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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 03-14 City Council Workshop PacketPPLLEEAASSEE NNOOTTEE SSTTAARRTT TTIIMMEE AGENDA MAPLEWOOD CITY COUNCIL MANAGER WORKSHOP 5:00 P.M. Monday, March 14, 2016 City Hall, Council Chambers A. CALL TO ORDER B. ROLL CALL C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA D. UNFINISHED BUSINESS E. NEW BUSINESS 1. Business Retention Discussion 2. Communication Plan Report F. ADJOURNMENT RULES OF CIVILITY FOR THE CITY COUNCIL, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND OUR COMMUNITY Following are rules of civility the City of Maplewood expects of everyone appearing at Council Meetings - elected officials, staff and citizens. It is hoped that by following these simple rules, everyone’s opinions can be heard and understood in a reasonable manner. We appreciate the fact that when appearing at Council meetings, it is understood that everyone will follow these principles: Speak only for yourself, not for other council members or citizens - unless specifically tasked by your colleagues to speak for the group or for citizens in the form of a petition. Show respect during comments and/or discussions, listen actively and do not interrupt or talk amongst each other. Be respectful of the process, keeping order and decorum. Do not be critical of council members, staff or others in public. Be respectful of each other’s time keeping remarks brief, to the point and non-repetitive. THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK MEMORANDUM TO: Melinda Coleman, City Manager FROM: Michael Martin, AICP, Economic Development Coordinator DATE: March 7, 2016 SUBJECT: Business Retention Discussion Introduction At the March 14, 2016 city council workshop meeting city staff will provide an overview of various options and programs available regarding developing a business retention program in Maplewood. City staff will be looking for direction from the council on where to direct and focus its efforts in developing a program. Discussion In 2011 and 2012 city staff and members of the then-business and economic development commission made several business retention visits with Maplewood businesses to have general discussions and find out about potential issues. City staff has also conducted business retention visits on a requested basis prior to 2011. At the February 10, 2016 housing and economic development commission meeting the commissioners discussed program options and agreed that their commission should be leading this task and were interested in having education provided for them to assist with establishing why and how the city should approach business retention meetings. City staff agrees and would also like to utilize this effort to provide educational opportunities to any staff members, appointed officials, elected officials and other volunteers who would be conducting these visits to ensure similar methodologies and a shared understanding for the purpose of the retention meetings. After the educational piece is completed the city will be able to choose program options from resources offered by the University of Minnesota Extension, Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and the White Bear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. At the March 14 meeting, Michael Darger, director of business retention and expansion program, from the University of Minnesota Extension office will be in attendance to support the city council and staff with its discussion about creating this program. Recommendation Staff will be requesting feedback and direction from the city council regarding a business retention program. Attachment 1. Draft HEDC Minutes, February 10, 2016 E1 Workshop Packet Page Number 1 of 8 DRAFT MINUTES OF THE HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 7:00 P.M. 5. NEW BUSINESS c. Consider Selection of a Business Retention Program i. Economic Development Coordinator, Michael Martin discussed the history of the commission who had met with Maplewood businesses in 2011/2012 and some ideas for starting the business retention program. Mr. Martin said there are many components to making this program successful. ii. Interim Environmental and Economic Development Director, Nick Carver addressed the commission about the education piece at the University of Minnesota and the 10 week process that is done online for the certification for a business retention program. iii. City Council Liaison, Marylee Abrams addressed the commission about the importance of Maplewood businesses and how we can partner with businesses in Maplewood and bring additional business to the City of Maplewood. City Councilmember Abrams said the James J Hill Library is a good way to research how to find what businesses are out there and how they are categorized in terms of what their products are, what they do, what their net worth is. The city needs to find out how Maplewood can get businesses to move into Maplewood. City councilmember Abrams stated she is committed to working on the business retention program and will encourage the other council members to support the program as well. City councilmember Abrams suggested when someone goes to meet with businesses to encourage them to come to Maplewood they present a small gift bag with products that are from companies in Maplewood, information about those companies and how to contact them. The commission had questions of staff on the business retention process. Commissioner Mark Jenkins shared his experience of meeting with Maplewood businesses with staff Mike Martin while being on the former BEDC commission. Commissioner Jenkins felt it would be better to have members of the HEDC commission, councilmembers, staff and volunteers to work together on the business retention program rather than putting together a separate task force. Commissioner’s Jenkins, Wessel and Chairperson Gansluckner volunteered to sign up for the certification process. This topic will be discussed at each of the HEDC Meetings. This will be an item discussed at a city council workshop in early March of 2016. E1, Attachment 1 Workshop Packet Page Number 2 of 8 E2 MEMORANDUM TO: Melinda Coleman, City Manager FROM: Chad Bergo, GIS Analyst DATE: March 14, 2016 SUBJECT: Communication Plan Report Introduction This brief discussion will update you and the Council on the progress we have been making towards their Coordinated Communications strategic priority. We will update the Council on the research we have conducted on the Communication Plans elements and discuss the headway we are making with other aspects of the Communications efforts. Background The City of Maplewood’s leadership team and City Council identified five strategic priorities during a 2015 strategic planning retreat, Coordinated Communications being one of them. Maplewood has never dedicated full-time or even part-time staff towards our communication efforts, at most we have had various staff members do additional duties above and beyond their primary roles to assist in communications which often led to our disjointed efforts. To compound those inconsistencies, we’ve had staff members scattered throughout various departments making it hard to recognize who was responsible for what was being communicated to the public and our employees. Working with Police Chief Paul Schnell, IT Director Mychal Fowlds, Citizen Services Director Karen Haag, and City Manager Melinda Coleman, we’ve held and initial internal workgroup to begin formulating how our Coordinated Communications efforts will move forward under your direction. The first step in this process is drafting a communication plan to guide us. To help us in this effort, we reviewed various Communication Plans from communities around the metro area, as well as several from around the nation. We saw a broad range of examples starting with a simplistic approach consisting of only a few pages to a full in-depth document that clearly defines every minute detail an organization must adhere to when using any of the City’s communication tools. One element that was consistent throughout all of the communication plans we looked at was a purpose statement. It also seemed like the communications plans that had a theme intertwined throughout their document resonated with our workgroup, promoting the communities identity and the reinforcing Council’s vision. The upcoming retreat would be a great place for everyone to begin workshopping their ideas around. Internally, have started putting together the framework of a communication plan and have asked our Leadership team to help us identify key people in their departments who might be stewards of our communication efforts moving forward. These individuals will help us formulate our Coordinated Communication efforts and be resources for their departments. Workshop Packet Page Number 3 of 8 E2 While we have been holding these meetings internally with staff, concurrently we have been meeting with Councilmember Abrams to explore further the PEG fees and Communication funding of many communities within the metro area. Along with Councilmember Abrams, City Manager Coleman, IT Director Fowlds and myself are exploring what Maplewood can do in the future with our franchise fees once we have a clearly defined sustainable budget for communications. Since the last Council workshop meeting back in January, we have worked with the Metropolitan Council, Independent School District 622 and 623, Ramsey County and the League of Women Voters to provide concentrated content alongside our telecast meetings on Channel 16 Budget Impact At this point, there is no budget impact associated with this item. Recommendation This item is being brought before you for informational purposes only, and therefore, there are no recommendations at this time. Attachments 1. Communication Plan framework Workshop Packet Page Number 4 of 8 March 1st, 2016 COMMUNICATION PLAN CITY OF MAPLEWOOD MaplewoodMN.gov @MaplewoodMN www.facebook.com\MaplewoodMN.gov E2, Attachment 1 Workshop Packet Page Number 5 of 8 VISION STATEMENT The City of Maplewood and its staff strive to be a helpful and interactive partner with residents and the business community. This can only be achieved through sensitivity to customer service and a clear commitment to meaningful and effective communication among and between residents, employees, appointed commissions, elected leaders and community-based organizations and businesses. To this end, the City must provide timely information on City programs, facilities, services and activities available to the community. The City must also provide effective feedback opportunities for its constituency to ensure these programs, services and activities continue to meet community standards. Additionally, the City must use communications as a proactive educational tool to keep the community informed about how the City operates, and the rules and procedures that are involved in that operation. The City also must also communicate the Strategic Objectives, the Annual Budget, and Capital Improvement Plan. Finally, the City must continually strive to improve communications; both internally among staff and elected officials; and externally with the community as a whole. E2, Attachment 1 Workshop Packet Page Number 6 of 8 TARGET AUDIENCE The identified primary audiences are the groups of people whom the city needs to communicate regularly on various topics and issues. They included; Residents of Maplewood City Council & Commissioners Community Groups and Organizations Neighborhoods Regional Organizations and Agencies News Media Business and Property Owners Employees Volunteers within the City Students, Parents and School Communities The identified secondary audiences are groups with which the city communicates on a semi-re gular or infrequent basis. They include: Residents living in neighboring communities Businesses in neighboring communities Visitors to Maplewood Future or potential residents and business owners in Maplewood COMMUNICATION TOOLBOX The City utilizes a wide variety of tools to effectively communicate and market our message to the targeted audiences. Some of our tools are very “high tech” while others are very “low tech” to help us reach a broad range of individuals. CivicPlus Website Twitter Facebook Nextdoor Periscope Instagram Public Service Announcements Maplewood Living Seasons Nature Center Brochure Letters Electronic Mail Public Access Television Digital Displays Flyers & Posters Direct Mailings Presentation Software Brochures & Printed Projects Displays Neighborhood Meetings E2, Attachment 1 Workshop Packet Page Number 7 of 8 GOALS GOAL 1 – DEVELOP DOCUMENT STANDARDS FOR STAFF o Objective 1: Create and Distribute Office templates for staff to standardize a professional look that is clearly from the City o Objective 2 – Place holder text inserted here to hold GOAL 2 - UPDATE CRISIS COMMUNICATION POLICY o Objective 1: Clarify how after-hours events are managed by council and staff o Objective 2: GOAL 3 - CONDENSE ONLINE E2, Attachment 1 Workshop Packet Page Number 8 of 8