Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 09/01/2016

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2.02: Set Preliminary Goals for Corridor Improvement Program (Strategic Action Plan Tactics No. 28 & 29) Community Development Director Gladhill reviewed the staff report. Councilmember LeTourneau referenced number three, the financial incentives, and stated that he would think that would be the responsibility of the business owner. He stated that perhaps he could support that item if that item could be tied into the EDA revolving loan fund. Councilmember Riley agreed that it appeared to him that the City was asking a business to be better than they have to be and therefore he agreed that perhaps a method to utilize that item would be a low interest loan. Councilmember Kuzma agreed and stated that perhaps number one would also tie into the EDA. Councilmember Riley stated that he would not support number one as the City already owns too much land and is trying to get out of landownership. The City Administrator stated that there are some variations of that, such as when the City used the County HRA funds to purchase the bookstore property. He stated that the intent would not be to invest in more property but to reinvest funds from the sale of properties in order to resolve some of the blighted sites. Councilmember Riley stated that he would like to see something happen, specifically in regard to the "low hanging fruit"rather than just have discussions. Mayor Strommen asked the thought process of having the Council weigh in on these strategies prior to the public engagement meetings. She stated that she would not want to narrow this before the public input is gained. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that these five items have financial implications and therefore staff wanted to gain the input of the Council before putting these ideas out to the stakeholders in the corridor. He stated that there is some"low hanging fruit"but noted that some of those items are within the current policy and some are not. Mayor Strommen stated that she did not see this issue as code enforcement and believed that the City would struggle to achieve these goals if this is done as code enforcement. She stated that she would see this as public engagement. Councilmember Johns agreed with the comments of Mayor Strommen. She addressed the Highway 47 corridor and stated that Anoka is getting ready to do a gateway project on Highway 47 and then you would go into Ramsey that does not have improvement in the corridor. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that staff will then reach out to the stakeholders for Highway 10 and Highway 47 and confirmed the consensus of the Council for staff to meet with those stakeholders to gain input. Excerpt from April 12, 2016 City Council Work Session