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Home My WebLink About08-15-2005 Council Economic Development CommitteeMINUTES PRELIMINARY CITY COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2005 CITY HALL, LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM Members Present: Ernie Lehman, Bob Elliot, Regenia Bailey Members Absent: NONE Staff Present: Steve Nasby Others Present: NONE CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chairperson Lehman called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM JUNE 21 2005 Motion: Elliot moved to approve the minutes from June 21, 2005 meeting as written. Bailey seconded. Motion passed 3:0. BUSINESS VISIT UPDATE Nasby said that he only had one additional council member interested in participating in the business visits. He asked whether the committee would like him to make another offer to the council members. Regina said that the best way of informing them about participating would be to discuss with each council member individually. Lehman asked for a list of visits that are still available so that he could pass it around at the Council meeting this evening. He added that the committee would make sure all the visits were completed. Nasby said that he gave each of the committee's members a copy of the introductory letter, which presents a summary of the committee's purpose. DISCUSSION OF FUTURE ISSUES Nasby said that at the last meeting the committee discussed the possibilities of wi-fi technology. He mentioned that he talked with Gary Cohn, City IT ' coordinator, and Gary would be available to come and present more about the available technologies and possible applications for the City and Economic Development. Nasby said that he has started collecting information regarding the City's TIF projects. He said that the projects funded by TIF could be divided into industrial and commercial categories. He said that both types increase the tax base, but the commercial projects tend to be focused more on 2 redeveloping an area of the community and the investment in industrial activities provide more quality jobs. Nasby added that the City's investment in TIF funded projects typically follow a historical pattern and that this may be an issue the committee wants to review. Elliot said that this TIF information would make a great report for the Council to present what has evolved from the TIF investment, what were the gains and the lessons learned. Bailey asked if the method Iowa City uses for reviewing and using TIF is typical for other communities. Nasby said that they had not gathered that information, but certainly could. Bailey said that she was expecting to see a higher investment in the industrial projects which provide higher benefits in the long run. Lehman said that he considers the committee and Council to be very judicious in the way they have used TIF. He added that there was more money in invested in non-TIF redevelopment projects because of the City's actions. He mentioned that there is assistance available, but would certainly like to see firms making it on their own. Nasby said that there is the example of Iowa State Bank and Trust on Keokuk who redeveloped on their own near Pepperwood Plaza because of the TIF investment made in that area. Bailey said that this was a direct benefit from TIF. Nasby mentioned that there were also a couple of TIF projects that were anticipated to provide a certain number of jobs, but ended up providing more, far exceeding the original expectations. Lehman said that they should be proud of the way they utilized TIF, and would be great to have a report in the Council's packet along with a presentation made by Nasby to summarize all this information. He mentioned. that the public needs to find out about their actions. He noted that the Southgate project at Pepperwood Plaza has brought a lot of positive reaction from the public. Elliot said that the positive public reaction is also present in the Sycamore Mall redevelopment area. He mentioned that it is great to also see the peripheral businesses spreading. Lehman asked if the sales tax information is available for Sycamore Mall. He said that it would be interesting to compare the sales tax numbers from the past couple of years. He noted that there would be obvious changes. He added that the peripheral benefits of the Sycamore Mall are also really consistent. Elliot said that he considers that Iowa City had used, TIF funds very judiciously and effectively, and that the story needs to be told. Bailey said that there are visible benefits, but the more they could be quantified, the more positive response would be received. Bailey said that if the TIF money was funded in the two sectors Nasby mentioned, she wondered if there were other sectors that could be funded and have the same positive results. Nasby said that some communities use TIF funds to stimulate housing growth, but this has not been an issue in our community. Bailey asked if they also use the funds for affordable housing. Nasby said that TIF had been used for affordable housing in Iowa City. However, he said that there had been a change with the way that the affordable 'housing produced with the Low Income Housing Tax Credits is assessed. He said that his understanding is that they are not assessed on the actual value of the building and land, but on a percentage of cash flow. He mentioned that they submit their financial record to the assessors' office, and the assessors' office looks at the 3 states' formula. Due to this new assessment method, TIF probably would not be an effective tool. Lehman said that he would like to have this as an agenda item and Nasby would make a public presentation to the City Council. Bailey said that it would be very informative and would help the public understand the use of TIF funds and Economic Development efforts. Nasby said that he will put together a presentation for August or September. Bailey said that the concept incubator had started to proliferate. She mentioned that Cedar Rapids has a downtown incubator for retail, and would be interested to see what their objectives are. She said that it is a new concept and should be investigated to determine if it could be useful in our community. Elliot said that he read that Integrated DNA Technologies started in the University of Iowa's incubator at Oakdale. Nasby -noted that the University of Iowa opened the Bell center as a type of incubator. Bailey said that she does not consider that center accessible to everyone in the community. Elliot said that one of the things that should be achieved is to provide employment opportunities. He asked if there is anything that the City could do in addition.to the State job service to help people who want to come back in town. Bailey asked what follow-up is made to businesses funded with CDBG to help them continue to operate efficiently. Nasby said that after funding there is the initial monitoring to determine if they've complied, and after that there is not much more contact. Bailey asked if these organizations could be added to the business visit list. Lehman said that he would like to set up a meeting at one of those places such as Deluxe Bakery. Nasby said that the meeting space needs to be accessible. Elliot said that it needs to be clear that just providing money to someone, helping them, and then forgetting them is not the goal of the committee. Bailey said that she would like to see a full time position in the Economic Development office. Lehman said that he would like to encourage new businesses, but in the same time grow the existing businesses. Elliott added that there should be a bank of information regarding the available positions in the community to make the job searching easier. Nasby said that Workforce Development and a website through the Technology Corridor provide that type of job listings. Bailey said that it is easier to look for a job than to look for information about how to start your own small business. Lehman said that in order to have a full time person approved by the Council there would need to have a good job description of what the person is expected to do. Bailey said that she would like to see the City being "strategically proactive" in the future. She added that an economic development person could explore feasibility. She asked if that could be added to the August agenda. She said that they would have to figure out what the goals are and what are the priorities. Lehman said that they would need to have a great description of the position, of the benefits of having the proposed position. He said that they would also have to determine how to fund the 4 position partially from the committee's own funds. Bailey said that she would also like to see partnership with other organizations. Lehman said that the University of Iowa would partner with the City. STAFF UPDATE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES Nasby said that at the last meeting Elliott had asked about a database for consultants. Nasby said that there is a consultant database online through the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). He said that this could be a model to be followed if wanted. Nasby said that on July 23`d there is the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Lodge and everyone is invited. NEXT MEETING DATE The next meeting had been tentatively scheduled for August 16, 2005.. ADJOURNMENT The. meeting adjourned at 9:57 AM. 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