Minutes: Economic Development: Jan 2009

Economic Development Committee

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 5:30 pm
City Hall, 31 South Madison Street, Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

I. Roll Call. Chair Tony Wyse called the meeting to order at 5:30. Present: Tony Wyse, Janis Ringhand, Gene Bass, Dave Olsen, Roger Berg, Matthias James, and James Otterstein. Absent: Rebecca DeMarb. Also present: Mayor Sandy Decker, City Administrator Dan Wietecha, and Andy Peart.

II. Approval of Agenda. Ringhand made a motion, seconded by James, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion approved unanimously.

III. Minutes of December 16, 2008, Meeting. Ringhand made a motion, seconded by James, to waive the reading of the minutes and approve as presented. Motion approved unanimously.

IV. Citizen Appearances. None.

V. Meeting Schedule. The Committee stated that it did not want to change its meeting time.

VI. Chamber of Commerce Report. Peart said that they are interviewing for the Promotions Director position. There is a membership breakfast meeting scheduled for Thursday.

VII. Redevelopment Authority. Wietecha explained that all the projects identified in the Tax Increment District #5 Project Plan had been pretty well completed successfully. Last week the Common Council suspended the Redevelopment Authority until needed in the future.

VIII. Welcome Signs. Wietecha said that transportation enhancement grant money from the downtown project has been approved by WisDOT for use on the welcome signs. The estimated cost is $15,000; with 20% needing to be paid locally. Since the grant is near ready to close out, this project should be completed by spring. Since the original signs had input from other organizations, the Committee agreed that representatives from the Economic Development Committee, Park Board, Historic Preservation Commission, and Chamber of Commerce. Bass volunteered to serve as the Committee’s representative. It was noted that landscaping around the signs should also be considered.

IX. I&E Club. The club continues to have strong attendance and interest. It is successfully generating some good contacts and discussion. The guest speaker for February will discuss effective marketing for small businesses.

X. Information Interviews. Yesterday’s meeting with the City of Columbus was informative. Otterstein provided a summary comparing MACCIT, Forward Janesville, Main Street program, and City of Columbus. None are a perfect fit for Evansville, but there are certainly ideas to glean from each structure in determining our economic development entity. Ringhand made a motion, seconded by Bass, to stop holding information interviews and to proceed with the entity itself. Motion approved unanimously.

XI. Economic Development Entity. One of the goals of the Smart Growth Plan was to have an Economic Development Strategy. This was the root of the Economic Development Summit, which has led to the desire to create an economic development “entity” to coordinate work done by the City, the Chamber of Commerce and others.

The Economic Development Committee, Chamber of Commerce, Evansville Community Partnership, and School District have been invited to name two or three representatives to draft and recommend an entity. Once consensus is reached, the concept will be brought back to each board for refinement and eventually to the Common Council for final consideration. Berg made a motion, seconded by Bass, to name Wyse, Ringhand, and Wietecha as the Committee’s representatives. Motion approved unanimously.

The Committee noted that communication between the organizations was vital. It discussed the importance of the City being the lead agency for economic development since the City represents the entire business community; the City also has the ability to utilize tax increment financing and the greatest access to state assistance for development. The entity should have some sort of one-stop contact to connect businesses with the appropriate resources, to walk applicants through city processes, and to troubleshoot difficulties along the way. Volunteers will continue to be essential to whatever form the entity takes.

XII. Building Permits. The Committee said the discussion would wait until the February meeting.

XIII. New Business. None.

XIV. Adjournment. With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:55.