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Economic Development Authority Minutes April 20, 2015 Page 3 The commission thanked Mr. Barnhart for his work, noted he did a great job, and wished him good luck in his new endeavors. The Commissioner recessed at 5:44 p.m. in order to go into worksession. The Commissioner reconvened at 5:47 p.m. 8.1 Process Discussion Ms. Othoudt distributed a handout and discussed Economic Development Department processes. Commissioner Dwyer stated Item 6b is important and the city has put a lot of effort into getting projects shepherded through the various departments without conflicting issues coming back to the business. He stated the city has worked very hard on this item and he hasn't heard any complaints recently. He further stated meeting with real estate industry contacts is important for future lead potential. Chair Tveite concurred. He stated sometimes projects take too long to get through the system and understands the need to have balance with following policy but there also needs to be a way to streamline and make the city more attractive to developers and builders. Ms. Othoudt stated the timeline for each project isn't as streamlined as it should be so key dates aren't missed. She stated she would like to develop a framework outlining who is responsible for the six items identified in her handout. Commissioner Provo suggested sending a survey to past customers to find out how the process went. He stated he has gotten negative feedback from the community and the city needs to do damage control across all departments. He stated a lot of what needs to be done is handholding of certain business customers and turning around and offering them the same deal in a different manner. Ms. Othoudt stated a survey could be developed for consideration at the next meeting. Commissioner Burandt suggested measuring the city timeline against other communities to see how competitive Elk River is. Ms. Othoudt stated the city has a very good process in place compared to the City of Becker noting the HRA/EDA meetings are scheduled back-to-back with Council in order to get approvals done in one night. She stated we could market our timeline as an asset after completion of the city comparisons. r p I V I a I 1 i t NATURE]