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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-22-21 MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Meeting April 22, 2021 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Butterfield at 6:00 p.m. Members Present: Butterfield, Bernhjelm, Hoyt, Simmons, Hudlemeyer, Carpentier Members Absent: Kaufman Also Present: Kalley Swift, Community Development Specialist; Cynthia Muller,Administrative Assistant 2. PLEDGE OFALLEGIANCE 3. ROLL CALL 4. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by Carpentier, second by Hoyt to approve the Agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 5. CITIZEN COMMENTS/PRESENTATIONS 6. CONSENTAGENDA MOTION by Simmons, second by Carpentier to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Received Monthly Financial Statements b) Approved Meeting Minutes (April 15, 2021, Special Meeting) APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS 8. DISCUSSIONITEMS a) Grant Program Funding and Guidelines The EDA administers two grant programs,the Downtown Facade Improvement Grant Program and the Redevelopment and Property Reinvestment Program. Each program is provided with $20,000 in funding. At the March EDA meeting, all funds were used for the Fagade Improvement Program. For 2021, staff recommended adding $30,000 in funding to the Fagade Improvement Program to cover any anticipated applications. Regarding the Redevelopment and Property Reinvestment Program,two grants have been awarded in 2021 and there is $2,100 left in funding. Staff proposed an additional $20,000 in funding for this program. Additional funding could come from the $52,000 of unallocated funds and from the $100,000 set aside for the Rambling River Center Plaza project. EDA Minutes(Regular) April 22,2021 Page 2 For 2022,the EDA mentioned revising the guidelines and the process for how grants are awarded. Staff proposed two options: Option 1 —Leave the guidelines and process as is with accepting applications and awarding grants throughout the year, but with increased funding of$50,000. Option 2-Mail out the Fagade Improvement Program packet to downtown eligible properties in January. Applications would be scored by staff based on criteria such as: - Clear title to the property; taxes and any city fees are paid - Project meets the program objectives - Project impact on the surrounding area - Proposed work follows city code and/or historic preservation guidelines Applications based on highest scores and those that would use up available funding would be brought to the EDA for approval. Round 1 —Receive applications February—March, award grants in April, work would need to be completed by the end of October. Round 2—Receive applications April—May, award grants in June, work would need to be completed by the end of December. These timelines allow for grant money to be awarded within the same year. Whether having one round or two rounds should be based on amount of funding. If there is $50,000 in funding,we could award $30,000 in grants in the first round and $20,000 in the second round. If no applications are received for the second round, any leftover applications from the first round would be reviewed again. If less than$50,000 in funding is provided by the EDA, have one round only. The actions requested were: 1. For 2021, the EDA should decide if an additional $30,000 in funding should be added to the Fagade Improvement Program or$20,000 in funding added to the Redevelopment and Property Reinvestment Program or both. If no funding is added,both programs will be closed for the year. 2. For 2022,the EDA should select option 1 or 2 for the grant programs and decide the amount of funding for each program. Member Simmons suggested discussing individual grant amount maximums, then the amount of funding to allocate for the year, timing and selection criteria. Chair Butterfield agreed. He noted the guidelines are vague by intent and are interpreted differently. We should decide what is weighted for both programs. The history of grant funds has increased because of the work being expensive. We are at a maximum grant amount of$10,000 now. Member Simmons recalled we started at$5,000 max and that felt right. When applicants said they could not do their project without$10,000 that caused an urgency for funds. She would rather award four to six$5,000 grants. Member Simmons recalled the EDA had EDA Minutes(Regular) April 22,2021 Page 3 talked about a similar program for Highway 3. Councilmember Bernhjelm noted this program was not intended to be a lifeline. Are large scale projects a bigger impact on buildings? She could leave the grant amounts at$10,000 or$5,000. Member Carpentier talked with a few businesses and dropping the amount to $5,000 would be okay with them. Mayor Hoyt stated the Fagade Program is for B-2 and B-3 businesses in the downtown. Now the downtown district will be larger with the new zoning. It would no longer cover just the downtown, so $30,000 in funding is a thin piece of the pie. He suggested allowing a business to apply once every 24 months. Keep the program clean and evenly distributed. We should not determine amounts until we know the number of businesses included in the new zoning. Chair Butterfield stated the Fagade Program aligns with City Council priorities. We would expand the program to include Highway 3, have a smaller grant amount or more scrutiny with reviewing applications. Councilmember Bernhjelm suggested for 2022 to include Highway 3 and have $5,000 in Fagade grants as a maximum. One criteria could be if they have received a grant within three years, the funds would go to other applicants. For the Redevelopment Program,have a maximum of$10,000 in grants and more scrutiny with reviewing applications, such as how this would allow them to grow their business and would it increase the number of employees. We would use option two and only have round two if all the money was not allocated or accept applications on a rolling basis for the rest of the year. This allows for Council budgeting to catch up. At the end of the year we will know if the EDA has more funding for next year. For 2022 programs, staff should add Highway 3, note whether it is a building owner or tenant, lower the Facade grant maximum amount to possibly$5,000, ranking criteria should include the number of years the business has received a grant, will it expand their business, will it expand the number of employees. This item should be brought back to the October/November meeting. Member Simmons felt the EDA should have input on criteria. The business should be provided with a score card as to how their application will be ranked. Criteria should also include whether they are considered a small business according to their gross sales through the Small Business Association. Criteria should also include whether the work is a safety upgrade. For 2021, Councilmember Bernhjelm felt no additional funding should be provided to the Redevelopment Program. For the Fagade Program, we could provide additional funding if we define a window to open applications and have that period until July 1, 2021, and use the criteria discussed to award grants. The rest of the EDA members were not in favor of adding funds to either program. MOTION by Bernhjelm, second by Hudlemeyer to not allow additional funding for either program. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. EDA Minutes(Regular) April 22,2021 Page 4 Mayor Hoyt asked staff to identify the number of new businesses included in the downtown with the new zoning and the number of businesses that have received grants recently including CDBG grants. b. City Council Update/Member Roundtable Additional CARES dollars are being allocated. The downtown sidewalk project has been approved. A new development south of the fire station on Denmark has been approved. We have hired a new Parks and Rec Director. Interviews for the new Community Development Director will be May 3, 2021. There will be a question on the school district survey asking if residents would support a new recreation facility. At the May meeting approval for allocating funds for wayfinding signs, banners and holiday decor will be on the agenda. C. BR&E Update—2021 Plan The Business Retention and Expansion(BR&E)program was finalized in March 2020, but was paused due to COVID. The BR&E subcommittee met in September 2020 and approved a short-term modification of the program which included an online survey of COVID related questions which was open to all businesses in Farmington. In October 2020, 50 business responses were received and those results were reviewed at the November and December 2020 EDA meetings. The BR&E program is now gearing up for implementation. The traditional BR&E program is based on business assessment surveys and in- person business visits to address concerns and gather data for bigger policy decisions,programs and discussions to support Farmington businesses. Businesses who answered"yes" or"unsure" in the Fall 2020 BR&E survey will influence what businesses to visit in the initial program launch. There will be 2-3 visitors for in-person business visits consisting of staff, EDA, City Council to start, then include Dakota County Chamber of Commerce, citizen volunteers, various local/regional organizations, etc. Business visitor training will be provided before going on visits. Staff will distribute an online survey one week prior to the visit and notify business visitors of the online survey responses and issues to address while on the visit. Each visit will be an hour or less. Businesses will be provided with a questionnaire before the visits as preparation. A leave behind gift will be given to the business. Thank you notes will be sent immediately after the visit and there will be medium and long-term follow up. The goal for 2021 is 50 business visits, averaging two per week from June through November. Monthly updates will be provided to the EDA. In November, staff will launch Favor Farmington 2.0 with an online map of businesses. December will be used to prepare for 2022. Councilmember Bernhjelm was impressed with the number of businesses to visit in 2021. She hopes to participate as much as possible. Chair Butterfield stated this is not a one year thing. In year two we can keep a scale and a general set of questions and compare year to year. He would like to revisit this again after the May visits. The timing will be good for the start of the new Community EDA Minutes(Regular) April 22,2021 Page 5 Development Director. We should be able to do two visits/week. Mayor Hoyt asked how many surveys were sent. There were 226 mailings. He asked if staff attempted to get to the 176 who did not respond. It was a Fall 2020 survey, so staff was not too worried because the program would launch in 2021. Chair Butterfield felt this was a good response rate for an initial survey. The engagement came from long time businesses. Councilmember Bernhjelm asked that the City Administrator include the business visit schedule in his weekly update to City Council. Staff will set up meetings month by month. Chair Butterfield reminded everyone the visit should focus on their business. 9. DIRECTOR'S REPORT a) April Director's Report There have been a couple joint City Council /Planning Commission meetings on the 2040 Comp Plan. The next EDA meeting is May 27, 2021. The agenda will include a purchase agreement for the Riste lot. Councilmember Bernhjelm reminded members to direct any questions to Community Development Specialist Swift and she will forward to the appropriate staff person. The May agenda will also include finances and a proposed budget recommendation to the City Council for 2022 and the Rambling River Center Plaza allocation. 10. ADJOURN MOTION by Hoyt, second by Carpentier to adjourn at 7:31 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, C&wtKa Mu.Uer Cynthia Muller Administrative Assistant