opportunity no different than anyone else with that being said um 143 North Lake Street we used the program it was in I think there's been a revised version since we used it but it did go Fairly smoothly I it was I think I just don't know if a lot of businesses know that it's out there is what I think the biggest thing is I think um you know with uh the former assistant administrator Dan UNAM kind of leading the economic development commission me coming in Dan was still kind of in that transition it wasn't until just about a year ago that Dan had left and you've got me before that year I wasn't marketing anything and then now this has been um a year that marketing Eda things has been tricky so I agree with you that I think there are a lot of property owners out there that do not know that this program exists and I think that there is greater opportunity I just don't know that we'd want to limit it to areas so that's been my only thought what is the maximum amount that you can receive back $5,000 um so 10% of a total project cost up to $5,000 and you budget annually $50,000 you can grant a minimum of 10 of these this guy is kind of the limit if somebody just did a $10,000 project um it seems also a little low that was gonna be my would we consider increasing that and then um did I get retro funds then I'm just kidding um actually no because there's a conflict of interest clause on page but not NE because our application rate is so low and the funding rate is so low frankly I would rather see us make a substantial increase to that and have a number actual funded projects even if it means fewer projects um than us sitting with a fairly bureaucratic administratively challenging I mean bureaucratic it's just administrative challenging for our applicants to go through it's a lot for $5,000 and I think um I think one of the things that I I'm going to fix that bureaucratically going that one is a no-brainer I'm not even going to really I mean I'll come back and show you how we're in that process and eliminating the extra steps in there I think the question is do would we rather raise 20% see the interest in the selected groups or raise it the entire districts jene's going to come and take this computer now um uh would we rather uh raise the amount of districts and so then um thereby allowing for more opportunity I would suggest that we'd want to open up the districts at 10% then if there seems to be a greater increase or there aren't as many maybe increasing that to 20% be my recommendation we're gonna I I think I could support staying with just the districts um my my first thought was I I like the idea of moving the dollar amount and the percentage up but perhaps expanding the districts of Staff believe beles that that will increase the applications maybe at the the midpoint of next year which is really the should give us a pretty good solid foundation of understanding where we're at and and so put it on the calendar for like June of let's look at how many apps we've got if we're at zero then look at increasing the dollar in percentage at that point I I I don't want to be here in a year Listening to We have still zero applications and we haven't utilized this program so I think reviewing it mid year would help yeah I think definitely I would the only thing I would ask is maybe you know we look at it end of third quarter to give us you know a few good months in there through some of that Outreach season but so did I hear you say increase districts wait on the increase of the amount is that what I heard you say I'm sorry I just my my intuition says increasing all three is the right thing to do but if but if but I will trust your your judgment that believing that increasing the districts alone will work and then holding back on it until that point of review and then if it if your assessment didn't come through then we can increase the numbers and the percentage at that point I think that's a good way to start and then just that simple our increased Outreach efforts the for sure I think there will be um greater effort I mean simply put if you own property in the city do you know your District I mean even so much as to know which district and most people aren't aware of this kind of program so I will just make note that we have been promoting this program uh the new program and uh we have had some questions I think that the payback um amount for the amount of work did not seem to be worth it just that's what what we've heard um I have heard that as well and so I really would like to bring you back something soon that really shows a slim streamlined version one touch point with the city maybe there's sub midle afterwards and then we're done so all right I have enough direction to bring something back before you excellent sure we are nearing the end of um our plan time or actually we have a council Workshop upstairs is it up workshops upstairs yeah um should we just do quick round of updates anything that can't wait until dece our December meeting does anyone have anything that can't wait till December okay all good the only update that I do want to share with you is um I think as you may remember we signed a purchase agreement with Invision glass on the Funway Parcels Invision uh has opted to not sign that agreement they ran into some um business uh challenges that made not purchasing the properties um feasible at this time it's very disappointing we talked about it for quite a while to see if we couldn't even try to figure out one of the parcels um but they've just the client so I will bring this back for discussion um I think we definitely can engage with the other land developer but we also have had some interest and inquiries in the area for other types of um whether or not there there's been question whether or not there is public uses for the properties and whether or not those are things we need to contemplate before we remarket these Parcels so bring that back before you um for discussion probably in December wel um hope to see you all Friday 6 o'clock Hometown holiday oh yes thank you Hometown holiday December 6th uh we are still in need of volunteers we're only about a quarter of the way there we're doing volunteer assignments this week so if you haven't signed up please sign up online I'll send out the link again probably tomorrow tree lighting at 6:45 6:45 hope to see you all there um and then we have our regularly scheduled next Eda meeting on December 9th at 5:30 and that will be our last Eda meeting of the here um with that I will entertain a motion to adjourn so moved motion is there a second second motion and a second all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and we are adjourned [Music]