Minutes - Economic Development Authority - 09/13/2018

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Chairperson Steffen asked if the group has heard about the topic many times and asked staff for a quick summary of the item. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that the initiative was originally started by Connexus Energy and started with an economic development study completed earlier in 2018 and ultimately led to the hiring of an Economic Development Coordinator at Anoka County. He provided additional information on how the Anoka County team will assist communities throughout the County, providing supplemental services, or for smaller communities providing much more assistance, along with marketing. He stated that Ramsey participates in the partnership for a cost of $1,500 per year to help pay for the marketing efforts. He stated that perhaps the Anoka County staff person attend the October EDA meeting to provide additional input to the EDA. Chairperson Steffen agreed that it would be good to have the Anoka County staff person attend the October EDA meeting and suggested that staff provide more details on the City update portion of the event at that time as well. 5. MEMBER/ STAFF UPDATE The EDA reviewed the Staff Update. Community Development Director Gladhill thanked everyone in the planning team that contributed to the success of the Happy Days event this past weekend. He reported that the Affinity at Ramsey project has begun construction will the intent of opening late 2019 or early 2020. He stated that Ramsey Elementary School is continuing its construction will the intent of opening for the fall 2019 school year. He stated that as the community continues to grow, there is more pressure placed on infrastructure and the Council continues to plan for the increased capacity. Member LeTourneau referenced the interfund loan and asked the original amount of the loan. Finance Director Lund replied that the original amount was about $2,000,000. She stated that funds from water and sewer, the remaining letter of credit and HRA funds were used. She noted that once the loan is fully repaid, the policy identifies that proceeds will be allocated towards parks but noted that is at the discretion of the Council. Member LeTourneau recognized that the original amount of the loan was $2,000,000 and the City has been able to reduce that amount to $700,000 through the sale of City owned land. He noted that each purchase of property within The COR, continues to reduce that interfund loan and places those properties back on the tax base. Economic Development Manager Sullivan stated that in the past 2.5 weeks that he has been on staff he has been meeting with businesses and continuing with business retention visits and provided an update. He stated that it has been great to connect with businesses that he has worked with in the past and developing new connections. He stated that he has also attempted to Economic Development Authority/September 13,2018 Page 4 of 5