Minutes: Economic Development: May 15, 2007

City of Evansville

Economic Development Committee

Regular Meeting

Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 5:30 pm

City Hall, 31 S. Madison Street, Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm by Dan Wietecha. Present: Chair Tony Wyse (arrived at 6:00), Roger Berg, James Otterstein (arrived at 5:45), Dave Olsen, Gene Bass (left at 6:30), and Fred Juergens. Also present: Dan Wietecha, Bridgit Larsen, and Mayor Sandy Decker.
Approve Agenda. Berg moved, seconded by Bass, to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously.
Approve Minutes of April 19, 2007 Meeting. Olsen moved, seconded by Berg, to approve the minutes. Motion approved unanimously.
Secretary Position. The committee agreed that the full committee should be present before deciding on a new secretary.
Citizen Appearances. Berg commented that future agendas should include reports from the Chamber of Commerce and the City Administrator.
Discussion on City Website. Juergens reviewed the draft policy he had distributed at the April meeting; he also noted that there are certain restrictions the city must abide by in order to have a .gov website. The committee agreed that we should use the .gov regulations rather than re-inventing the wheel. Bass noted the importance of a website for promoting the community; Otterstein suggested the Chamber of Commerce or another entity may be a better fit for hosting a community calendar of events.
Discussion on Young Professionals Meeting. Juergens noted an article he had read about a Young Professionals group in Green County. Otterstein said Young Professionals meetings are informal gatherings for networking. The committee liked the idea of an additional vehicle for communication and the possibility of encouraging young adults to take a greater role in civic involvement. Several possibilities were discussed: teaming up with a neighboring community, tying a meeting into the Chamber’s business after 5 program, or working with the leadership development academy in Janesville.
Update on CDBG Application for Main Street Streetscaping. Decker indicated that the funding is in place for bricks from First to Maple and that we anticipate hearing about additional funding that might enable additional bricks as far as Railroad Street.
Update on Downtown Task Force. Juergens noted that there had been relatively few gripes since the start of construction. Wietecha said that the first bi-weekly newsletter had been distributed the previous week.
Review of Economic Development Strategy RFP’s. Wietecha noted that the Finance Committee wanted the interviews completed and a specific proposal from the Economic Development Committee before authorizing use of tax increment funds for the project. The two interviews have since been completed; in answer to a question, the committee indicated it did not want to accept any additional proposals. Wietecha said one thing that came out of both interviews was that round table discussions and similar meetings can be difficult to schedule in the summer; both consultants recommended using the summer for preparatory work and holding the final summit after Labor Day.
The committee discussed the qualifications of both candidates at length and held two straw polls; both polls were evenly split between the two candidates. The general comments were that MCL Group was strong at producing an action-oriented strategy but the process would limited to the more prominent members of the business community; MCL was also seen as providing little hand holding for the committee. The general comments were that Whalen and Associates would be more inclusive of the broader business community resulting in greater acceptance of the strategy; this was seen as particularly essential since both the Economic Development Committee and Chamber of Commerce have been working at reinventing themselves and seeking credibility as effective organizations. Whalen would also do more of the preparation work and help with implementation afterwards rather than leaving it for the committee to accomplish alone.

Juergens made a motion, seconded by Wyse, to hire MCL Group to conduct the facilitation and development of our economic development strategy. Motion failed 1 to 3. Berg made a motion, seconded by Olsen, to hire Whalen and Associates to conduct the facilitation and development of our economic development strategy. Motion passed 3 to 1. Wietecha will bring the request to the Finance Committee and draft a letter of engagement for Whalen and Associates.

Discussion on Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). Otterstein distributed copies of an updated draft policy for the committee to review for the June meeting.
Adjournment. On a motion by Juergens, seconded by Berg, the meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.