Minutes - Council Work Session - 02/15/2022 - Special

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their marriage license and see the people piled up in there, and the City of Ramsey is funding that. She recognizes it is a great service to citizens who come in to this public building but she would like to talk about a strategy somehow to get them to maybe pick up a phone and have it ring, that it doesn’t go in to their que and they are on hold forever. She didn’t know if there was a way to do that, if a phone could be put at the front desk that goes right to them and they have to answer it or what the tactic would look like. She stated year after year they are paying for the County services. City Administrator Ulrich replied he has it down as “seek support from Anoka County for front desk staff services.” It was something that was being working on prior to the pandemic. They had agreed to provide some staffing at one time. It can be sorted out later but that is a good tactic to put on the board. Councilmember Woestehoff asked if there is an opportunity to move where the receptionist is in the building so that the front desk isn’t the destination for some of those conversations. He suggested the second floor. City Administrator Ulrich replied that may be contrary to the lease agreement, they have a pretty highly visible retail location now. Moving them was talked at one time but he felt that the second floor may cause as many problems because sending a ton of traffic through the remainder of the building might be just as problematic. Different entrances or moving them around was talked about in discussions but weren’t very fruitful as he recalled. He stated there is a logistic issue with traffic. If you get here during the day and the first of the month, you can’t get through there. Communication and Events Coordinator Thorstad commented to that point, that is one of her department’s most fielded questions. City Administrator Ulrich stated they will capture something with Anoka County to improve the license center and improve the impact to the Staff. He asked if there was anything else on that strategy before moving forward. City Administrator Ulrich stated economic development is a highly successful area for them. Economic Development Manager Sullivan did a great job. Today he is not feeling well enough to be here. Business went on, it was actually the whole development team including engineering, community development, and the planning staff all work with economic development to make sure these things happen. He stated they had extraordinary growth in the industrial sector with a fair amount of retail space considering Armstrong West, Gigi’s Salon, The Autoparts Store all contributed to retail which was a pretty good addition with more to come. Events through the EDA were successful, the business expo, business appreciation day. There were also some virtual activities during the pandemic. Business visits were a success for Economic Development Manager Sullivan and the EDA with 41 business visits conducted in 2021 so getting the calls to the business community was a real plus. Manufacturing employment base is continuing to grow. The metrics were met in terms of industrial construction square footage with 50 square feet. He guessed the estimate was set low for the year but that 50,000 square feet per year was what they were aiming for. That was exceeded and will next year also if all goes well. 5,000 square for retail puts them on pace for 2021, 2022 and probably 2023 as well based on projects that are in the City Council Special Work Session / February 15, 2022 Page 21 of 31