01-09-2006 EDA MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Economic Development.~uthont}• Minutes January 9, 2006 Page 3 Ms. Mehelich noted that they will be reviewing the City's financing and subsidy policies, and inventory of industrial and commercial property at an upcoming EDA meeting. Also, she noted that late summer they will meet with the Marketing Committee for update of the Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan in which the marketing strategies will be reevaluated. Ms. Steinmetz noted that Larry Hickman, owner of the Business Incubator lease space site, informed staff that he has an interested buyer for the building. She stated that the current lease does not expire until Apri12007, but that either the EDA or Mr. Hickman has the option to end the lease Apri12006. K-nedca's lease ends February 2006. Ms. Steinmetz stated that no purchase agreement has been signed as of this date, but that Mr. Hickman wanted to inform the EDA of the potential sale of the property. President Gongoll stated that he felt the tithing was good, since the EDA has discussed looking for another site where infrastructure is akeady in place. He expressed praise for Mr. Hickman for his assistance in pro~zding a great tool for new businesses stazting up. Commissioner Tveite concurred with President Gongoll's comments, stating that the EDA would not stand in the way of his opportunity to sell the building. He stated that there have been a couple of times the Business Incubator program was not able to accommodate users because of the lack of infrastructure and felt it was time to move on. Commissioner Tveite stated that he felt that the developer's forum would be an opportunity to gather input on the Gateway Business Center project, since developers would have some insight on logical uses for the site. Commissioner Klinzing felt that development of the Gateway Business Center would provide an opportunity to expand the look of the area beyond its boundaries. She suggested that the CitS~ meet with the property owners. S. Other Business Commissioner Moan -Stated that the survey done by the Northstar Corridor indicated extremely high support by respondents both in and out of the corridor area. The survey indicated 15 percent were likely to use the corridor and that 8 percent usage would be capacity. He stated that the 500 parking spaces would be doubled to 1,000, but there is some concern that even this amount of parking will not be enough. He stated that the City needs to pay attention to how the people and traffic will be handled and whether or not more land is needed. Commissioner Motin stated that the buses will initially continue to run, but will be phased out eventually. He noted that there is a large interest by the "reverse commute" sector. Commissioner Tveite noted that the bus only stops once, and the train will make several stops. Commissioner Klinzing stated that there will be an opportunity to develop the area as a hub, as she saw in other communises she visited where light rail operates. Ms. Mehelich - Re~~iewed the letter from GRE regarding their site selecson. The Commission discussed the impact of this decision. Commissioner Dwyer expressed his disappointment with the consultants hired by GRE, and comments they made regarding the quality of housing available in Elk River.