7. HRSR 02-06-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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o "Abounding in natural beauty, Elk River is a vibrant, historic river town that promotes an active lifestyle in an innovative and involved community offering unlimited opportunities." o Identified the completion of a brand plan a vital step in achieving the four goals outlined in the Vision • Elk Kiver Brand Plan (approved implementation of plan by the EDA and City Council in September 2011) o Downtown identified as Elk River's sense of place and identity; suggested to be the center of Elk River's community voice o Identified as the destination-focused center of community social life by our community 0 32% of those in the metro who had visited Elk River, came to visit the downtown o Suggested enhancing streetscapes and amenities would encourage site selectors and investors Discussions with various downtown business owners throughout the past couple months, and with the River's Edge Business Association in January of 2012 indicate a high interest in additional parking with aesthetic amenities. Reoccurring ideas included planters, benches, outdoor dining tables and attractive landscaping. Business owners also mentioned utilizing the location fox events (Farmer's Market, street dance, etc.) and the creation of one trash enclosure for the dumpsters from the businesses on the block. RECOMMENDATION Downtown Elk River is the core of our community and staff feels there's a tremendous. opportunity to create additional parking, and to design the space in such a way that it creates a small gathering space for downtown patrons and increases the attractiveness of our downtown. Staff has developed several concept ideas internally, however does not have the technical expertise to create the architectural renderings, cost estimates, etc. Staff recommends working with a landscape architect to create concepts for the design of the area, incorporating information from discussions with the HRA and downtown businesses (similar to the process used with the construction of River's Edge Commons). With HRA authorization, staff will begin working with an architect immediately and return to the HRA with design options (including cost estimates) for discussions at a future meeting. FINANCIAL IMPACT The HRA has budgeted $60,000 for the downtown plan in the Other Professional Services line item. Discussions with Jeremy Barnhart, Downtown Task Force staff liaison indicate that costs for the architectural design may come out of this line item as well.