Minutes - Council Work Session - 04/14/2015

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EDA Member Steffen thanked Asst. City Administrator /Economic Development Manager Brama for his thorough presentation and stated a few weeks ago the EDA and Asst. City Administrator /Economic Development Manager Brama were busy pitching Ramsey to a prospective business, a potential $10 million project. EDA Member Hardin stated staff and the EDA have put a lot of energy into this Workplan, which he supports. Councilmember Riley stated the EDA and Council have previously discussed this Workplan and the EDA has now taken on a new role to do a first look at potential projects, which will be very important to assure the Council and EDA share common goals. EDA Member Steffen stated he has often heard business owners mentioning that the EDA, Planning Commission, and Council were all `on the same page and same team,' which is interesting to hear from an Elk River business. Councilmember LeTourneau concurred it was validating to hear as it talks about the work of the City being focused and on target with consistent messaging. He noted that other communities are not able to attain that level of alignment. Councilmember LeTourneau stated his appreciation to the EDA for its work and that he embraces the new level of authority given to the EDA and to challenge the EDA to continue to expand that authority and look at projects from as many different perspectives as possible. He stated he would love to continue seeing the EDA pushing the 167/Highway 47 business node and options to use the Revolving Loan Fund. Councilmember LeTourneau noted the experience on the EDA includes real estate and property, which provides a great opportunity to look at proposals from a new perspective as this is the time for expansion. Councilmember Williams stated her comments have already been covered. Mayor Strommen agreed there is now a more streamlined process between the Council and EDA, which she hopes will continue and move forward. She stated the City is now in a better position of strength as evident from the comments on outside perspective relating to the aligned thinking of the Ramsey Council, EDA, and Planning Commission. Mayor Strommen noted it was not long ago when there was criticism that the Ramsey Council was not aligned and did not make effective use of the City's Boards and Commissions. She commented on the EDA Workplan item relating to the perception of Ramsey, noting that when reality exhibits itself to outsiders, that's the strongest perception that can be attained. Mayor Strommen thanked the EDA and the Council for their work in that regard. Informational; no action required. b. CBRE Update Brian Pankratz, Vice President of Land Services with CBRE, stated CBRE was selected as the City's broker a little over a year ago and while it took some time to get up -to -date on the different sites, once that information was received they have found a lot of interest from different City Council Work Session / April 14, 2015 Page 3 of 7