remember foreign yeah good evening I'm calling the Wednesday July 13 2022 Economic Development Commission meeting to order at 6 30 pm tonight's Economic Development commission meeting will be held at hybrid for public using Zoom commission members and staff will be participating in the meeting in person as chair I will be leading the economic development commission and the public is welcome to participate when invited throughout the meeting members of the public May attend the meeting by joining via online Zoom at https colon backslash backslash Zoom dot us backslash join and typing in the meeting ID number 958-3753-1765 that's 958-373-3753-1765 once you've logged into the meeting please use the chat feature to tell a moderator which item you want you wish to speak to you may also join the call into the meeting at 651-372-8299 and enter the meeting ID number which is the same as for zoom 958-3753-1765 Commissioners fitchett and Schultz are participating via Zoom um with covet exposure issues now on to the agenda the first item is adoption of the agenda do any commission members have any changes to the agenda seeing none staff any changes no changes from staff okay um a motion for the approval of the agenda yep you move okay okay if any changes should uh Beth can you do the roll call vote yes commissioner Anderson yes commissioner fitchett yes commissioner folkstad aye commissioner Le favor yes commissioner Schmitz yes commissioner sisler okay the next item is approval of the minutes from the last meeting um commission members do you have any changes seeing none staff do you have any changes no changes okay do I have a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting so moved okay second one second okay is whoever can you take the roll call yes Mr Anderson yes commissioner fouchette yes commissioner Folk's dad aye commissioner Le favor aye commissioner Schmitz yes commissioner Cislo hi okay um minutes are approved the next item on the agenda is the South Cross and Portland land sale proposal update uh Regina Dean the assistant community development director will provide a presentation of the item and an overview of the background report from the dice here so in late 2019 the city staff received direction from leadership and the council that the land that we had owned and retained for many many years at Southcross in Portland currently vacant that we were in a position where we were authorized to sell the land so we had been retaining it for quite some time because the idea was that a potential future fire station could be located there but at that time we were constructing a new fire station and so it was recognized that we could now we didn't need that property we could now sell it fast forward to 2020 where we released a request for proposal and and the reason why we released a request for a proposal for land offers was because we have a land sale policy in that land sale policy it talks about you can either do a direct negotiated sale with an individual interested party or if there are multiple people interested in the party or in the park in the property that in our FPS required so we did have a number of people interested in the property so we had them submit formal letters of Interest so we could determine if this was just a hey I see your land for sale sign what's the price and just gauge if like are these people truly interested so we did receive a number of letters of Interest so we then that's when we published the request for a proposal when we do requests for proposals at least in the past we have not established a purchase price we kind of let the market and the proposals Drive the development and so with that you may get something a little more creative and you can create those parameters of what you expect to see and we did get I believe there are four proposals that we received back in in 2020 we went through the process of going before the EDC then to city council we were working on a purchase agreement and that developer Donnie Holmes decided to not move forward with their proposal and the reason cited were when they were doing some early testing soils testing that they had hit some concrete and unknown material and they were concerned what those cleanup costs would be and given at the time the market and what they had been working on and felt that they they would should not proceed for business reasons um so back to the drawing board um knowing that there was this um debris that was found by the developer and we we did know that um we had access to some grant money through Dakota County to do a phase one analysis we use that as an opportunity to have a phase one completed to further understand what what's going on on the property to help inform a future interested party so that was completed that did take some time once we did have the the phase one in hands then we released the RFP again so we did that in what would that be in late 2021 and we did receive five proposals from four different entities we were working with um the one of the Developers and they did decide to withdraw their requests and this was after working with them for some time there were some sight line issues that we wanted to make sure could be resolved before we brought it forward to EDC and then ultimately city council and then ultimately the Planning Commission for land use clearances that are required and we went through all of that and at the last minute did receive a request for withdrawing there with their proposal so we went to number two on the list and because there had been quite some time and they had other priority projects they decided not to move forward and the other proposals we received as a staff we would not recommend going forward just for your knowledge the um purchase prices ranged from five thousand dollars to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for for the the property so quite the range um as far as next steps so again we don't recommend moving forward with the um the proposals um mainly based off of the price and um so we're kind of back to the drawing board at this point um we'd like to do some more marketing surrounding the properties so right now we're evaluating putting them like more permanent type sign not I wouldn't say permanent but a typical like commercial developer land sale sign on the properties because one we don't have one on the South Cross Portland land we have two other land pieces of land that are in a commercial area that we do have signs on but they they can use the refresh I think one might be damaged and fallen down so that that's one thing we also so we just want to improve some of our our electronic and our kind of handheld marketing that we we do as well and then we're also in the process of completing a land appraisal for the site so um we didn't have a an appraisal for the site and so I think that'll give us a better understanding of what what we can accept for a price going forward so we won't really want to understand a little more and then we'll re-release the RFP again at some point or do a negotiated sale with with one individual interested party so that's where we are um certainly can stand for any questions today I'm a favor yes uh so when you have an appraisal on the property the appraisal is going to take a look at Market comparables but it doesn't give consideration for the environmental cleanup and that environmental cleanup is a red flag for any developer and to the extent that we can remove risks it's going to help us get the best price that we can possibly get so are we doing anything to quantify the cleanup costs before we go to an appraisal um we have not um we are working with the county to see about doing a phase two to see if that's necessary um but as far as any additional no but so phase two is helpful because it fully helps you understand the extent right but you still need to quantify what it's going to cost to clean it up and the appraisal is not going to take that into account um they can't accurately take it into account and so to me I would suggest that we figure out yes we probably have to spend a little bit of money or we have to figure out a tool that says we'll remediate it for the potential buyer the better tool is to make sure that we don't deal with the unknowns and we quantify what it's going to take to clean it up and then figure out if there's tools available that we can maybe capitalize on to help us maximize the price thank you for that feedback I was just gonna on that I believe there is at one point there was some County Grant funds that we could use for various uh land projects including tearing buildings down and such like I didn't know if maybe that fund could be used for something like this just to Echo much of what Jeff said it'd be a lot more attractive if it was just taken care of already and market rate would be would be easier to obtain thank you and we can explore I think you're referring to well one pot of money is the Environmental Legacy fund money through Dakota County um all it's a great idea great feedback I'll have to look through the um our joint Powers agreement to see if we can use it on city land and Greenfield type development if there's um the ability to do that but great feedback even if you could quantify the risks and and then have that tool available for the buyer to access would help I think maximize the price commissioner yes uh so the phase one analysis of the property what did that do exactly um it so we had um worked with or the county had worked with uh stantec um their consulting firm to go out on site and analyze there's certain criteria and I don't have it in front of me and and I don't claim to be an expert in environmental analysis but um basically to see if there was indeed any um either spills evidence of dumping the history of of the property what it may have been used for before where they look at were there structures on the property before um were there not there wasn't any evidence of that but they did walk the site and and did notice that there was concrete it was inconclusive and how it got there but it gives a description of um but what's observed on the property and um not I'd say like not a lot of detail about like no testing was done or so at this point we're aware of some concrete on the property but as far as the extent of anything more serious like hazardous waste we have we don't believe that there is any we don't believe that there necessarily is based off of historical use of the property like it wasn't a gas station before or something like that where you could be leaking tanks or something like that but it's inconclusive as far as the concrete or what may have been around the concrete which was dumped that hasn't been tested at all just throw something out here but is there any way to have somebody go out there with a bobcat and a shovel and a dump truck and start digging some of that out and maybe see if we can get to good old-fashioned black dirt so can I come on yeah okay so Miss Diaz is right and that phase one is typically a historical record anything that's been registered any past photos and a physical inspection of the site phase two is actually where they'll drill core samples and be able to determine what's in those samples if there's any environmental issues somebody left some asbestos dump some asbestos or whatever the case may be and so that's going to be much more narrative on what's going on in that site that we can start to put some recommendations together because even if you found the cement block underneath that there could be some old creosil from railroad ties or asbestos or whatever you don't know is that a standard process to go through phase two on a undeveloped land yep okay any other comments questions um Vice chair Anderson Crystal does have a chair pitch it does have a question on Zoom thank you for recognizing I did have just a a comment to piggyback off someone mentioned grant funding but I wanted to mention there may be an opportunity with employment and economic development for um grant funding for hazardous cleanup there might be some money there and the other question um I had was is the Eda uh going to be doing some research or did I read something where it's something like the Eda might be doing some research um about the area and what could be built there is that um I'm unaware so The Economic Development Authority essentially that's the same members of the city council um is that what you mean yeah I've read something about the Eda doing some research to Hope um provide information to the EDC and I'm wondering if this is like an opportunity for them to be able to provide helpful information because I'm for example it could just be affordable housing um be built there or you know another way to use the the land since they're not going to be looking at it for a Firehouse so um chair I believe um I well I haven't heard anything specifically um from the Eda about this site um so this particular property it is owned by the city of Burnsville which is a technically a different entity than the Economic Development Authority um and we did get direction from the city council um and and Leadership to move forward with marketing the property um certainly with the requester proposal that we've done in the past we've been very open to ideas one of the proposals that did not move forward was very creative and had a lot of sustainability elements in in it and really aligned with some of the goals of the city um but unfortunately again they withdrew um I think I I haven't heard anything specifically from the Eda but I think we're open open to ideas um any other comments you would um suggested that you would do some additional marketing would that include some of the other properties that the city has at the same time it would yes and is was there any question about the zoning notes on the South Cross Portland property at all so the current zodium the property is R2 which is a medium density type zoning it is also currently a plan unit development which does allow some flexibility to the uses as far as anything else I'd say we're we're open we're open to ideas yeah question go ahead commissioner sister just had another question on the just cost of phase two and if you have an idea of what what that might cost so um cost to phase two I believe would be covered um through the County's grant program that they have they have a Brownfield cleanup Grant where not only the city but developers can also receive grant funding to do a phase one or phase two I can say that does take some time so a lot of times developers you know they they need to move quick and it's not a fast process from what we've experienced that's uh second what Jeff was saying there about having the property ready to go and instead of uncertainty which could you know if there was oil tanks under there that could get very expensive of course any other comments all right we don't need to do any action on this item so we'll look forward to hearing from you in the future on your marketing plan for this and other properties sounds good thank you the next item on the agenda is the Strategic Plan update for the economic development commission Beth Weber will give us a presentation on that Commissioners here and online um it's been a while since we've met so we have some good and exciting updates for you tonight our first goal as usual is ensuring the sustainability of the Burnsville Shopping Center and County Road 42 Corridor um so I'm pleased to update that we have received a grant from Deeds host Community Economic Development section for pre-design of The Aldrich Avenue South Road Extension on the mall property so you can see a graphic there where I have rustically highlighted the future road but we are thankful to have received uh just over four hundred thousand dollars to pre-design that road um which will our plan is to build that concurrently as development continues on the site um also on the mall property Pacifica square is planning their 60 000 square foot Asian grocery store to be located in the former Gordman space so they purchased the Gordman space and then Dix Kirklands noodles and Panera those tenants will remain and the Ensign Market will fill the Gordman space So the plan is to have that be an Asian grocery store and food Hall so we're excited to see that come come through and then additionally a staff presented to about 50 people at Gramercy Club on the center Village Vision as part of our continued Outreach um in the area so we do have plans to continue that in the future and we receive positive feedback following that presentation improving the image of the school district in the city we worked with Communications or Economic Development staff work with Communications to develop a community profile which you have in front of you we also have it featured on our website our plan is to use this at trade shows in meetings with developers as part of Staff Recruitment and so a lot of time and effort was put into this and we feel that it's a great way to highlight the city of Burnsville and better communicate our messaging to interested people and then the city Chamber um convention and visitors bureau and the school district are planning a spa realtor event to host for our local Realtors so that we can showcase the city strategy and vision for the future and so our hope with this is that as our local Realtors our marketing homes to Future residents of Burnsville they'll really understand um each of our organizations plans and hopes for the city of Burnsville and they'll be able to carry on that message for us so more information will come out later as we get that event planned and finalized continuing development within Heart of the City is our third goal and Chase real estate's gallery on Nicollet 171 unit apartment building is open um so it's a very prominent structure within Heart of the City and we're certainly excited to to have that ready for Leasing and then MWF properties Gateway Housing Development is currently under construction that you can see shown just as an overhead aerial photo that's two buildings 135 units senior affordable and 162 unit market rate building awareness around the city's existing housing and Commercial programs continues our partnership with the Burnsville chamber with our girl Minnesota visits we've had 10 so far this year and we have several more scheduled and on the books our partnership with the Center for Energy and environment this year we've had three rebates and almost 50 visits so that's very exciting that that opportunity for Burnsville residents continues to have energy audits of their homes at a discounted rate the city pays portion and then the homeowner would pay the other portion so they can get information about their home and how to save some money that way and then homework is launched so that is our housing Improvement assistant program that we brought to you I believe the end of last year so there are two housing rehab loans and then the code cash program which our code enforcement department kind of uh manages in conjunction with code violations of residence properties so if there's a financial difficulty they can use that grant money as a part of a way to correct that issue um so we do have a a dedicated homework landing page on our website and that was linked in your background um and we've partnered with the Center for Energy and environment for the rehab loans and then City staff is managing um the code cash grant program continuing our position as a regional destination our third annual tour to flavor kicks off on Friday so you all have a map at your spaces we've pushed out information in our newsletters it's on social media and then in partnership with experience Burnsville and International Festival this year we're able to communicate the message of all of the diverse food options that we have here in the city and you'll see that we have 40 Restaurants and 14 markets that we've included so staff has been out delivering materials to all of these locations this week and that will continue through the end of the week and we've received some really positive feedback so far so it's been really exciting getting out to all of these locations and I have a team of volunteers at the city here who have expressed interest in participating and so that's been really exciting to have assistance from other departments that maybe weren't aware of this program or hadn't helped facilitate a delivery of things so it's exciting to have that going on and then also tonight I think we had touched uh before on our open to Business Partnership and a video that we had been producing um so we'll be showing that tonight um and it looks like I skipped over a party on the Plaza is back at Nicollet Commons park so we have one coming up on July 21st and then another one on the 25th um so with that I will um play the video for everyone to see it is on our website and we do um use it kind of as a marketing tool to highlight some local businesses that we had participate this program is a partnership between the Metropolitan Consortium of community developers and the cities and the counties that participate in the program the program is a complete Suite of services direct one-on-one technical assistance direct lending and also partnership financing with banks and financial institutions in the community in just the past five years we have worked with more than 85 small businesses in the city of Burnsville those businesses received 500 direct technical assistance hours and we made loans totaling seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars those loans were leveraged to bring more than six million dollars of financing from traditional lenders to the city of Burnsville the partnership between the Dakota County Community Development agency open to business and the city of Burnsville helps us meet our goals of providing impactful programming and resources for our local businesses my business is well to finishing cabinets we work for contractors cabinet makers uh individual people through my principal work is paint cabinets pain doors windows finishing when the Hispanic people or the mineral people need help for growing and something like that the big Banks never helped you know you need to start looking some something like the open business because term ideas were my old money credit card there's no savings and they technically loans to try to keep open and after that they give me more loans to grow anymore I have a business which is called stunning Beauty Supply it is a beauty supply store that sells hair care products similar resources that I used was the micro Grant programs my grant money that I won is going to go towards a few more inventory items um it's also going to help us to get a computer to finally be able to run our business from a computer and not from my phone and it's also going to help with marketing and signages that people would be able to find us within this building I feel if I hadn't found open the business um I would have been lost I would have been struggling online trying to find cells um going door to door just trying to Market myself it would have been extremely difficult and I'm thankful that I found you guys the humanitarian kitten is my business and it is a business that is intended to raise funds so that I can donate quilts donate other items that have been made soldiers to hospitals Etc the program has helped me notably especially in the beginning phases when I really had no clue what I was doing if I needed licenses what about Etsy what about an accountant and then I would say personally for myself most importantly is just the confidence that I can do it like I said I registered for my LLC and really just thought now what am I doing and so to know you're not in it alone completely to know that you have that support you have something you can go out to to me Priceless and the biggest thing I got out of it the city of Burnsville is committed to meaningful relationships and experiences that meet the diverse needs of our community working with open to business allows us to provide a free service to help our local entrepreneurs establish and grow their businesses don't go It Alone contact open to business visit our website or reach out to the city to get started [Music] all right so that was everything I had for you I'm happy to answer any questions you might have any questions on the developments Etc I'm just wondering if the stars in the video were expensive definitely not good job thank you very nicely done we'll put together yep so the MWF is that all on the cross Anderson land or was there there's something at the corner of um Roseville Parkway and Harriet uh the development I referenced is on the across Anderson land so those two buildings are located there any other questions comments all right the next item is uh election of oh go ahead commissioner for Chad I I just wanted to say it is a pleasure to see all of the conversations we were having in the cold of winter come to pass so that that video was awesome with open to business and all the programs that are available especially for our seniors out there it's good to see them come into flourishing well it's good it's good work thank you thanks any other comments oh commissioner Schmitz yeah I just wanted to mention backtracking to one of the earliest slides of that presentation uh we're really excited I was part of the group that got to see the unveiling of the plan for what was formerly the Gordman space and now is going to become ensigns market and it's really amazing to see some energy around the Burnsville Center and even just in the bit of time that's passed since they revealed their new plans there there's been more energy and more interest at the center so that's a great progress that we couldn't quite control but it was nice to see a little bit of uh spark starting the fire of excitement any other comments um one question I had is the Sears property been have you been working with them at all to get that road to go through we're an active conversations with saritage and hope to have more to share soon with the community that's fine that's enough all right anything else okay the next item on the agenda is election of chair and vice chair uh Beth whoever will have a short presentation on this ah so I have a in per se but I hit some uh a request for anyone who's interested in a chair or vice chair positions to indicate that to me um and vice chair Anderson you expressed interest in maintaining your position as Vice chair um so really this uh staff has no recommendation on this item but discussion and then formal selection and vote uh is what the next steps would be for this item so there was no one to express the interest in being chair uh not that I had noticed at the time of the background uh publishing okay okay is there anyone here who's interested in being chair Crystal you want to remain chair okay I would I would when my hand button fast and stopped in the night I I just had a um sidebar conversation with Regina which I probably should have responded to you Beth I apologize for not sending an email but um I express interest in continuing as chair if the committee will have me okay any nominations for cheer I guess I would nominate the two that have put their names forth so uh for chair uh commissioner for Chet and uh for vice chair commissioner Anderson we have a second on that second that okay commissioner Cislo uh any comments questions appreciate you both for stepping up and doing a great job I don't know about how great a job I'm doing good Ms Weber can you do the roll call vote certainly commissioner Anderson uh yes commissioner fitchett yes commissioner Folk's Dad hi commissioner Le favor aye aye commissioner Schmitz yes commissioner says love aye okay so we will move forward uh with our existing chair and vice chair for the next year okay and the next meeting is scheduled for September 14th I'm assuming that uh we'll probably have that but if not move on from there um time to request the call for adjournment of the July 13th 2022 Economic Development commission do I have a motion to adjourn go ahead do we have a second second okay commissioner Cislo all in favor or I guess no we need another roll call don't we yes uh commissioner favor aye commissioner Schmitz yes commissioner Cislo hi all right thanks for anybody who was uh attending the meeting and we'll see you next time