Minutes: Econ Dev: Feb 2013

City of Evansville Economic Development Committee Monday, February 18, 2013, 6:00 PM City Hall, 31 S. Madison St. Evansville, WI MINUTES 1. Call to Order at 6:01 PM. 2. Roll Call. Present: Gene Bass, Sarah Bauer, Sue Berg, Chair Jim Brooks, James Otterstein, Brandon Rutz, Nicole Sidoff, Jon Senn, Blase Strobl (6:06 PM), and Dan Wietecha. Also attending: Christina Slaback and Sandy Decker. 3. Motion to Approve Agenda -- Berg/Senn approved unanimously. 4. Motion to waive the reading of the minutes of the January 21, 2013 regular meeting and approve them as printed -- Senn/Berg approved unanimously. 5. Citizen Appearances, other than listed agenda items -- None. 6. Chamber Report. a. Website Update -- Slaback reviewed the changes she made to the market saturation website, based on EDC members’ input at the January meeting. Changes included adding breaking out the services section into additional categories and fixing the logo sizing. She is about 2/3 of the way done fixing the logo sizing. (Strobl arrived at 6:06 PM). EDC members thanked Slaback for making revisions. b. Additional Chamber Updates -- Roughly 65 people attended the January Lunch ‘n Learn when SWAG was the topic. The Chamber coordinated a ribbon-cutting for Johnson Seed and Feed last week and is coordinating a ribbon-cutting for the Grove Retreat, a quilters’/crafters’ retreat, for Friday, March 1. The EDC discussed the Grove Retreat business. 7. Tourism Subcommittee Report -- Berg noted there was not much to report, as the Committee had not met since the last EDC meeting. Brooks noted he was interviewed by Discover Wisconsin about the Chili Cook-Off and by the State Department of Tourism about the Energy Fair. Berg noted the bridge dedication will occur on May 31, 2013. Brooks noted the railroad sesquicentennial event, which will include master panels and an exhibit of engineering drawings, will take place on July 19 and 20, 2013. a. Wayfinding Signage -- Sidoff shared information on an upcoming wayfinding signage webinar. Brooks indicated the group should have a discussion on what is currently on the City’s wayfinding signs and what else should be on the signs. Brooks noted the Orfordville sign as an example of an electronic sign. The Committee discussed the existing signage and agreed they would like to concentrate their efforts on the wayfinding signage. Mayor Decker noted it would be helpful to have an inventory of existing signage. Brooks suggested looking at past files and the order form for the existing signage to assist in inventory analysis. Bass suggested the files would have information on any permits for existing signage. 8. Update on Rail Study Discussion -- Sidoff noted that a focus of the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development was freight rail and the Governor mentioned that additional money would be included in the biennial budget for freight rail improvements. Brooks indicated that the President of the Village of Brooklyn had talked with Senator Cullen about opening the rail as far as Butts Corners Road, and that project would have an impact on Evansville’s rail study. Evansville will wait to see what happens with that project before developing the Request for Proposal for a rail study. 9. Retail Market Analysis Study Update. a. Action Items. b. Chamber Lunch ‘n Learn Presentation - March 12, 2013 at 11:30 AM at Creekside Place. Rutz noted he has been working with Slaback to plan the Lunch ‘n Learn presentation on the market analysis and surveys. The Committee discussed what the intention of the session would be, and if it should result in a “call to action” for local business owners. Rutz noted there were action items identified after the retail market analysis was finished, and not all of these items were completed. Brooks noted this session might be a good time to refresh these action items and energize people who might like to get involved. Slaback invited Committee members to the presentation. 10. Economic Development Committee Handbook -- Sidoff noted there were not any major updates on this item, just that she is developing a draft list of resources to include in the EDC handbook. Brooks suggested including Wietecha’s TIF 101 presentation. Wietecha suggested including an overview of the revolving loan fund, façade grant program, REDLG, and other economic development tools to which the City has access. 11. New Business -- Sidoff shared information from the Ehlers Public Finance Seminar that she and the Mayor attended. Highlights included information on developers’ agreements and Tax Increment Financing. Mayor Decker noted Paul Jadin, the Executive Director of Thrive, would be coming to Evansville the following Tuesday to discuss Thrive and to visit Baker Manufacturing, Bluescope/Varco-Pruden, and Landmark. Slaback noted she and Sidoff had been conducting business retention and expansion surveys of local businesses as part of a Rock 5.0 initiative. Mayor Decker commended the fact that all EDC members had been in attendance for two meetings in a row. 12. Meeting Reminder: Next regular meeting March 18, 2013, 6:00 PM. 13. Motion to adjourn—6:40 by Senn/Berg --Jim Brooks, Chairman