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<br />The Elk River Vision <br />A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional <br />service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity <br />Request for Action <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />To <br />Economic Development Authority <br />Item Number <br />7.1 <br />Agenda Section <br />General Business <br />Meeting Date <br />July 20, 2020 <br />Prepared by <br />Suzanne Fischer, Community Development <br />Director <br />Item Description <br />Chamber of Commerce Business Survey: Concern <br />#3 and #4 <br />Reviewed by <br />Amanda Othoudt, Economic Development <br />Director <br />Reviewed by <br />Cal Portner, City Administrator <br /> <br />Action Requested <br />• Receive information, provide feedback. <br />• Agree, by consensus, the action sufficiently meets or exceeds expectations to address <br />concerns/recommendations from the Chamber of Commerce Business Survey: Concern #3 and #4. <br /> <br />Background/Discussion <br />Citing undocumented concerns regarding the business atmosphere experienced by developers with the city, the <br />EDA commissioned a survey through the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce to identify specific concerns. <br />Two follow-up meetings were held with participants of the survey with Commissioners Westgaard, Wagner and <br />Blesener. The information gathered was shared with the city administrator who developed a workplan to <br />address the concerns. <br /> <br />Concern #3: Clearly outline what is being inspected for the entire project and limit the inspection to that list. New items should <br />not pop up with every inspection. <br />There is no specific “list” of items to be checked for any particular inspection. The Minnesota State Building <br />Code includes seven code books. Project managers and their tradesmen are expected to not deviate from the <br />spirit of the codes. To facilitate communication, the following four practices have been implemented. <br /> <br />Citizenserve Community Development Software purchase and implementation. A demonstration will be <br />provided. <br /> <br />Formal Letters of Explanation. Following an inspection, the building inspectors document non-compliant <br />items identified along with the applicable code(s). This information is part of the record and is sent to the <br />applicants via email or letter. <br /> <br />Pre-Application Meetings. The city currently offers preconstruction meetings to further review plans and the <br />process with the project manager and whomever they wish to include. Our experience is very few choose to