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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20150120 PAM RMROSEMOUNT PORT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 20, 2015 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a regular meeting of the Rosemount Port Authority was held on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 2875 145th Street West, Rosemount. Chair Weisensel called the meeting to order with Commissioners Droste, Luing, Smith, DeBettignies attending. Commissioners Wolf and Demuth were absent. Staff present included City Administrator Johnson, Community Development Director Lindquist and City Clerk Hadler. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO AGENDA Community Development Director Lindquist stated there were no proposed changes. Motion by DeBettignies. Second by Luing. Motion to Adopt the Agenda. Ayes: 7 Nays: 0. Motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA Motion by Luing. Second by Smith. Motion to Approve the Consent Agenda. a. Approval of December 2, 2014 Regular Meeting Minutes Ayes: Droste, Luing, Weisensel, Smith, DeBettignies Nays: None. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS 4.a. Attendance at International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) RECon Community Development Director Lindquist gave an overview of the opportunity to visit the ICSC conference in May. Port Authority members discussed the drawbacks and opportunities of attending such an event. Chair Weisensel invited other Port Authority members to volunteer to attend. DeBettignies and Smith indicated interest in attending. It was recommended that 4 people attend, so that the group could split into teams of two. The goal would be to set up appointments with retailers and brokers. Motion by Luing. Second by DeBettignies. Motion to Approve the attendance of 4 commissioners/staff to ICSC RECon with current interested attendees being Director Lindquist, Mayor Droste, Smith, DeBettignies. Ayes: Droste, Luing, Weisensel, Smith, DeBettignies Nays: None. Motion carried. ROSEMOUNT PORT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 20, 2015 4.b. 2015 Goals Community Development Director Lindquist gave an overview of the process of developing the current set of goals. She recommended updates to the goals for 2015. Commissioner Demuth recommended that whoever visits downtown businesses should look at past visit notes for concerns. Chair Weisensel invited commissioners to express interest in whatever topics they might be interested in. The goals will be formally created after the new Port Authority Commissioners are appointed this spring. Commissioner Smith stated he felt that the development of a hotel should be focused on. Ms. Lindquist stated there was some interest by investors in investing in a hotel, but the broker on one piece of land has stated that they haven’t been able to progress very much on it. The broker also stated he had some interest from other retailers and restaurant users. Commissioner DeBettignies inquired about financial assistance programs to help with downtown investments. Ms. Lindquist stated there was initially some CDBG funds set aside, but these funds are must be used for very specific uses. Commissioner Demuth stated that she would like to see something done with the old City dump. Ms. Lindquist stated that staff has applied for a County grant to pay for a portion of the grading of the site. 4.c. Commercial Vacancies Community Development Director Lindquist gave an overview of the current commercial vacancies rate, which is currently 9%. Rosemount Crossing sees the most vacancy issues, and has since it was constructed. Staff has spoken with Rosemount Market Square, the manager of which stated he has some ideas for a possible expansion; potentially indoor recreation, restaurant, or straight commercial. OLD BUSINESS 5.a. Website Discussion Community Development Director Lindquist provided a summary of staff efforts to update the Economic Development pages of the website. Changes are summarized in the staff memo. Ms. Lindquist stated staff could bring iPads to a future meeting so the commissioners could review the website. Chair Weisensel indicated this would maybe be best for when the new commissioners are appointed. Chair Weisensel discussed the possibility of moving the Economic Development pages outside of the City website. Quoting a study provided in the staff report, Mr. Weisensel described some of the activities that are most effective at attracting site selectors. ROSEMOUNT PORT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 20, 2015 Commissioner Smith inquired whether there was any one take-away that was recommended that we do. City Administrator Johnson stated the presentation did outline a number of items that cities should be sure to do. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT DIRECTOR’S REPORT REPORTS FROM PORT AUTHORITY COMMISSIONERS None. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Port Authority and upon a motion by DeBettignies, second by Luing, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Clarissa Hadler, City Clerk