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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-20-2007 Council Economic Development Committee AGENDA City of Iowa City City Council Economic Development Committee Tuesday, February 20,2007 8:30 a.m. City Hall Lobby Conference Room 410 East Washington Street 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Minutes of February 9,2007 Economic Devel<?pment Committee meeting 3. Compile Interview Questions for consultant interviews 4. Determine decision-making process. 5. Committee time 6. Adjournment Next two meetings: . February 27,2007,9:00 a.m. Chamber of Commerce, 325 E. Washington Street, Large Conference Room . March 6, 2007, 9:00 a.m. Chamber of Commerce, 325 E. Washington Street, Large Conference Room MINUTES CITY COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE February 9, 2007 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM DRAFT Members Present: Regenia Bailey, Connie Champion, Bob Elliott Members Absent: None Staff Present: Wendy Ford, Karin Franklin Others Present: Nancy Quellhorst, Joe Raso, Craig Gustaveson, Lisa Barnes, Helen Burford, Irvin Pfab, Tim Kenyon, a reporter from the Daily Iowan and several journalism students. RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: None CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chairperson Regenia Bailey called the meeting to order at 9:05 AM. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JAN. 23. 2007 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MOTION: Champion moved to approve the January 23, 2007 minutes as submitted. Elliott seconded the motion. The motion passed 3:0. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSALS FOR DOWNTOWN MARKET NICHE ANALYSIS There was discussion and consensus to evaluate proposals on their content and merit without discussion of fees initially. Each council committee member, the representatives from the Downtown Association and Chamber and Staff members shared with the group their three top three choices of the eight proposals submitted. Two proposals were eliminated initially: Gibbs Planning Group and University of Wisconsin Extension Service. Of the remaining six, the group agreed that three clearly stood out: Marketek, ERA and PUMA. Discussion ensued about each of these. Progressive Urban Management Associates They have done extensive, worked with similar communities and have intimate knowledge of the area, having successfully worked on the renewal of the Cedar Rapids SSMID last year. They understand the importance of locally owned businesses in downtown. They seem focused on BIDs, SSMIDs as an outcome or solution to all downtown's problems and there was concern because of that, their focus might be limited. There was some concern that implementation strategies did not have an analysis component. Consensus was that their process was not clear enough. Other concerns were that there was not mention of lodging or entertainment and they may be too focused on retail. They talked about retail leakage in the proposal, which indicated their interest was too strong on retail and of competition or cannibalism of one local area on another. The leakage study suggested an approach of competition with other shopping areas in IC instead of a preferred focus on how downtown could improve its pull by improving market mix. Another concern was that they did not specify a timeline and that 9 visits seemed excessive. After thoughtful discussion, the committee agreed to set this one aside for now and not invite them for an interview at this time. Economics Research Associates (ERA) There was favorable discussion of ERA's apparent understanding of downtowns and college towns. Past studies include Chapel Hill, NC and Austin, TX where the campus is integrated into the downtown. The project team is impressive. Melissa Mayer had experience in St. Louis which has come a long way. There were favorable comments about their study of local policy for a framework of reference at the outset. Also about how their market analysis looks thorough, and their project task outline very good, and timeline -- excellent in 4 months. They also mention pull factors which the group noted has a better perspective that "leakage". The group indicated that they'd like to bring in the project team for an interview. Marketek Favorable comments included that they were results oriented. They also seemed tuned in to our interest on the arts and who we are from the beginning. They did their research. Broad scope which goes a little beyond - looking at ability to develop a creative cluster downtown. Good proposal presentation. Discussion ensued about surveys and how are they are conducted. Mailed surveys are expensive as shown by the detailed item in the proposal. Discussion to include specific questions about surveying in the interviews ensued. We should explore internet survey possibili~ies with the firm. Since surveys are an integral part of each of the proposals, we need to ensure that the expense of them will net the value that we want. We should ensure that the surveys are necessary, relevant, and conducted in order to achieve the goals we want. We should explore whether we could we get the same info with focus groups. There was consensus that there should be several questions about surveying techniques and tabulation in the interviews. The group agreed they'd like to bring in the project team for an interview. Interview process The committee decided to meets once early to assemble and assign interview questions on Feb. 20 at 8:30 a.m. Staff will schedule interviews with Marketek and Economics Research Associates on 2 different mornings chosen from Feb 27, March 1,6, 7, or 8. Quellhorst offered the Chamber conference room as the location for the interviews. Ford will make invitations and begin due diligence. Council Time Adjournment