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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-07-07 BEDC Packet - cancelled AGENDA CITY OF MAPLEWOOD BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Wednesday, July 7,2010 7:00 P.M. Council Chambers - Maplewood City Hall 1830 County Road BEast 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes: a. June 7, 2010 5. New Business: a. City Manager James Antonen (no report) b. 2030 Comprehensive Plan Vision 6. Unfinished Business: a. Business Retention Tour b. Business Baseline Survey 7. Visitor Presentations: 8. Commission Presentations: 9. Staff Presentations: 10. Adjourn AGENDA CITY OF MAPLEWOOD BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Monday, June 7, 2010 7:00 P.M. Council Chambers - Maplewood City Hall 1830 County Road BEast 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call Commissioners Commissioner David Hesley, present Commissioner Mark Jenkins, present Commissioner Marvin Koppen, present Commissioner David Sherrill, present Commissioner Shelly Strauss, present Commissioner Beth Ulrich, present Commissioner Laurie Van Dalen, absent Staff Michael Martin, City Planner Charles Ahl, Assistant City Manager 3. Approval of Commissioner motion. Sherrill seconded the The 4. minutes from the May 3,2010 meeting. Commissioner Ayes: All The motion passed. 5. New Business: a. Capital Improvement Plan Mr. Ahl, Assistant City Manager presented and answered questions regarding the CIP. The commission discussed the CIP among themselves. Commissioner Strauss motioned to approve the draft 2011-2015 Capital Improvement Plan according to the agenda; those listed as proposed projects and those proposed but recommended to be declined, and Commissioner Strauss moved to approve the dollars as presented by staff, but without commentary on the funding source. Commissioner Sherrill seconded the motion. The commission voted on whether they are going to call the question. There was no majority vote. The motion did not pass. The commission briefly continued discussion. The motion was voted on. Ayes: Jenkins, Strauss, Ulrich, Sherrill, Koppen Nays: Hesley The motion passed. Commissioner Jenkins elected to attend the July 6 meeting. b. fish Creek Estates Mr. Ahl presented and answered questions discussed fish Creek Estates and provided fish Creek for The commission 6. Unfinished Business: a. Business Retention b. Business Baseline Commissioner Sherrill motioned to motion. Ulrich seconded the The motion passed 7. Visitor 8. 9. Staff 10. Adjourn - Commissioner Strauss motion. to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Ulrich seconded the Ayes: All The meeting adjourned at 9:39 pm. MEMORANDUM TO: fROM: James Antonen, City Manager Michael Martin, AICP, Planner DuWayne Konewko, Community Development and Parks Director 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update Vision June 25, 2010 SUBJECT: DATE: INTRODUCTION The city council adopted the 2030 Comprehensive Plan on January 25, 2010. The Metropolitan Council requires each city within the Twin Cities metro area to update its plan every 10 years. The 2030 Comprehensive Plan is a large document that includes eleven chapters each addressing a different issue related to land use, development, infrastructure or the environment. DISCUSSION The Business and Economic Development Commission (BEDC) was established after the 2030 Comprehensive Plan has been adopted by the city council. Each of the city's boards and commission had the opportunity to review portions of the plan and make several recommendations that helped form the document. Staff wants to ensure the members of the BEDC have a full understanding as to how the plan was developed and what it means to Maplewood's future over the next 10 years. Staff will go through a presentation at the July meeting to outline the plan and to discuss the plan with BEDC members. The 2030 Comprehensive Plan does not have a chapter dedicated to economic development, nor is it required by the Metropolitan Council. However, with the creation of the BEDC and Maplewood Area Economic Development Authority (EDA) the city has established economic development as a priority. Later this year, staff will be starting to work with the BEDC on developing an economic development chapter to be amended to the 2030 Comprehensive Plan or a standalone economic development chapter. This document will also include feedback and guidance from the EDA and would have to be ultimately adopted by the city council. RECOMMENDATION In february, each BEDC member received a CD containing a copy of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The plan is also available on the city's website - www.ci.maplewood.mn.us. Please come to the July 7,2010 meeting prepared to discuss the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. MEMORANDUM TO: fROM: James Antonen, City Manager Michael Martin, AICP, Planner DuWayne Konewko, Community Development and Parks Director Business Retention Tour June 23, 2010 SUBJECT: DATE: INTRODUCTION At the March 1, 2010 business and economic development commission (BEDC) meeting, the idea of holding a business retention tour was discussed. The BEDC expressed a need to establish a mission and vision statement before moving forward. Those statements have been drafted and approved by the BEDC. An article introducing the BEDC and its mission and vision statements was printed in a recent city newsletter. Staff is now looking to begin the process of meeting with businesses in the Maplewood community. DISCUSSION Staff is planning to schedule times throughout the summer for BEDC members, council members and staff to meet with Maplewood businesses. These meetings will be largely informal and last anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes. Staff is going to block off times on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons for BEDC members to sign up. Once a time block has been taken staff will then work to schedule meetings with one to three businesses and see if a councilmember is able to attend. At the July 7, 2010 meeting, staff will have a signup sheet so that BEDC members can start to consider possible times for meetings. Staff intends for these meetings to start by the end of July with meetings on Tuesdays starting at 8 a.m. and on Thursdays starting at 5 p.m. Staff will coordinate with business owners and council members to establish meeting times. If no council member is able to meet, staff and BEDC members will still meet with business owners. The original intent was to have each BEDC member attend an equal amount of meetings, but staff realizes that work and personal schedules will allow some individuals to meet more than others. Therefore the signup sheet will be completely voluntary. The intent is that by the end of September, the BEDC will have met with about 25 businesses. Staff will select the 25 businesses randomly from the city's registry of businesses compiled from the city clerk's office and the fire department. This tour will serve as an outreach to inform business owners about the Maplewood economic development authority (EDA) and BEDC and to receive any feedback. This feedback will afford BEDC members to obtain a small sample of concerns for business owners in Maplewood. This is in no way meant to be a comprehensive study of attitudes or positions of business owners in Maplewood but will rather give BEDC members and staff an opportunity to meet business owners and get an idea of what types of issues are of concern. RECOMMENDATION Review this memo and come to the July 7,2010 BEDC meeting prepared to discuss your thoughts on the business retention tour and sign up for potential meeting dates. MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: James Antonen, City Manager Soham Banerji, BEDC, Intern Michael Martin, AICP, Planner DuWayne Konewko, Community Development and Parks Director Baseline Business Survey June 23, 2010 SUBJECT: DATE: INTRODUCTION City staff would like to establish an annual baseline business survey to garner an understanding of the current business environment to help guide staff's and the BE DC's efforts. The BEDC discussed the survey at its meeting on March 1, 2010. The comments from this meeting were utilized to draft the attached survey. Staff will conduct this survey using a database of more than 800 businesses in the city of Maplewood. This database was compiled by using registries from the city clerk and fire departments. Staff will scientifically select a random sample of businesses from this database. It is staff's intent to send this survey out annually to the same businesses to generate a picture over time of how feelings towards city efforts and the business climate have changed. After the survey is completed, staff will provide the results at a future BEDC meeting. DISCUSSION Staff plans to finalize the survey and select the businesses by the end of July. The survey will ask businesses to return the survey within two weeks and will include a self-addressed envelope with return postage. Staff will follow up with businesses yet to return surveys to promote a high response rate. While formulating these questions staff has stayed consistent with the overall goal of engaging the business community and encouraging business leaders to participate in these surveys, while being consistent with the BE DC's mission and vision statements. RECOMMENDATION Review this memo and attached survey before the July 7, 2010 BEDC meeting and be prepared to offer any final thoughts or recommendations before staff sends out the survey later this summer. Attachments: 1. Baseline Business Survey Section 1: General Information (Optional) Name: Address Attachment 1 Swvey Number Email Phone Company Name Do you Own or lease property? Position Section 2: Business Environment Number of years/months your business has been in operation in Maplewood Is your business planning to stay in Maplewood? Is your business planning to expand in the next 3 years? Does the City of Maplewood serve your expansion needs? Rate the following questions on scale of 1 to 5, corresponding to the following scale: 1: Does not meet my needs; 2: Below Average; 3: Average; 4: Above Average; 5: Excellent How would you rate the current location for your business? How would you rate the business regulatory environment in Maplewood? How would you rate the proximity of Maplewood to major markets? How would you rate the proximity of Maplewood to service suppliers? Section 3: Employment Number of full-time employees Number of part-time/seasonal employees Approximately what percentage of your employees are Maplewood residents? Approximately what percentage of your business employs high school graduates? Approximately what percentage of your business employs college graduates? Does the City of Maplewood provide adequate resources for continuing education opportunities? Section 4: Expenses Rate the following questions on scale of 1 to 5, corresponding to the following scale: 1: Does not meet my needs; 2: Below Average; 3: Average; 4: Above Average; 5: Excellent How would you rate the City of Maplewood on the availability of rental space? How would you rate the City of Maplewood on the cost of rental space? How would you rate the City of Maplewood on the availability of land for your business? How would you rate the City of Maplewood on the cost of land? Attachment 1 Section 5: Sustainable Development and the Environment Does your business currently recycle? Does your business plan to recycle/expand recycling in the next 1 year? How would you rate the City of Maplewood on its environmental quality? Do you think the City of Maplewood is doing enough to encourage sustainable development? If you answered 'No' to the previous question, what would you say the City of Maplewood needs to do to encourage businesses to apply sustainable development practices? Section 6: Opinions List 3 Strengths of the City of Maplewood as a place to do business List 3 Weaknesses of the City of Maplewood as a place to do business List 3 factors that affect your businesses ability to attract and/or retain customers What are your suggestions on improving the City of Maplewood as a business environment? Thank you for taking the time to help the City of Maplewood serve your businesses needs.