November 2, 2011 Albert Lea Post Authority Minutes
November 2, 2011
ALBERT LEA PORT AUTHORITY
MINUTES
November 2, 2011
Albert Lea Business Development Center
1. CALL TO ORDER & NOTATION OF ROLL
The Regular Meeting of the Albert Lea Port Authority was called to order on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 7:30 a.m. by President Vern Rasmussen. Roll was noted by the Assistant Director.
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Jerry Ehn, Vern Rasmussen, Jr., Al Brooks, Mike Moore, Keith Fligge and Nancy Skophammer
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Ellen Kehr
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT: Randy Kehr, business community representative; Chad Adams, City Manager; and Mike Lee, Freeborn County Representative
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Dan Dorman, Executive Director and Ryan Nolander, Assistant Director
STAFF MEMBERS ABSENT: Julie Dandrea, Board Secretary
GUESTS: Chuck Paczkowski, citizen; Mike Murtaugh, Freeborn-Mower Coop; and Rebecca Gisel, Alliant Energy
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 5, 2011 MEETING
The minutes from the October 5, 2011 meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Fligge made a motion to approve the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Ehn. President Rasmussen asked for any discussion and hearing none, the motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed.
3. RESOLUTION PA-11-16 AUTHORIZING PAYMENT OF CLAIMS
The claims were presented for review. Commissioner Moore motioned to accept the claims as presented in the amount of $22,341.99, seconded by Commissioner Brooks. President Rasmussen asked for any discussion and hearing none, the motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed.
4. RESOLUTION PA-11-17 TRANSER OF FUNDS FROM THE REAL ESTATE FUND TO THE GENERAL FUND
Executive Director explained that the General Fund is where we pay most of our expenses from, but the Real Estate Fund is where we make most of our income. Due to this, we need to make a transfer from time to time from the Real Estate Fund to the General Fund. It was recommended that we transfer $100,000 at this time and this should cover us for many months. Commissioner Ehn motioned to transfer $100,000 from the Real Estate Fund to the General Fund, seconded by Commissioner Fligge. President Rasmussen asked if there were any questions and hearing none, the motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed.
5. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
· Governor’s Job Summit – The Summit was a one-day event that replaced the DEED Fall Conference. Besides EDA professionals, there were a lot of attendees from the private sector which was a change from the former conference. There were a lot of ideas discussed; however, not very many of them were new. It now comes down to political will to accomplish some of these ideas. Executive Director Dorman liked an idea about the state creating a discretionary fund that the Governor and party leaders can utilize for economic development projects that come up when the legislature is out of session. The board discussed competition with WI and IA and how they are beating MN with better incentive programs. Also, Governor Dayton’s bank loan program was discussed. In theory it sounds like a good idea; however, when you talk to local banks it won’t help them because most of them already have extra cash to loan – they just can’t find qualified projects to use it on. The real problem is not getting more cash to the banks; it is the lack of venture capital available for the risky projects.
· Carpenter Lease Update – Carpenter’s attorney initially didn’t like the changes in wording, but after some explanation are now agreeable with them. We are working through some final details, but with a 12/31/11 expiration of their current lease the timeline could get tight. Board discussion followed and it was decided to wait until the December meeting to see if everything is finalized before setting up a special meeting to approve the lease. Commissioner Fligge asked about Carpenter’s other options for space. There is some space in Forest City, IA, but the feeling from Carpenter is that they would rather stay in Albert Lea.
· MCHS Project Update – Mayo’s decision might be delayed due to how Mayo distributes capital and a meeting is needed to discuss this. It was discussed that the City might need to start working on a Plan B for the building if things keep getting delayed and ultimately Mayo doesn’t move forward.
· SAR – Several times in recent years different people have tried to purchase the company and we have been involved in the past few. The owner is getting older and spends most of his time in northern MN so a sale would be a good thing as it would take care of the succession planning. We met recently with a potential buyer. They had a very good business plan and have most the financing lined up, but there is a 10% gap that needs to be filled. We are looking at the City’s revolving loan fund, the state, SMIF (Southern MN Initiative Foundation), and FMCS (Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services) as possible options for filling this gap. The key to the whole project will be if the deal stays the same and if upcoming appraisals show that the land and equipment are priced appropriately.
· Distribution Center Inquiries – The phones are ringing more consistently and many of the calls are in regards to distribution centers. We also have a company from a neighboring city that might be interested in moving to Albert Lea due to being land locked. In case anyone hears about it, a company from the New Prague area announced recently that they would be doing an expansion in Owatonna. We have had a few people ask us if we were involved and the answer is no. We were never contacted, they had reasons for being in Owatonna, and it was kept quiet until the announcement a couple weeks ago. This opened a discussion about how things have changed over the years and that site selectors are doing most of their research online and not even contacting the communities until the search has been narrowed. An example of this was a site selector called interested in the I-35/I-90 Park and was talking about specific details of the property. He was asked how he knew so much about the property and he stated that he had researched it online and had been in communication with other site selectors that have looked at it in the past. This is the reason we review our website frequently to make sure we have updated information and sites.
· Retail Inquiry – An existing local company is looking for more space, and a potential new company has shown some interest in the Blazing Star landing.
· IBM Article – The board discussed this article and how it showed that it can sometimes come down to personal relationships when companies are looking at communities.
· Ventura Lease – We received the go-ahead from Ray Roberts at Ventura to move forward with structuring a new 7-year lease that will incorporate updating the refrigeration units and lighting. We are working with ZRT on getting the bid specs designed.
· Vision Space – There is a paint issue on the east wall in their space. Due to the cold weather we will have to wait until next spring to bid and repair.
6. EX-OFFICIO UPDATE
Freeborn County – Mike Lee
The new radio system is up and running. They have been spending most of their time in levy and budget workshops.
City of Albert Lea – Chad Adams
The City is busy doing ward meetings discussing the budget and property taxes. They applied for $3.7M from the TIGER grant for downtown, but the odds are pretty low considering all the projects applying. Bob Graham is working on other potential grants for the MCHS parking project and for the interior updates for City Hall. The Broadway Ridge program now has three projects approved and two more possible applications. The City Attorney has sent a letter to the Governor about the potential sewer incentive program.
Chamber of Commerce – Randy Kehr
The Chamber held their annual meeting and awards. There is a customer service workshop coming up. Randy attended the planning commission meeting.
7. COMMISSIONER ITEMS
President Rasmussen stated that the community needs to realize that they all play a part in economic development and they can’t just continue to blame ALEDA. This led to a discussion on labor demographics.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Skophammer made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Moore. The motion carried 6 in favor, 0 opposed. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 a.m.
Filed and attested November 2, 2011.