6.3 EDSR 11-16-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Cit of l Request for Action River To Item Number Economic Development Authority 6.3 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by General Business November 16,2015 Amanda Othoudt, EDD Item Description Reviewed by Director's Report Cal Portner, City Administrator Reviewed by Action Requested Information presented for discussion only in effort to keep the EDA updated development activity. Background/Discussion BUSINESS VISITS Minnesota Manufacturing- Chamber and City Business Visits Colleen and Debbi from the chamber visited over 40 manufacturing businesses. The visits were in recognition of manufacturing week and to say thank you. All the businesses were very appreciative of the thank you and visit. Most of them took time to update us on how things were going.A couple businesses did state they were looking to expand, several of them are struggling with hiring a solid workforce and a couple of them are waiting until the 2016 election is completed before they make any big decisions. DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY Joplin Property—Ebert Construction We continue to work with Ebert Construction on the development of the Joplin and Highway 10 property. Staff has obtained the signatures needed from E&R Investments,LLC to execute the purchase agreement for the city-owned parcels. Staff has begun working with the county to start the process of securing interest in purchasing the remnant parcel from the county. We are also working with MnDOT on the process to release the surplus easement at the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 10 and Joplin Street. I will be presenting the information and request formal approval to purchase the Sherburne County parcel and the surplus easement from MnDOT at the November 16, 2015 city council meeting. Site Visits Staff has seen increased activity over the past month on both the county-owned data center site and the Northstar and Natures Edge business parks. Staff is working with local and regional brokers representing clients interested in pursuing developments on these city and county-owned parcels. MISCELLANEOUS Blandin Broadband Communities Program Grants The City of Elk River,in partnership with Sherburne County and Elk River Municipal Utilities,maintains an 8-mile fiber ring connecting all city facilities and data center. Sherburne County,in a partnership with Elk River Schools,is proposing to extend the fiber network to the City of Zimmerman. This extended network gives the City of Elk River the opportunity to connect to the City of Zimmerman.With connectivity between the cities,we have the opportunity to explore shared services and provide the � ovtiE1 er NATURE