Minutes; Economic Development: May 2013

City of Evansville Economic Development Committee Monday, May 20, 2013, 6:00 PM City Hall, 31 S. Madison St. Evansville, WI MINUTES 1. Call to Order at 6:03 PM. 2. Roll Call -- Present: Gene Bass, Sarah Bauer (6:06 PM), Chair Jim Brooks, Brandon Rutz, Nicole Sidoff, and Jon Senn. Also attending: Mayor Sandy Decker. Absent: James Otterstein, Blase Strobl, and Christina Slaback. 3. Motion to Approve Agenda -- Brooks suggested moving item 6.c.i immediately after item 5 to ensure a quorum for action. Senn/Bass, approved unanimously. 4. Motion to waive the reading of the minutes of the April 15, 2013 regular meeting and approve them as printed -- Senn/Bass, approved unanimously. 5. Citizen Appearances, other than listed agenda items -- Mayor Sandy Decker noted the public comment period for the Ice Age Trail extension in Rock County would be closing on June 1. The link to the online public comment forum is on the City website, and Sidoff offered to email out the link to the EDC members. Sarah Bauer arrived at 6:06 PM. 6. Monthly Reports Tourism Subcommittee Report - Approval of refreshments for CCC Veterans Memorial Bridge dedication. This item was moved up in the agenda to ensure a quorum for action. Brooks noted this approval was just a formality, as this event had not been explicitly singled out in the EDC budget for 2013. Senn made a motion, seconded by Rutz, to approve up to $50 for refreshments for the CCC Veterans Memorial Bridge dedication. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote. a. Chamber Report - Sidoff noted that Slaback was not able to attend the meeting that night due to a family issue. Sidoff shared an update on joint Chamber/City activities under the City report agenda item. b. City Report on Economic Development Activities - Sidoff provided the following report: *City efforts done in conjunction with the Chamber - ribbon cuttings for Bridget’s Family Bakery, Symdon grand-re-opening, and upcoming for Fox and Hound on Thursday. Manufacturer’s Round Table tomorrow, James Otterstein will be presenting on Inspire Wisconsin. City and Chamber staff met with a new business, Advantage University, which focuses on enrichment and improvement for students. They are working out of Creekside Place. *Landmark Services Cooperative update - Last week the Board of Appeals approved conditional use permit for We Energies to construct gas line to serve the Landmark expansion. All permits have been issued. We Energies hopes to begin construction at the beginning of June. Sidoff met with Town of Fountain Prairie government officials to discuss Landmark, as Landmark has proposed building a facility in their town. *Sidoff took a Real Estate Development and Reuse course last week, which is part of the certified economic developer process. The next two courses will be Workforce Development in July and Strategic Planning in August. *Josh Clements from UWEX Walworth County came to the Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club to speak about innovative downtown businesses, thank you to those of you who attended. Josh provided a lot of great demographic and economic info, which Sidoff emailed to everyone after receiving it from him. Sidoff and Clements are discussing possibly spinning this off into a bigger project, including having a charette downtown. *Sidoff and Slaback met with School District representatives to discuss possible opportunities for collaboration, including social media for businesses. *Thrive Economic Development professionals met at Larson Acres, and the Mayor gave an intro to the City. The State of the Madison Region Summit is this Thursday at 1:30 PM in Madison. *Sidoff is continuing work on the update to the park and outdoor recreation plan, and 321 people responded to the online survey. Decker noted that Evansville is the only municipal investor in Thrive from Rock County. *LinkWISCONSIN is conducting a survey to determine broadband demand throughout the State. EDC members are encouraged to complete the survey and spread the word about the survey to others in the area. Brooks passed around the Broadband Playbook. Rutz noted it would be difficult for Evansville to land any major office operations without improved broadband access in the City. Brooks discussed the benefits of having a publicly-owned utility, including a major project at Baker Manufacturing whereby the company’s energy bill was reduced by $3,000 per month due to a collaborative project with WPPI Energy. c. Tourism Subcommittee Report - Brooks noted that the Art Crawl drew people from northern Illinois. The Civil War event was much better attended than in the past, the primary need for that event will be more manpower. The CCC Veterans Memorial Bridge dedication will take place on May 30 at 3:30 PM with refreshments to follow at Allen Creek Art Gallery. Jenny Bammert, Tourism Subcommittee member, will be taking over the task of listing events on the web, as well as replenishing various tourism-related brochures throughout downtown. Decker noted that Tourism has made significant progress in getting the word out about Evansville events. Bauer commended the success of the Civil War event, particularly in light of the fact that so many other events were taking place throughout the region on the same weekend. Brooks noted that two artists have registered for the Plein Air competition so far. 7. Old Business a. Rail Study - Sidoff shared correspondence she received from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation regarding reactivation the rail line through Evansville. The EDC members discussed the issue of ownership of the rail line and the need to identify a shipper/business that would want to use the rail line. Decker noted it would be beneficial to have conversations with Landmark regarding this issue. Brooks noted it would be important to demonstrate to the Union Pacific that it would be worth their while to reopen the line and allow access. Decker noted that the importance of rail and broadband access were key points of emphasis by City staff/officials during meetings with Thrive. Brooks noted that the missing crossings at STH 92 and 104 would have to be replaced if the line was reopened. Brooks and Decker noted the work of Baldwin, Kohl, Duffy, and Pocan at the Federal level in advancing freight rail access. Decker noted that Pocan would be having a listening session at Eager Free Library on May 29th at 5:30 PM. b. Wayfinding Signage - Bauer noted that the signage directing people to parking areas needed to be improved. Sidoff noted that she found the original inventory of wayfinding signs and where they were installed. c. Retail Market Analysis Study - Nothing to report. d. Travel Green Wisconsin - Brooks noted that the Tourism Subcommittee discussed this item and agreed to not launch a concerted effort to promote the program. They will encourage “leading by example” and hope to build a critical mass of early adopters to get the program going in the City. e. Welcome Packet for New Businesses i. Fact Sheet - Sidoff distributed a list of resources to be included in a potential fact sheet for business owners/entrepreneurs. The target audience would be Main Street/small businesses. Bauer noted that she liked the breakdown of resources by level of government. The EDC members discussed the resources that were included in the list. Rutz suggested re-ordering the City resources. Decker asked if there was any market analysis information that could be included. Sidoff noted that the market analysis information would be fairly broad and basic, and businesses would be best-served to conduct an analysis to determine whether their product/service was needed in the City. This is oftentimes done as part of developing a business plan. Brooks suggested Steve Deller from UW-Madison/UWEX as a resource for this type of information. f. Cabinetry Shop - Brooks asked about the status of the cabinetry business. Sidoff noted that their plans to open a location in Evansville were currently on hold. 8. New Business a. Business Expo - Nothing to report. b. Evansville Women Entrepreneurs Group - 20 women business owners met last week at the first Evansville Women Entrepreneurs gathering at Creekside Place. Bauer noted that she thought it was a great experience, and it was very helpful that everyone can get to know one another and help each other out. Brooks noted it would be important for new businesses in town to be aware that other business owners are there to support them. Bauer noted that the group was very interested in doing an event like Maxwell Street Days or having scheduled days where all businesses downtown are open later. c. Flower Baskets - The EDC members discussed the flower baskets. Bass and Bauer will work together to plant the baskets. 9. Meeting Reminder: Next regular meeting June 17, 2013, 6:00 PM. Bauer noted she may not be able to make the June 17 meeting. 10. Motion to adjourn -- 7:21 PM by Rutz/Bauer. --Jim Brooks, Chairman