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Item #6 <br />fiver <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Housing & Redevelopment Authority <br />FROM: Catherine Mehelich, Director of Economic Development <br />DATE: May 7, 2007 <br />SUBJECT: Consider Downtown Redevelopment Plan Communications <br />Attachments <br />• Essential Redevelopment Planning, Ehlers & Associates <br />• Public Participation Process Outline, Ehlers & Associates <br />• Elk River Downtown Riverfront Revitalization Q & A Newsletter, February 2002 <br />Issue <br />For the past 6-months the Downtown Redevelopment Plan Taskforce has been working hard to <br />establish a basis for understanding the various issues of the redevelopment study area. The <br />Taskforce will begin its visioning process this month and refinement next month based on a <br />series of generally agreed upon assumptions for the redevelopment plan. <br />Up until this point there has been very little communications about the redevelopment study that <br />has been distributed to the general public and stakeholders (business, property owners and <br />residents within the study area). Clear and consistent communications with the public and <br />stakeholders is a critical component of a successful redevelopment plan and project. The <br />attached materials from Ehlers & Associates provide a summary of the key components of a <br />redevelopment communications plan, many of which were implemented by the HRA over the <br />past 5-years of the Downtown Revitalization project. These communication efforts were found <br />to be successful tools in the process outcome, limited the likelihood of rumors and <br />misinformation, as well as provided the public a primary source of contact for additional project <br />information. <br />Recommendation <br />Staff recommends that the HRA consider authorizing staff to proceed in implementing similar <br />communications tools for the Downtown Redevelopment Planning process, including: <br />• Q&A Newsletter, web site and news releases <br />o Purpose: to inform the public about the need, process, goals and upcoming <br />opportunities for participation and input <br />o Estimated cost: $3,200 per Q&A publication <br />design & print approximately 8500 count <br />