[00:00:00] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Not to yes... well, welcome to the Oakdale Economic Development Commission meeting on December 6, 2023. Um, we’ll call it to order and what I’m—like to do to start out with is um, do a call of roll. So we’ve got Frank here, Gary’s here, yours truly, we got Jeff and we got Bob. So we’re short one for a quorum, so I’ll delay all voting until we do have one. Um, so with that, Frank, if you’d be so kind to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please. [00:00:35] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [00:00:50] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Thank you, Frank. Uh, let’s see, again we’re going to go over and pass by the approval of the agenda and approval of the minutes because we have no quorum at this point. So we’re going to get right to the um, well the open forum section of it, and I think we can get right into lovely Kim O’Brien from the St. Paul Chamber uh, with review of the business retention and expansion. Max, is there any more that I need to set up Kim’s amazing work that she does? [00:01:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I’ve got a few things before Kim comes in. Uh, so with the first cycle of business retention visits complete and a new contract completed with the St. Paul Chamber for program assistance and administration, I’m pleased to have Kim O’Brien here tonight to help provide training for business retention visits. As you know, on each visit the uh, BRE program brings together city staff, elected officials, business community members, and more together to interview and listen to our local businesses. Last year many of our business visit participants were EDC members representing the business community, and we were very thankful for their time to be able to participate. I highly encourage any of you who are interested and weren't able to join last year to join us on a visit. And to help interested parties and our new members succeed in these visits, Kim is here to provide background and training on the visits. So with that, I’m happy to have her speak. [00:02:15] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: Uh, thank you, Chair Burns, Max, Commissioners. It’s great to be here. My name is Kim O’Brien, I’m with the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and I’m also representing the Oakdale Area Chamber of Commerce. And I’ll just start by saying it’s been absolutely delightful to work with the city of Oakdale and the Chamber and your body here um, to visit Oakdale area businesses, um, learn more about them, forge new relationships for both the city and the Chamber and um, you know, I just appreciate the opportunity to be part of this so thank you. Um, as Max mentioned, I’m just going to provide some um, general information about the BR&E program as well as information um, for you all who would like to participate in visits this year in 2024. Um, the partners in the program are uh, the Chamber, the Oakdale Chamber, as well as the St. Paul Chamber. Our project timeline—we’re uh, going to do better at it this year. Last year it took a little longer than expected to get all 18 visits scheduled and completed and the report done, so we’re going to do—we’re going to do well in our timeline. Um, right now we are in engagement of participants in the program. We’re also reaching out to businesses to go and visit. Um, and um, yeah and then we’ll begin business visits. I’m thinking in January right off the bat in the new year and visit um, over five or six months the 12 businesses that we want to visit this year. Then prepare a report with our findings and um, present back to the city council and your board um, in the—in the fall of 2024. The goals are the same this year as last year um, to express appreciation. A lot of business owners—they employ people in our community, they provide tax base and services, they make—help make Oakdale a great place to live. Um, and sometimes they just want to know from their city officials um, and other uh, community members that their efforts are appreciated um, and that the city wants to see them continue to grow and thrive in Oakdale. So um, express appreciation, build relationships. Um, also connect them to resources. So last year we found that not a lot of our businesses understood the resources available to them. So through partners, through the city, through the Chamber um, there’s grant programs, there’s loan programs, there’s promotional programs. Um, we can help deliver those resources directly to the business owners. Um, also to understand uh, from the city’s perspective the real estate trends, workforce trends—what’s going on in the business community in Oakdale um, so that you can um, the city can be a better um, uh, promoter of the city as a place to do business or grow business within the city. So sometimes you’ll find that a business says, "You know, I really actually am ready to grow and add a whole new building but I’m not sure this site is possible because there’s a blah blah blah." Well, um, the city staff has the opportunity then to work with that property owner and see if there’s a way for them to grow right where they are or to find another parcel for which they can grow within the city limits. So that’s another benefit. And then um, understanding for the City Council to understand the way that policy impacts um, the ability of our employers to grow um, and employ people and provide tax base within the city limits too. So those are the goals. Um, we’re going to go through who will participate in our visits, who we will visit, how we plan and schedule the visits, um, what we’ll ask, and what happens after that. Just like last year, we’re hoping that this program can include visit—can include participants both from the City Council, so an elected person; um, the city staff will be at every visit—probably Director Andy Gitzlaff um, or Max in his absence; um, as well as a community leader. So that would be either one of you from the Economic Development Commission or a member of the Oakdale Area Chamber Board of Directors; um, as well as myself or a staff from the Chamber of Commerce to help facilitate and administer the visit. We are going to circle around the private for-profit businesses of all types and sizes. Um, we are going to start with businesses that we had not visited last year um, so that we um, learn about new businesses. We’re going to keep the same categories of businesses, including those that have been most impacted by COVID. So if you think of like retail and restaurants—I mean everybody, healthcare has been impacted, but those most impacted; um, women-owned, BIPOC-owned—and BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-owned businesses; um, legacy employers—so those are those larger businesses that employ lots of people for many, many years in the city; um, top employment sectors, which I’ll go over soon; and then geographic diversity, so making sure we’re hitting those parts of the city that we don’t get out—get to all that often. Our goal is to visit 12 businesses between January and July, one to two a month. This is just the latest uh, data from the state on the types of businesses that exist within the city limits. Um, we’re finding it’s pretty much the same as last year for the top sectors of employment. Um, I thought it was interesting the number of employed people in the city of Oakdale grew slightly from last year when I compared the—the data. Um, but the highest levels of employment were still in healthcare and social assistance, retail trade, professional scientific and technical services, and manufacturing, um, totaling just over 11,000 jobs last year. So how do we do this? Uh, I start by working with Andy and Max and the team and thinking through, "Okay, who are those businesses that we have on our radar? Maybe we weren’t able to get last year, um, or maybe businesses you know—that you all know of and think that we—should that owe a visit." And it can be a single person or it could be a business that employs a thousand people. Um, they’re both valuable uh, to learn about. So we’re going to um, develop a big prospect list and then kind of rank those businesses by priority. We’re going to reach out to these prospects through an email and a phone call if needed. Once in a while a stop-by helps, I’ve noticed, um, just popping in um, and—and then um, schedule a follow-up. So we uh, work in advance with um, Director Gitzlaff to identify some times available on the city schedule, and then I can offer those times really easily to the business because that scheduling hassle—is—no one has time for that, the business owners especially. Um, so trying to make it as smooth a process as possible. Um, and that’s when we reach out to our community members, so our community leader, including um, one of you all or a member of the Oakdale Chamber board. Um, last year uh, Chair Burns kind of helped take the lead um, on that and attended as many visits as was possible for him. And on the visits that did not quite work on his schedule, or perhaps another um, EDC or board member had a relationship with—they wanted to kind of utilize um, then we went down the list of other participants and invited other folks to come. Um, we’re going to—we always do a good job scheduling, send a calendar invitation, a reminder. We send um, questions in advance and um, every participant um, gets a calendar invitation as well as the—the survey itself. And I’d send a confirmation email a couple days before, or sometimes the day before, just so the business is reminded that we’re coming. In our survey, we’re going to ask for, you know, the details of the business. So like just basic stuff um, that we have all the information we need—what kind of business they—they are, how many people they employ um, if they own or lease the land, that kind of thing. Um, we’re going to ask about their facility and any in—um, plans for investment in capital, either like equipment, machinery, or land, buildings, things like that. Um, workforce issues—we find that is a—on everybody’s mind these days. Um, you know, what issues are they having attracting and retaining talent? Um, the transportation and transit issues—so as you know, city is growing a lot, there’s transit coming in, the pedestrian plan that was just approved. And um, how—what are the businesses thinking about the infrastructure of the city and community connectedness? So a lot of the people I see here even are very connected into the Chamber of Commerce or other local community members or the city itself, as you all are. Um, but not all business owners have those connections. So how do we help build connections um, where with our business leaders? So they could also be city and community leaders as well, or at least just join the Chamber, right? Um, we often—we’ll also get the privilege of a facility tour, a group photo. Um, and um, your Communications department here at the city of Oakdale has done an awesome job of colle—of uh, sharing out the pictures and stories of the businesses that we visit on social media. Um, and I think that’s a real bonus for the businesses too that they get a little additional, you know, marketing bump for their effort. In addition to uh, that, the businesses are left with a welcome packet from the city of Oakdale, which was created by, you know, the city staff um, and communications team along with a welcome letter. Um, and this includes all the resources—both that the city has to provide, contacts if they need anything, plus resources from the Chamber, um, the county um, Open to Business, R—you know, all the programs that are available to them. So they have it in one spot, and we actually give them a nice folder with it and then email them a PDF version after, which is really handy. Um, last year, and I believe we’re doing it again this year um, the city invested in a nice um, "Thank you for growing um, in Oakdale" uh, statue. And I’ve been into several businesses since um, who—and they all have that proudly displayed in their lobby area. Um, and I just think it’s a really nice leave-behind. It was a great idea um, to include that. So, leave-behind that shows their city pride. Um, always follow up with a thank-you email um, and any follow-ups that are able to be followed up immediately—"They had a question about a particular service, here’s the person you could call"—um, as well as any delegation or follow-ups needed from a different city staff. So um, you know, Chair—uh, Director Gitzlaff might um, realize that the—the person needed a follow-up from say, the police, because they were having, you know, an issue with break-ins in their parking lot. Um, he’ll make that connection and follow up that way. Uh, I think another nice takeaway is the spreadsheet of contact information for these businesses that the city gets to keep after the program exists. So whenever you guys have news or something that you need the businesses to know about, you’ll have a direct contact, or if you hear about something happening, the city is invited to use that information and contact the businesses directly. Create a—a written report with the trends that we saw, comparing it to the data from the year before um, nice pictures and recommendations on how to grow and improve the program for next year, as well as any recommendations that the business community would like the city officials to know about as well. Um, I think the only thing that I missed here in the training—to be consider yourself trained—um, and it’s not rocket science, right? You all meet with business—many of you are business owners and many of you meet with business owners regularly. Um, but I think the one thing to mention is that the survey is designed so we can compare data between and among the—the businesses that we’re meeting with. So the way we have it is, we have um, sections of questions that are assigned to each of the participants. So everybody who comes to the meeting will be assigned, you know, two, three questions at least to ask that business owner directly. Um, we—we started with—with a bit of a script, so and we pre-apologize that it may seem a little overly formal or, you know, ask questions maybe we already even know, but um, we have to be able to kind of track that data in our system so that we can compare it. So you know um, if uh, Chair Burns attends the meeting, he’ll be assigned a—a set of questions and then I will take the notes um, on those questions to make sure they’re recorded and we’ll go through the script pretty much as written. Um, and—and uh, yes, and so that is the program and I h—can stand for any questions. [00:15:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Any—how do you volunteer to visit businesses? Just tell you, Bill? [00:15:45] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: No, Kim is... yeah, Kim is a—a great resource. So go right to Kim. [00:15:55] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: Yes, I’d like to make a few. Thank you. [00:16:00] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: Wonderful. [00:16:05] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Not—not all of them, but ones that I can make. [00:16:10] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: Wonderful. [00:16:15] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: Same. YouTube. Okay. I think the issue I had last year because I did volunteer last year—sometimes I had very short notice, and I’ll do the best I can with that sometimes because you were last on the list. You see... [00:16:30] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: It might be Bill couldn’t make it in... [00:16:35] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: It might be, yeah. [00:16:40] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: I didn’t tell her until the last hour, yeah. [00:16:45] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: When do you usually uh, do these visits? During the day, uh, early morning, late night, what? [00:16:55] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: It is usually during the day. It is usually in person. Um, and so uh, the way that it’s worked before is that Andy and I will kind of collaborate on our calendars and put blocks of time on our calendar, you know um, and then I’ll have slots to offer the business right away. Uh, so yeah, so 9:00 a.m.—between usually between 9:00 and 5:00 p.m. is when most... which I know makes it hard for some business owners to attend. I understand. [00:17:25] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: That’s tough hours. [00:17:30] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: It is. And for the business, they’ve got a—that’s their time of making money. And so we’re asking them to, "Hey, step aside for two hours" or whatever it ends up to be. And so Kim keeps it so organized that we’re taking as least amount of time as—as possible when we’re in there. And she’s got great questions. Some people have been known to go off-script. I don’t know who that would have been, right? And uh—but uh, and the fact that the business gets the survey questions in advance really helps, too. [00:18:05] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: Yeah. So we’re not catching them off-guard with a rogue question. Maybe once in a while, but that’s about it. Yeah. [00:18:15] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: I’ll just say that I found—I—I was able to do one last year and I found that those questions that we had to start with um, actually very helpful. And I’ve been different situations where that consistency becomes very important. So understand what you’re speaking to—to say that we have to be able to map these things from one time to another, from one business to another, or from one year to another. Get that, definitely. [00:18:45] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: Any other questions for Kim? Can I say one other thing, Chair? Um, I think uh, one other note um, in a learning from last year is just the importance of, you know, kind of keeping everything we learn within the room. So part of the opening script is to say that um, you know, that anything that they say is um, it—you know, that we’re recording, but if they’d like us not to record something that that’s okay, because sometimes maybe they want to complain about their neighbor or something like that they’re having an issue, but they don’t want it documented in a report. So I think that, you know, making sure this year that we’re, you know, really clear about what will be in the report, um, what will be followed up on and what won’t—I think that’s just another note for us all um, so that the businesses understand. Because I think having the city come into their business um, for some people that’s an intimidating—you know, they’re used to the city being in a—um, what’s the word—reg—regulatory, you know, position um, rather than a relationship—relational position. So just making sure that we’re putting—we’re wearing our relational hats and that we’re, you know, sometimes something will be said in confidence and that we can keep that confidence, I think, is another important thing. [00:20:10] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: And one side note for Kim is—you’ll—she is a TV star. So if you watch TV and you see a commercial for Apollo Heating and Air, it’s Kim. You—you’ll see her, her and her husband. And another note is uh, Bill Burns was supposed to be in that commercial but backed out at the last minute. So I had to go come do a green endorsements. Um, yeah, our Oakdale Area Chamber of Commerce is having a holiday party luncheon tomorrow um, 11:30 to 1:00 um, at the Holiday Inn and Suites, Lake Elmo. So we would love to see you all there if you are free. The Tartan Choir again for the—Frank, how many years in a row? [00:20:55] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: 23. [00:21:00] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Wow. This will be the 23rd year we had the Tartan Choir entertain us. Except one year off for COVID. [00:21:05] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: Yeah. [00:21:10] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Then that was the year you sang. Uh, I did. I sang all by myself. I had the whole room to myself and yeah, sounded amazing. I sang just beautifully. Nobody was there to appreciate it. Okay, well thank you Kim so much for what you’re doing. [00:21:25] **Kim O’Brien (St. Paul Area Chamber)**: Thank you, thanks so much you. [00:21:30] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Um, should we go back to get an approval on the agenda and the minutes now that we have a quorum? I think that would be a great idea, thank you, Chair. Okay, uh, something new we’re trying to—get an approval for an agenda which is obviously in front of you. Um, I’ll make a motion. [00:21:50] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: I’ll make a motion, approval of the agenda. [00:21:55] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: We got second. [00:22:00] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Second. [00:22:05] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: And all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, that passes. We’ll do an approval for the minutes. So if we can get a motion on that. [00:22:15] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: Motion to approve the minutes. [00:22:20] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Second. [00:22:25] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Good deal. We’ll keep moving on. Um, Max, where you want to go from here? [00:22:35] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, next up we’ve got the open forum item. And the open forum item would be what? Uh, for this item which is new, uh, given a new policy which I’ll expand a bit more uh, in a bit, um, the Chair will typically invite the public uh, to speak at the podium for up to three minutes about any topic they feel is appropriate. Given that there are no members of the public um, you can just say that you’re opening the public forum and seeing that there are no members of the public, the public forum is closed. [00:23:10] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: As what Max said, no one’s here so we’re going to close it. Moving on. So do you want to go to the um, 2024 draft Economic Development Commission work plan? [00:23:25] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, we can do that. So in our last meeting, we reviewed a draft uh, we prepared as city staff of the Economic Development Commission work plan for next year. At that meeting, the Commission floated the idea of taking the time between meetings to think of any potential modifications or updates. As a result, I’ve added this item to allow for any Commissioners to voice additional thoughts on the work plan uh, as it was "quote-unquote" assigned as homework at the last meeting. Um, if the work plan still looks good as included in the packet, we will formally adopt the plan at the first EDC meeting in 2024 in February. One note: at the last meeting I did mention that we would adopt the plan at the City Council and EDC appreciation dinner at the February 7, 2024 Economic Development Commission meeting. This date has been officially confirmed and the dinner will take place at the normal meeting time of 5:15 p.m. The regular meeting will follow after. This should be a great chance to catch up with the City Council and talk about Economic Development priorities. And as a result, I hope that all Commissioners can join us. So with that, if any Commissioners have any ideas or questions or things to add to the work plan, we can do so um, otherwise we can close it and then present it for adoption in February. [00:24:45] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: Can you uh, repeat that date? [00:24:50] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yes, so February 7, 2024. Um, and the dinner portion will be held at 5:15 p.m. with the regular meeting to follow after. [00:25:05] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: So again, similar to last year where we had the the food right here and we go on from there? [00:25:10] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I believe so. I was not an employee at that time, uh, but I imagine it will be similar. [00:25:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Yeah. Okay. Anyone have any questions about the—the work plan or want to make any changes? Well, Max, I think we adopt it—that—do we need to take a vote or anything or you just going to wave your wand? [00:25:35] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: We don't need to take a vote. Instead, we’ll present it to the Council at the next meeting. [00:25:40] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Good. All right. Shall we move on to new business? Take it over. [00:25:50] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Great. So we have an update on city policies regarding advisory commissions. So as you might have noticed, our agenda is a little bit different for tonight. Uh, I want to briefly update all of you on a recent city ordinance and policy update that pertains to the EDC as well as other commissions. At the November 14, 2023 City Council meeting, the City Council adopted a set of ordinances and policies with the goal of streamlining commission procedures and creating consistency across all of our commissions. The first of these changes uh, was a full repeal of the Economic Development Commission bylaws. Instead of having bylaws uh, which is an older practice that a lot of cities have moved away from, the EDC bylaws are now included in their entirety in the city’s standard operating policy. The city code was then updated to remove those mentions and instead point to the city policy. In general uh, there are relatively few things that affect the day-to-day operations of the Economic Development Commission, with the exception of a few procedures I’ll go over. First, as you may have noticed, there’s been some minor changes to the standard agenda for the EDC. Going forward uh, we’ll be required to use the same order of business that the City Council uses for best consistency. The primary de facto change is the addition of an open forum. Similar to City Council meetings, the open forum involves giving the opportunity uh, for any members of the public present to speak at the podium for up to three minutes. This time is reserved for non-commission members, and commissioner updates and general discussion are unaffected and will proceed as they always have. Additionally um, we now have an approval of the agenda formally, and the Community Development department update will now be referred to as the staff liaison update but will contain the same information. Furthermore, City—city policy now officially requires work plans to be completed annually. The EDC has already started this practice uh, some time ago and uh, went through two cycles of completing the work plan as we just did uh, so we should not be impacted by this requirement. Finally uh, policy now specifies that EDC members should attend an annual training session for city advisory commission members. The details of the training session are yet to be finalized, and I’ll uh, work with our city clerk and figure out what that will look like going forward in the future. So, I understand that’s quite a few changes, so with that I can take any questions uh, and answer any that you may have. [00:28:45] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Questions? Sounds like it’s really just a formality in how the meetings run, but the substance of the charter of our commission is—remains unchanged. Is that correct? [00:29:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, the de facto day-to-day operations and meetings should have very few changes, other than approving the agenda and then holding that forum, which we can more or less skip over if there are no members of the public present who wish to participate. [00:29:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. Yep. [00:29:20] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: So what caught my ear here was the training session. Can you expand on that a bit? [00:29:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, unfortunately I don't have much information on it. Um, I believe it’ll be talking about the role that you have as an advisory member of an advisory commission, your relationship to the City Council, and what you can be expected to do on the commission. Uh, I’ll be working with the city clerk to learn more about what that session will entail uh, whether or not it’s required or optional, and then uh, provide more information as soon as I have it. [00:30:00] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: Right. So are—is your general idea that we are a good function for the city, that we’re—we're worth it? I mean, worth it—worth it to have around? [00:30:15] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I—I think absolutely worth it to have around. And again uh, nothing was changed in terms of the actual duties of the EDC. Uh, the City Council and the city as a whole very much want to keep it moving forward. So instead, we’re just streamlining the processes so that all of the bodies operate very similarly. And some of them will have more changes than others uh, in our case our agenda should be very—only minorly affected by the changes. [00:30:45] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. Well, let’s move ahead then. Well, let’s go to uh, update—Oakdale development update, 2023 review and '24 outlook. [00:30:55] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Great. So as many of you have seen, we currently have more cranes and construction sites in the city than we’ve had for a long time. With the year drawing to a close and the EDC having shown interest in a more in-depth development update, I prepared—prepared a development update that compiles the majority of projects being constructed right now, as well as what projects you can currently expect to see next year. In general, these are projects that have already been submitted uh, via some kind of permit, so it’s possible that more projects will emerge next year depending on market conditions and what the city is looking like. During and after the presentation, all Commissioners are invited to ask questions and provide observations. So with that, I’ll start and give a more comprehensive look at what we’ve seen this year. So first I’ll start with projects that have already broken ground in Oakdale. And again, please feel free to stop me with questions at any point and I will see if I can answer them. I also want to credit the Oakdale Fire Department with providing many of the photos I’ve used here uh, drone photos that show many of our newest developments. These were taken in October, so some more construction progress has occurred uh, but they do provide a relatively recent snapshot and a really nice way to see some of our highest profile construction sites. So the first few projects I want to focus on are related to the Willowbrook area. So I thought it would be helpful to take a look at the map for reference, given just how many additions are under development. Uh, we will likely go past the 10th edition, and right now we’ve been working on the 8th and 9th edition quite recently. So as we go through these slides, I recommend taking a look at the map which also lays out which additions focus on single family, which focus on town homes, apartments, to kind of get a feel for which parts of the Willowbrook area these are in. So first up we have the Willowbrook second edition. Uh, because of the way that the platting process works—a part of the land development process—um, not all additions add new housing. So Willowbrook first did not uh, contain any new houses; instead, they focus on dividing up lots. Uh, in this addition uh, Willowbrook second, we have a medium density set of 51 single family lots and 63 town home lots, all developed by Lenar. This addition is located in the southeastern part of Willowbrook, with the majority of units are already complete. Uh, this addition will be close to a new high-amenity park that is currently being designed by the city and its consultant, which you can see in the photo uh, in the land to the left that’s sort of in a U-shape. [00:33:45] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: So is that the piece with the water on it? [00:33:50] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: That’s correct, yep. [00:33:55] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. [00:34:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So then we have Willowbrook third edition, also known as The Springs of Willowbrook. Uh, this was finished as of August of this year. I believe some of you may have attended the ribbon cutting. Uh, this is a high-amenity 280-unit town-home-like apartment community. The development uh, was developed by Continental and has a number of high-amenity features like a pool, a clubhouse, gated access, and other items. [00:34:30] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: And those are true apartments? They’re not sold as a town home? [00:34:35] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, so it’s an entirely—a rental community. [00:34:40] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. Very nice units. I was there for the grand opening. It would—they’re really nice. I mean, they—we should be pretty proud of the things that are going in. Pricey, a little bit costly, but uh, very, very well done. [00:34:55] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I was surprised how pet-friendly they were. [00:35:00] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Very pet-friendly. Oh yeah, yeah at those too. [00:35:05] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. I recall reading in a recent multifamily market report that that’s one of the primary amenities that new construction are looking at to help increase their base of people who want to sign on day one. [00:35:15] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Do we have occupancy—occupancy rate? Is it...? [00:35:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I do not for those particular apartments. I could reach out if the Commission would be interested. Generally though, from—based on other projects, the occupancy rate has been very high. [00:35:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: I think when they had the open house I was asking the—the realtor about those uh, The Springs, and I think she said that um, they were 45% filled already and they were hardly even done. So I mean, yeah, I would imagine it’s well above 50 by now. Could be even pushing 75, 80 because they’re—it’s completely done now, correct? [00:36:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I believe it is. Yeah, that’s correct. Um, yeah they’re doing a little bit of work on the landscaping still, but everything is ready for occupancy. And I believe reading that the average uh, multifamily vacancy rate was 4% in the Twin Cities right now. Uh, so region-wide we’re performing very similarly, so I imagine that some of these newer developments quickly reach that. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, and moving on—and we can always come back to other developments as well—uh, we have Willowbrook 6th edition uh, which is a relatively new edition that encompasses 62 single family lots. Currently about 16 homes have been built. Uh, we’ve seen quite a few building permits come in. Uh, these are lower density uh, homes on average than the second edition and are shaping up pretty well and should be finished next year. [00:37:05] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: When you say lower density, what—just smaller home? [00:37:10] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So the lot sizes are a little bit bigger. Um, some of the houses in the second lot—and I’d need to verify the exact measure, but they’re often 40 to 50 ft wide lots, sometimes 55 uh, which is similar to some of the older lots in the city and in St. Paul. Uh, the houses are still relatively larger than a lot of older houses, but they’re not quite as big as say, some newer developments in other cities. Whereas these lower density ones uh, they’re often 50 to 60 foot wide lots uh, that are usually about 130 ft deep. Um, so they’re a little bit less dense. Uh, oftentimes the houses are bigger uh, so it allows for multiple entry points in the market for people at different stages of life. [00:38:05] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: And these are still all built by Lenar? [00:38:10] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yes. So Willowbrook 6th is built by Lenar. Uh, so is 8th and then 7th is built by Roers. So moving on to the 7th edition then. Yep. So for the 7th edition, this is a Roers project uh, which is—combines a variety of densities in the southwestern part of the Willowbrook neighborhood with a 190-unit apartment building and 79 town homes. Recently it was renamed by Roers to be called the Aspen Residences, which is how it will be marketed once uh, they start leasing. Construction has moved along quite quickly and based on the COs we’ve been seen coming in—the certificates of occupancy—the town homes are expected to begin renting in the spring. [00:39:05] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: But what do multifamily—what does that mean? [00:39:10] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Apartments essentially. Uh, multifamily can mean anything from town homes that are attached to uh, duplexes, quad-plexes, and larger apartment buildings. Generally when people say it, they’ll usually mean uh, apartment building. So in this case, we have uh, 190-unit apartment building and then town homes as well. [00:39:35] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: So multifamily—with kids and in the whole families, right? [00:39:40] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: It definitely can. Uh, the term family and uh, planning and zoning—and I apologize we’re getting into the nitty-gritty of land use here—family is often used as a legal term regardless of how many people live there. Um, it can certainly be—because there’s a lot of two and three-bedroom units in these apartment buildings. There’s also studios and one-bedrooms. So family is a relatively vague term that can mean really any household. [00:40:10] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Do you know if—what amenities this apartment building is going to be offering for as large as it is? Is there going to be any pool, anything like that going with it? [00:40:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: The pool I would need to double check on. I know there is a clubhouse uh, that has shared amenities that we just issued a certificate of—a temporary certificate of occupancy for. Um, I can also get back to you and have an answer ready for the next meeting. [00:40:35] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Sure. Well, that’s—that’s going up pretty fast. [00:40:40] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. So then our most recent Willowbrook edition is the 8th edition, located roughly in the center of the neighborhood and encompasses 37 lower density single family homes. So again, those more 50 to 60 feet wide lots with the larger houses. Currently one house has begun construction uh, and we’re seeing some—some more building permits come in, and the rest will likely be constructed next spring and throughout the rest of the year. So then we have Oakdale Commons. So I think we’ve talked about this one a little bit at prior meetings. This is a 168-unit multifamily uh, so apartment building, affordable senior building that is located behind Hy-Vee in The Fountains. Construction started a few months ago and will continue into 2024. [00:41:40] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: Say again what is that one behind... Hy-Vee? [00:41:45] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: It is Oakdale Commons and that’s 168 units divine—designed for senior affordable living. [00:41:55] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: Where do they get access to get there? Is it—do you have to drive right by the bank? [00:42:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I believe it’ll be through the bank. I think it’s off Hadley. [00:42:05] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: It is by the bank. Past the bank’s parking lot. The bank’s parking lot is a—due north of the driveway. [00:42:15] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So next up we have the Harland Apartments uh, which was previously known as Oakdale Marketplace Apartments. Uh, this is a high-amenity market-rate multifamily building with a golf simulator and a few other things inside. And it’s located near Target, Speedway, and Pins, near Old 5 and Ideal Avenue. Construction began a few months ago. They’ve mainly been working on the foundation and will continue into the winter and into the rest of 2024. [00:42:45] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: I’m sorry, where is this one located? [00:42:50] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So this is by Target uh, near County Road 14 and then Ideal. Uh, so it’s a little tucked in behind Target by the Speedway. [00:43:00] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: The LA Fitness nearby there? [00:43:05] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yes, and Pins right in that area. [00:43:10] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Look for the crane. [00:43:15] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, there’s—cranes all over the place. We get more cranes... like you said, you could see that crane from your house probably, Frank. [00:43:25] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: All—just about all I see is cranes. They got a couple of cranes on that Oakdale Comm—the one behind um—um, Hy-Vee. [00:43:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Yeah. I was listening to our building official say I think they have three at the moment, which is quite impressive for a site. [00:43:45] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So then next, for a bit more of a commercial break uh, in the Forefront area, we have the new Forefront warehouse on the western edge of the campus. So this is—this building was just opened a few months ago and is being leased by a company called Superior Logistics, a wholesale company that assembles displays and heavy equipment for other businesses and then will deliver it to them. This is a very large industrial property with the building occupying approximately 200,000 feet—feet. So it’s among our largest uh, single industrial non-multi-tenant industrial buildings. Uh, so if you want to take a look of—at that, it’s just west of High Point Drive when you’re entering the Forefront campus. [00:44:40] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: They—they, Superior Logistics, has the entire warehouse? [00:44:45] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: It’s the... yes, they are the sole tenant. [00:44:50] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Was that going to be like—be able to be segregated? I think that was his original plan. [00:44:55] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Original plan there, mult—they came in and bought—rented the whole thing. Sure. They weren’t going to say no, yeah. Yeah, yeah, the project evolved through a few phases where it was I believe initially two buildings, but they also had a one-building option. And once they had found some potential companies to lease the space, they decided to go with the one-building option. So next we have uh, the Norhart Impact apartments. This is a very visible and uh, big new multi—apartment building located in the Helmo station Gold Line area. The project encompasses 328 units and the commercial space is dedicated for a restaurant and coffee shop. All units will be market rate and construction has been continuing and will continue into 2024. [00:45:55] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: So we won’t be opening that up until 2025? [00:46:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I’m not sure uh, what date they’re targeting for—for occupancy. Okay. [00:46:10] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: Tell me where that one is again. [00:46:15] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, so that one is off of Helmo Avenue right by 94, by the new bridge. So it’s almost the first building once you cross that new bridge when you step into Oakdale. Okay. [00:46:30] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: You familiar with that is, Frank? [00:46:35] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: Pardon me? You know where that is now. Yes. Okay. [00:46:40] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So then next we have the new Hy-Vee aisles upgrade. This is a new drive-thru kiosk and canopy that aims to provide better and faster drive-through p—grocery pickup. The kiosk has refrigerated storage and a staff member present inside to allow for faster grocery access. And there’s EV parking for non-Tesla vehicles located on the building’s backside. [00:47:10] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: I had a lot of people believing it was going to be a new Starbucks. I thought it was going to be a new larger EV charging. Oh, when I first... I thought they’re building more, you know? But uh—and you said there’s a few EV charging stations in it, but behind? [00:47:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Primarily for delivery, yeah. Yeah, because the EV spaces, the non-Tesla ones, were previously where the building is now, so they relocated them. Oh, okay. So it’s primarily just for the food delivery. [00:47:45] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Primarily, yes. Food pickup. [00:47:50] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. So then for a—another big one with quite the economic impact in Oakdale, we have the Gold Line bus rapid transit project, which we had uh, Metro Transit visit us a few meetings ago to give some construction updates. As you may be aware, the Bilenberg Bridge recently opened uh, connecting Oakdale to Woodbury for both buses and general traffic. Right now the project is approximately 50% complete and is on time and on budget. And construction is expected to end in late 2024 with a couple-month period of testing the bus routes, determining the level of service and the times, and then opening for service in early 2025. [00:48:40] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: Are you saying that bridge is open? [00:48:45] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: The bridge is I believe fully open—maybe... yep. Pedestrians, cars, anyone can cross it at this point. Um, I’m not—I’ve heard there’s still some construction on the Woodbury side. I have not been over the bridge yet to test it uh, it’s still on my to-do list. Uh, there may be some issues once you cross Woodbury with access uh, but the actual bridge itself is fully open. [00:49:15] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: You can still get where you need to go in Woodbury, but um, especially on Bilenberg, there are lane closures still. So there’s like one lane open each direction. They’re getting pretty minimal, though. [00:49:30] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: So this—this picture here um, once you cross the bridge okay, on the Woodbury side there’s going to be a four-laner. But on this side, it looks like a single lane. Is that correct on side? [00:49:45] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So it’s two general traffic lanes um, a little bit wider to—than that to encompass uh, other uses as well. And then the—as you can see the—on there, there’s a concrete road to the right that crosses into the bridge. That is for the buses specifically. Okay. [00:50:05] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: This open all the way up to—to 4th Street is... 4th Street open? [00:50:10] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Yeah, mm-hmm. I believe so. Buses go down the center lane across the bridge, and on the Woodbury side there’s a center lane for the buses. The auto traffic’s on the—either side of the center. Woodbury the median—bart is wider. So my assumption is is right—right. [00:50:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Yeah. They just had to be bigger, didn’t they? All right. [00:50:40] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So then next up we’ve got the Tartan High School expansion project. This project includes additional capacity to allow for 1,800 students and new additions to the kitchen, cafeteria, classrooms, laboratories, gymnasium, and special ed sections of the building. And also includes improved security uh, for access into the building and separate bus and car drop-off zones. And this one is nearing completion and I believe should be open in the next few months or in the spring. [00:51:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: I think we have a ribbon cutting there next week or... [00:51:20] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Yeah. [00:51:25] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Then—then that is actually ahead of what I thought. Yeah. Okay. [00:51:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. So that should be a really great project for the school district. And then we have a fairly recent project uh, we have a new Valvoline coming in. And this is an oil change service that’s replacing the empty building in lot in Bergen Plaza, near CCF Bank and Taco Bell. Construction has started and is expected to finish in 2024. [00:51:55] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: That used to be a daycare center, correct? [00:52:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Correct. Yep. Across from the Taco Bells. Yep. If you go there now, they’re moving quite a bit of dirt and have it fenced off. I don’t—I don’t think it was uh... you got here previously—Carol Matthews? I pretty sure it wasn’t. Yeah, I don’t think that’s right. Oh, my apologies, I must have put the wrong PDF into the packet. Matthews is up on Century Avenue. Yeah, um, on the updated one on the screen, we have just a vacant building. So that was my bad. So that concludes the projects from this year that are under construction or a finished construction, at least many of the major ones. We have plenty of permits for renovations, roofing, all sorts of things that keep our building team busy. Uh, so now I’m going to take a look at some of our upcoming projects that we expect will begin construction in 2024. Many of these are still under review and therefore are subject to changes. So the pictures you’ll see likely won’t be the final forms uh, but these are at stages where we do want to share them with the EDC and see what’s coming up. So first up we have the Tanner Lake Project. As we stated in other meetings um, we signed an exclusive rights agreement with a developer and are currently working on a concept plan. Uh, we’re actually seeing quite a bit of progress in this area in that we recently approved a Shoreland zoning ordinance with the DNR uh, which was a major barrier that prevented us from pursuing a more complete and accurate design. Uh, so you can expect more project updates now that we know what setbacks are required from the water, or how far the building needs to be from the water. Uh, once we have a more complete concept, we will come to the EDC for input on the project. So then we have the Forefront commercial property. Apologies, I don't have a good rendering for this one. Uh, this recently approved project is directly west of Highpoint Drive once you—right once you enter the Forefront campus. So far site plans have been approved for a new Aldi grocery store and a new national coffee shop uh, with construction expected in spring of next year. [00:54:25] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: So is the High Point Drive the brand new one that was just put in as far as that street? [00:54:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I believe that’s what I—Innovation Place was um, renamed as. Uh, so the first road once you enter uh, the Forefront campus. Okay. Off to the west of the Forefront, right? Yep, right. It’s that new and it kind of heads back to the warehouse. Yeah, it’s in that direction. It’ll be a little bit closer and there will be a private access to get into the Aldi and—and coffee shop. [00:55:00] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: And that road is—is it going to be to the west or the east of the road? Because the west is wooded right now. [00:55:10] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, it’ll turn west but before the road turns west to the industrial site. So I think it’ll be in the trees somewhere around... [00:55:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Trees in there. Okay. Not kind of in front of the old Innovation building along the street? [00:55:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Right. It’s—visually it will be right at the front off of um, 34th Street. So yeah, I can point it out on a map later as well to help give a grounding. Because right now we have a picture of the plat and that isn’t super visually helpful. In a lot of cases. There’s no additional questions? We can move on to the next property. [00:55:40] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Well, I think there’s room there for another Panera. Okay, yeah. Yeah, we’ll keep that one in mind as we’re talking. We—we definitely need another Panera. [00:55:50] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Doesn't everybody want one? [00:55:55] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. Next we have the Hudson Boulevard Apartments project. This is a 130-unit multifamily uh, apartment building located off of the Greenway Station Gold Line stop on Hudson Boulevard. Uh, this building will use the Medicare integrated community services program to have some semi-assisted living uh, for residents. And the project was approved by the City Council a few months ago. The development agreement uh, which is one of the last stages of the land use development process, is currently underway uh, with construction expected in 2024. So the next we have a pretty new project uh, that we’re under talks for with MWF in the Helmo station area. MWF is the developer who’s currently constructing the Oakdale Commons senior apartments by Hy-Vee. This proposal uh, located on this tornado-shaped parcel uh, that is just north of Im-p apartments uh, would be a fully market-rate 133-unit apartment building. Currently the project is in the concept review phase uh, with additional reviews to come in 2024. So we don't have renderings yet, but we’re in the pretty early stages where we’re talking about generally what will the project be, what could it look like. Okay. And we have Willowbrook 9th edition. Uh, this is another Lenar project located just northwest of the new 40th Street roundabout. The project will consist of 29 lower density family uh, single family lots—so those 50 to 60 foot wide lots—and construction is expected in 2024. Next we have the Marus Center for Early Education. This is a 162-child capacity child care center that is expected to bring 23 full-time jobs into Oakdale. The project was recently fully approved by the City Council and construction is expected in 2024. As staff, we’re hopeful that it’ll help with the child care shortage both in Oakdale and our region as a whole. And uh, we’ve also mentioned the shortage in previous EDC meetings, so we’re excited to see this project go through. [00:58:15] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: Where is this one at? [00:58:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Uh, this is on Helmo Avenue um... [00:58:25] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Cross the street from my off—office. [00:58:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. Right across from Bill’s office on the 1400 block. So next to the—the TLC. [00:58:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: The TLC. Yeah. [00:58:40] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: There’s I believe two or three uh, lots that are greenfield so they’re fully ready to develop that have sat there for quite a few years. Um, so this is one of those that... your property, Bob? Right next to the—north of me or is it to the... [00:58:55] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: Yeah, it is to the north. Yeah, yep. The dogs are going to miss all that open green. [00:59:05] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: And this is construction expected this coming year? [00:59:10] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yes. [00:59:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: How do they... I mean, is the road wide enough to have turn lanes to get into there? [00:59:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I’d have to double check the site plan. I know there will be a new access that is built uh, to accommodate coming into uh, the new building. And then a parking study was also completed that uh, was done to demonstrate whether or not there would be traffic issues and if there were sufficient parking spots. And generally it was found that it would have a pretty minimal impact. [00:59:45] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Bob, do you ever have issues with any of your people turning off that street? [00:59:50] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: I think there’s only a issue for a few minutes at 5:00 o’clock when everybody wants to—to get on the road at once. Yeah. [00:59:55] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. [01:00:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: And then for our last one tonight uh, we have the new Public Works building located near 34th Street and Granada. Planning is moving quickly on this project uh, with soil contamination cleanup expected in spring of 2024 and construction in the summer. And you can expect to see future updates at an upcoming City Council meeting uh, as we work further with our architect. [01:00:30] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. That’s Public Works. What about the police department? How’s that one doing? [01:00:35] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, so the police department is still pretty early along in the phases. They’re doing some studying into it uh, and potential locations. So we’ll keep that—you updated on that at a future Community Development department update at the EDC. Uh, just right now we don't have any concepts to present. [01:00:55] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: That’s going to be up near there, too, isn’t it? [01:01:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: No. [01:01:05] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Where’s the police department going to be? [01:01:10] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Stay where it is. [01:01:15] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Stay just expand there. [01:01:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Correct. Yeah, the—they’re looking at different options uh, and that’s one of them. Yeah. [01:01:25] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. [01:01:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: So we had quite a few projects to review. And given that we can't have a development review of the scale at every meeting, I just want to remind Commissioners of ways to stay up to date. For one, I recommend continuing to use the Oakdale Development Map uh, with the link there on the screen. Uh, we update this map pretty soon after permits are submitted or projects are approved. So this is a reliable way to know what’s being built in Oakdale. Next, Andy and I will continue to give departmental updates at future EDC meetings. And we’re looking to have a spring development bus tour similar to 2022 uh, assuming there’s interest from the EDC and doing another. Um, additionally uh, if you ever see a crane or any new projects that you’re curious about, please feel free to email myself or someone else in Community Development. Uh, my email is maxwell.gries@oakdalemn.gov. And if I don't know the answer, or if I can’t find it, I know someone who will. So we’ll be able to get that to you, so please feel free. And with that, I’m happy to take any additional questions, whether that’s about development as a whole or any individual project I’ve covered. [01:02:40] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: I’ve got one. Um, all these rental units—I mean, they—they probably wouldn’t have started construction if they didn’t think that they’re going to fill these up. But we’re talking a couple thousand units here. And I mean, is there—is there that many people out there looking for...? Oh yeah. Is there? [01:03:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, generally the multifamily market in the Twin Cities uh, has been in a shortage for uh, quite a few decades. So similar other suburbs uh, including other second-ring suburbs that have been building that—have been building multifamily, are still seeing at 20% uh, vacancies or often much less. I worked on a project—I used to be with the city of Fridley—where we built a 300-unit uh, market-rate building and it was leased 100% by day one. And we’re continuing to see similar patterns with a lot of these buildings, especially if they’re in a location that’s popular with commuters. Uh, so it appears that at least based on the current market—things can always change in the future—that these are being leased pretty regularly. And the ownership units as well—a lot of the Lenar town homes or ownership, as well as uh, the houses in the Willowbrook area are seeing quite a bit of interest from buyers as well. [01:04:05] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Back with the Willowbrook—are there—I didn’t see on the—any of the plats—any parks? Do you have any parks planned for those things? [01:04:15] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, the primary park uh, is that U-shaped parcel uh, near Willowbrook second. I can try and find that quick in the PowerPoint. Um, so this picture is facing roughly north. If you look just to the left of the houses on the screen uh, that sort of U-shaped feature with the water there uh, is the—where the primary park that the city is looking to build will be. And that’ll have an amphitheater or performing area, as well as walking paths and water features and playground and other amenities as well. [01:04:55] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: Okay. It’s just one park, then? [01:05:00] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: I’d need to double check and look at the—it’s called the Plat—Willowbrook Planned Unit Development, which lays out exactly where everything’s going to go. Okay. Just off the top of my head, it’s possible there’s more than that one, I’m just not remembering where it is at the moment. [01:05:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: I think for the most part, it is. [01:05:20] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: No, for the single family homes and—and all these, are they all connected by a sidewalk? So can I walk out my door, get on the sidewalk and go down the street, versus stepping out into the—the street and having to walk down the street? I see right here in the second edition you can see sidewalks, and I’m just wondering with the new developments, do we follow through with that and have sidewalks in front of everybody? [01:05:50] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, that was a major point uh, that was considered in the—it’s called the Willowbrook Planned Unit Development, which lays out exactly how the Willowbrook area will grow. And we’ve continued to implement that to the best of our ability. We have quite a complex trail system. So the wider asphalt trails that are usually about 8 to 12 ft wide depending on the—the level of intensity, as well as sidewalks. Not every road has two-sided sidewalks uh, but the vast majority in Willowbrook have—have it on at least one side. Um, so we’re really hoping that it’ll be a nice walkable air—residential area for new residents and then anyone who wants to visit, as well. [01:06:40] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: Doesn't Oakdale have a ruling that um, you have to have sidewalks and new construction? [01:06:45] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: It depends on the area. We have a lot of zoning that’s called Planned Unit Developments, where we can kind of have more of a say into exactly what goes in and what the—we want the area to look like in the future. And in a lot of those residential-oriented sites like The Greenway Station and the Helmo station, as well as Willowbrook uh, we do have quite a bit of plans and ways to help enforce putting in sidewalks and other amenities. [01:07:15] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: I think it was five, six years ago they put sidewalks in on—I’m live on Helmo. Mm-hmm. It was—was wonderful. Just absolutely doctored up the countryside and it’s clean and neat. And they take good care of it because they plow it. So you don't have to worry about falling down. At my age, I worry about falling down. [01:07:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: I worry for you. [01:07:40] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: You should, as you should. [01:07:45] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, yeah. When I came—came on board here, I took over the Bike and Pedestrian Plan process, and one of the things we heard in the public input was generally residents were very happy that our Public Works team plowed the... oh, absolutely... the trails throughout the city. Um, so that’s something we like to hear and hear that... a few bucks, but I think in the grand scheme of things, it’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? Any other questions for Max? [01:08:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Well, Max, this is very nice job done, very thorough. Really was—lot going on in Oakdale. A lot of development, lot to keep up data. Yeah, for sure. [01:08:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. And again, I—I don't know all of the answers for a lot of these projects, as we’ve seen lots and lots of development in the last few years. But if you do have a question, I will be able to find it quite easily. So again, feel free to email or call. Well with that, I mean you’ve already gone quite a bit in detail. Uh, you’re scheduled for the staff liaison update. Yeah, I’m going to keep it pretty short, but I do have a couple of things non-development related or partially related. So first off, Economic Development wise, we recently held a public hearing and applied for two programs from the Minnesota State Department of Employment and Economic Development uh, which would provide funding assistance to Pace Analytical Life Sciences, a Health Sciences company that is currently located off Helmo Avenue. Uh, these programs—the Minnesota Investment Fund, one is called, and the Job Creation Fund—would have the state provide funding uh, if awarded, to help Pace Analytical expand its footprint in Oakdale and create, I believe, 40 or more uh, high-paying new jobs. If awarded, the Minnesota Investment Fund would provide $450,000 in a forgivable loan, and then the Job Creation program would provide $500,000 in grant funds, so long as they meet their job creation and wage uh, goals. As staff, we’re hopeful that this request will be accepted and wanted to let the Economic Development Commission know, given its relevance. [01:10:15] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: So where would they expand? Somewhere around where they are now? [01:10:20] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, so they are on the east side of Helmo Avenue um, near your building, I believe. [01:10:25] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: I look right out the window at them. [01:10:30] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yep. And they would be expanding into a building on the western side um, having offices and employees in both ends. [01:10:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: So that money is primarily for construction or I mean...? [01:10:40] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, so it’s for construction as well as uh, because it’s state funds, it’s a bit—little bit more things eligible for it uh, so lots of lab equipment and uh, individual pieces of equipment for very complex uh, Health Sciences machinery. So things I’m not super familiar with uh, but cost quite a bit. [01:11:00] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: Okay. Yeah, they’re a very good neighbor. [01:11:05] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah. And then my only other update for tonight uh, which I mentioned briefly uh, in the PowerPoint, is we recently passed our Shoreland Zoning ordinance. Uh, this ordinance really helps us move forward with the Tanner Lake Project, as we will soon have permission, once the DNR finishes reviewing our ordinance and our approval of it uh, to develop near the Tanner Lake shoreline. Uh, once the DNR approves the ordinance, as a part of this we’ll be making some Shoreland improvements to help improve the—the health of aquatic life in Tanner Lake. So we’re looking forward to that. And with that, I don't have any additional Community Development updates and I’m happy to take any additional questions. [01:11:50] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: So will the D—DNR go as far as uh, look at restocking the lake, or how far are they going to go? Are they just going to create a nice shoreline for aesthetics, or how deep are they going? [01:12:05] **Max (Community Development Staff)**: Yeah, so this is more—it’s not so much about stocking the lake but the quality of the vegetation and general health of the shore particularly. So it helps animals that—and aquatic animals that live in the lake, or there’s lots of rare species and uh, common species that live in that sort of space where the water meets the land. Uh, and a lot of the restoration is meant to help with that uh, so we will partake in some of that which can help, in general, the health of Tanner Lake. And the reason we passed this ordinance in particular is uh, if we don't have our own uh, we follow the default Shoreland ordinance. And this one allows us to uh, set our own rules while still meeting the state’s requirements and allowing us to improve the quality of the water. [01:12:50] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. Being a good steward of the lake. There you go. Any questions—questions for Max again? Well with that, let’s move on to uh, the Commissioner’s updates. I’ll start over with the Bobs. [01:13:05] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: I’m good. [01:13:10] **Bob (EDC Commissioner)**: Don't have any—Bob? Oh, nothing new except what you talked about with Pace. They’re moving into my fourth building, the north building. So it’s the furthest north building you have right there where it’s next to the open space. Yes. Will they be taking over the whole building eventually? That’s the plan, yeah. [01:13:30] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: It isn’t normal, right? Well, good for you. Yeah. Jeff? [01:13:35] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: No updates. [01:13:40] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. Um, we’ll pass it on to Gary. [01:13:45] **Gary Severson (Council Member)**: I’ve got nothing to add either, sir. [01:13:50] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Frank? [01:13:55] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: I have nothing. [01:14:00] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Um, well the only thing again, I’ll reiterate is the Chamber meeting tomorrow over at the Machine Shed. We’ve got the Tartan High School choir for the—what, 38th year? 23rd? 23rd. I was close. Um, so it will be a good time. And you were so thorough with everything. I—I don’t have a question right now for—for building this is... you can circle the day on the calendar here. Um, well good. Well let’s go right to Council to wrap this thing up. Save the best for last. [01:14:40] **Kevin Zabel (Mayor)**: Well, thank you for that uh, Commissioners. Good evening, thank you for your time again for uh, doing this work on behalf of the city. Um, at a high level, I—not too much uh, update coming from the Council. I would encourage you guys to go take a look at our workshop uh, agenda items. Uh, there’s a number of items that came through there uh, just regarding some new potential development outside of what Max said—uh, shared tonight. Um, along um, highway or Highway 4—14, 34th Street there uh, just some possible development uh, but nothing m—u—definitive uh, quite yet. Uh, but it is in the public rec—anything you want to share? Um, you know uh, there’s some development possibly with a bank and a tire store um, in that same Target uh, neighborhood. But again, they haven’t pulled any permits and I think um, you know, we’re—we’re still kind of waiting to see what—what further information comes out of that. So um, but I encourage you guys to go check it out uh, on our workshop documents um, it is noted there and you guys can read about it um, and—and see what, you know, we—we’ve kind of decided on that uh, project there. Um, right now we are in the midst of—of approving our budget uh, for this next year. We’ll be doing that at the next Council meeting next week. Um, and so I would encourage all the Commissioners uh, all of you who are residents here to um, come listen and hear and ask questions as uh, you feel um, are relevant to um, the—the new um, budget and—and the tax uh, tax levy impact uh, there. Um, I think that’s it as far as uh, the items for the city. I just want to extend a uh, bit of gratitude to each and every one of you guys during this holiday season. Thank you for your time um, and happy holidays uh, to you guys all. I’ll stand for questions. [01:16:45] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: The workshop docs that you talk about—how is it? A once-a-month thing you guys usually have workshops, or is it—you can’t have multiple ones during the—the month, do you? [01:16:55] **Kevin Zabel (Mayor)**: Well um, so we have two a year—uh, two a month. Um, and we do them all before Council meeting. Um, it’s kind of our format where you uh—we’re one of the few cities that do this format where we have a workshop meeting where uh, we bring in subject area experts to come and talk and share with us about different projects that they’re looking at doing. Kind of, you know, have first run-through by the Council just so you see where the Council generally stands. Uh, we’ll kind of work together and—and deliberate—deliberate as a body uh, on some items and then kind of understand where people stand and then get it approved through formal uh, Council action. Um, and so it does happen twice a month um, the uh, two hours prior to uh, City Council meeting. Um, and then we’ll go up to the conference room on the second level, meet, talk, and then uh, whatever items will then follow the next uh, Council meeting, generally. [01:17:55] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. Good. That’s good to know. [01:18:00] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: I would just like to say compliment you City Council people and all you people involved in this. You know, a lot of people thinks that, "Well, you know, we got this Council meeting two times a month," is it? Yeah. But that does—that’s nothing compared to the time that these people put in before a meeting, after a meeting, in between a meeting, workshops. I don’t know where you find the time. I mean, that—I’ve been asked since I moved to Oakdale to get on the City Council and I shadowed one of the councilmen. No way. I would never, ever do it. It’s just too time-consuming. So good for you. Good for you for doing it, and thank you. [01:18:45] **Kevin Zabel (Mayor)**: Yeah, thank you for that, Frank. It is a—certainly a—a thankless job and a job that uh, each one of my fellow Council—Council member and I um, you know, we look to do what we can to help um, progress city forward. So... [01:19:00] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Well, so labor of love. There’s no question of that. It’s not a—not a financial thing. I don't know what you get paid, but it isn’t enough. So thank you for that. [01:19:10] **Kevin Zabel (Mayor)**: Yeah. For example, I mean, you’re here tonight, you know? Yeah. Your family’s at home wondering where’s Dad, huh? Hockey practice. Wonder what Dad’s bringing home for dinner. Well, thank you guys so much for your time and—and that’ll be it. [01:19:25] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Okay. Thank you. Um, should we make a motion to adjourn, or do we just go ahead? [01:19:30] **Jeff (EDC Commissioner)**: I’ll move. [01:19:35] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: Move to adjourn. [01:19:40] **Frank (EDC Commissioner)**: Second that. [01:19:45] **Bill Burns (EDC Chair)**: All in favor? Aye. Opposed? It’s adjourned. Thank you.