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<br />Ms. Skepper stated the County believes it is important to work regionally on large scale projects, <br />but not every project will have benefits equally across the County. She would expect they will <br />work closely with the cities as they start moving through the policy and procedure making <br />process. As the HRA goes through the budget process they work with the cities to determine <br />projects they would like to do when setting the levy; the EDA would likely work similarly. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig pointed out that the HRA usually relates to redevelopment, and Ramsey <br />does not have as much redevelopment as other municipalities. Economic development is <br />something he is more interested in for Ramsey, so this is intriguing in that respect, but the City <br />would want to be sure to get their piece of the pie. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated there is housing inventory in the City that is getting old; some will need to <br />be removed, and they are looking at areas like Dysprosium going through. The City could use <br />funds to accomplish these things. They started building up the City HRA fund a few years ago, <br />which will be a good working tool. The question is whether they want to have both the City and <br />County EDA's to work with. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen indicated there should be a gap analysis completed to determine <br />where there are gaps within the City. She would like to have examples of something the City <br />could not get done on their own, but may be able to accomplish if they participate with the <br />County. She agrees with Councilmember Dehen that a lot of the issues identified do not apply to <br />the City, but as the City completes a gap analysis there may be other gaps that would become <br />available by joining the County EDA. She pointed out that over time what the City has had to <br />wait on is land acquisition and redevelopment because they have not had the funds to buy all the <br />properties they would like to buy for economic development. She asked whether Ramsey would <br />be able to use money currently sitting in the HRA pool for EDA type projects. <br /> <br />Ms. Skepper replied she has asked that question of the County Attorney and the response was <br />yes; however, they are waiting for a formal response from Bond Counsel. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig asked how politically charged participation in the EDA is. <br /> <br />Anoka County Commissioner Berg stated the County is concerned about economic development <br />countywide. If they compare Ramsey to East Bethel and put Columbia Heights in the mix there <br />are totally different needs and all three of the communities would join for different reasons. <br />With the EDA they have put something together that would benefit everyone. Anoka County has <br />11.4% of the population in the seven county area and 7.3% ofthe tax base. On the whole, Anoka <br />County is exporting employees and paying taxes to other counties. They would like to get the <br />tax on the businesses, which is the bread and butter of the tax structure in this state. They are <br />trying to build countywide economic development and have looked at a lot of ways to do it. The <br />County has supported the Economic Development Partnership and feels there is more that can be <br />done. They are also looking at things that are regional that could be done with economies of <br />scale. With the case of fast speed internet, commercial businesses are looking at locations where <br />they can get high speed internet access, which is limited in the County. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / July 31, 2007 <br />Page 4 of 18 <br />