Session 09-09, a Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Advisory Commission was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Erickson on December 8, 2009 at the City Hall Cowles Council Chambers located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.
PRESENT: COMMISSIONER DAY, ERICKSON, FAULKNER, HOPPE, NEECE, RAVIN
COUNCILMEMBER: WYTHE
STAFF: SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR HOLEN
VISTA REPRESENTATIVE BEVIS
DEPUTY CITY CLERK JACOBSEN
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
RAVIN MOVED TO APPROVE THE AGENDA.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS REGARDING ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
There were no public comments.
RECONSIDERATION
There were no items for reconsideration.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Meeting Minutes of November 10, 2009
RAVEN/FAULKNER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS WRITTEN.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
VISITORS
There were no visitors scheduled.
STAFF AND COUNCIL REPORT
There was no staff or council report.
PUBLIC HEARING
There were no items for public hearing.
PENDING BUSINESS
A. Lease Policies
Chair Erickson gave a brief overview of the process for the lease policy amendments.
RAVIN/NEECE MOVED TO BRING LEASE POLICIES TO THE FLOOR.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Chair Erickson read a letter she prepared that recapped the goal of the proposed amendments to the lease policies.
The Commission reviewed the amendments.
Packet Page 9 Councilmember Wythe questioned giving the Lease Committee the authority to delegate responsibility in the amendment to 1.2B. She suggested that the Council would delegate to the Committee. If it needs to go further than the Lease Committee, Council would need to delegate that if they don’t want the City Manager to. There was discussion that the intent of the amendment is to have a non biased party, like a lease company be able to do the negotiations between the City and businesses because there has been a lot friction throughout the years.
FAULKNER/RAVIN MOVED TO AMEND 1.2B TO READ “WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THE LEASE COMMITTEE MAY DELEGATE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR NEGOTIATING AND ADMINISTRATING LEASES.”
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
There was discussion regarding amendments on page 10 and the make up of the Committee and revising it so that it is more diverse than the current make up.
RAVIN/FAULKNER MOVED TO APPROVE THE AMENDMENTS ON PAGE 10.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
RAVIN/FAULKNER MOVED TO APPROVE PAGE 11.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Chair Erickson commented that the amendments on page 13 are to make it more industry specific.
RAVIN/FAULKNER MOVED TO APPROVE PAGE 13.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
There was discussion explaining that the formula is an attempt at a consistent, fair and equitable measurement of the lease rates.
RAVIN/FAULKNER MOVED TO APPROVE PAGES 15 AND 16.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
There was discussion regarding striking the reconsideration information. Councilmember Wythe questioned that in the absence of it being finalized and approved by council, what is there to reconsider. There was discussion of the process and how something can’t be reconsidered until final action has been taken. Councilmember Wythe suggested that they leave the sentence in on page 17.
FAULKNER/RAVIN MOVED THAT WE ACCEPT THIS PAGE AS WE HAVE IT AMENDED.
It was clarified that this includes the strike out.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Chair Erickson summarized the amendments on page 20.
RAVIN/FAULKNER MOVED TO APPROVE PAGE 20.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Chair Erickson summarized the amendments to page 21 and 22 and the feed back from the bank regarding banking issues.
There was discussion that the strike out on section 11.2 C and the reference to options.
RAVIN/NEECE MOVED TO AMEND TO 11.2C TO READ LEASES MAY CONTAIN OPTIONS FOR RENEWAL. THE EXERCISE OF ANY OPTION FOR RENEWAL SHALL BE DEPENDENT…
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
There was discussion regarding the addition of 11.3 and for clarification “F” should be included so it references Chapter 11.2 F 1-7.
RAVIN/NEECE SO MOVED TO ADD F.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Regarding the removing chapter 12 on page 23, Chair Erickson explained that the information is covered on page 16 in chapter 7.
RAVIN/FAULKNER MOVED TO DELETE.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Chair Erickson briefly noted chapter 13.
RAVIN/FAULKNER MOVED TO APPROVE CHAPTER 13 IN ITS ENTIRETY.
Comment was made that right now there is a lot of bootleg sub leasing going on, because you can’t sublease.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Chair Erickson noted the amendments in chapter 18. There was discussion regarding dealing with environmental inspection. It may not be necessary every time but there may be circumstances where you want it to happen.
Councilmember Wythe suggested adding “In circumstances where environmental impact may be a concern upon vacation of the property the city will provide an environmental review prior to the lease taking place, then the lessee will be responsible for the follow up on termination of the lease.” She commented that it would be irresponsible of the Council to waive the possibility that someone created the contamination, and then put the expense of remediation on the community. If they can assure the degree of exposure prior to leasing a property then the lessee would be responsible if more exposure is created.
Point was raised regarding the necessity of standardization of who is doing the testing and that they are taking responsibility for the continuity of the data. It has to be fair to both sides. It was noted that in 16.2E addresses the lessee’s responsibility, which justifies removing the removal of 18.1E as recommended.
RAVIN/NEECE MOVED TO ACCEPT CHAPTER 18.
There was no discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
Chair Erickson explained that the original ground lease and security agreement has a lot of redundancy and a lot of issues that are already taken care of in the code. They tried to get rid of items that aren’t specifically the City’s business to deal with.
FAULKNER/RAVIN MOVED TO APPROVE THE DOCUMENT AS THEY HAVE AMENDED IT.
It was noted that it should be reviewed by a lawyer. Commissioner Ravin asked for the lawyer to specifically explain in plain language what an estoppel certificate is. The Commission briefly discussed amendments to the ground lease. A typographical error was noted on page 34 should be corrected to read Attached as exhibit A is a schedule naming each owner or tenant…
Councilmember Wythe suggested they provide copies of other leases or information they reviewed for Council to look at as back ground knowledge.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
The consensus of the was to incorporate Chair Erickson’s letter into a cover letter memo to include a recommendation that the EDC recommends the approval of the amended lease policy as reviewed and approved by the Commission at the December 8, 2009 regular meeting.
RAVIN/NEECE MOVED TO APPROVE ALL THAT AUTHORIZATION STUFF THAT BETH SAID.
There was brief discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
B. CEDS Development
VISTA Representative Bevis gave the Commission an update on the second Public meeting that was held in November. She said the quilt website is still generating public input, which is one of the intentions of the site. She has been working on the Chamber of Commerce “Doing Business in Homer” study. In the next months she is working on synthesizing and doing more research. She anticipates that Borough will have their situations and prospects manual out in the next week and she will be able to do the demographic research, and have a draft by the end of January. The CEDS outline is continuing to evolve.
Chair Erickson opened a dialog emphasizing that entrepreneurs seem to be the people who get things done. What can be done in Homer to foster entrepreneurs in areas that Homer needs, and broadens the scope of community development a little wider than just the college? She expressed concerns about the ability of small business owners to provide health care for employees and questioned if the CEDS can include some incentives to draw businesses such as a group health plan. Ms. Bevis said discussion of cooperative health insurance came up in a brain storming session was, and it is something that the Chamber EDC is looking at. Suggestion was raised about expanding the City’s health care program. Councilmember Wythe spoke briefly to issues of combining with the City’s current insurance plan and bureaucracy involved. Commissioner Neece spoke regarding the Grange and gave brief description that the Grange is a co-op that anyone can join and that would be a more appropriate avenue for an insurance pool.
Chair Erickson requested that Small Business Incentives be included on their next agenda and asked the Commissioners to come back with ideas to help the small businesses that we already have and to draw new business in and increase the City’s revenue.
VISTA Representative Bevis commented that it is interesting that the 5 ideas that received the most votes at the second public meeting were ideas that are already in process. It shows that there is some common ground and consensus, but there were a lot of new ideas with potential too, and that is what she is working on.
C. Spit Comprehensive Plan
RAVIN MOVED TO BRING THE SPIT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO THE TABLE.
There was brief discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
The Commission was pleased with the framework that was developed for the draft plan and made no recommendation. Chair Erickson suggested the Commissioners could email Pat Coleman if they have comments about what might be missing or need to be addressed.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Proposed 2010 Meeting Schedule
DAY/NEECE MOVE TO APPROVE THE 2010 MEETING SCHEDULE.
There was brief discussion.
VOTE: NON OBJECTION: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS
A. Resolution regarding meeting guidelines
B. Bradner’s Alaska Economic Reports
C. Local Newspaper Stories
D. Items of Interest from recent City Council Meeting Packets
Chair Erickson commented briefly regarding the Bradner’s report about the ultra low sulfur diesel having no problems. She said truck drivers she has heard from say they spend way more on diesel fuel, they don’t get the RPM’s , they use additives with it, and it is terrible stuff.
COMMENTS OF THE AUDIENCE
Councilmember Hogan commented that Council authorized a Task Force to look at restructuring the City’s health benefit plan and opening it up to the general community as an economic development tool. He thinks the success of that depends on who is sitting on it, and said, “All you guys would be perfect on it. Right now it is a wide open blank slate.” He said it is good to see Commissioner’s chairs full. He also said at the next meeting there is a resolution to get International Pacific Halibut Commission here in Homer for their 2012 annual meeting.
Bryan Zak from the SBDC responded to Chair Erickson’s earlier comment about things they can do for economic development. He suggested:
· Economic enterprise zone
· Water and sewer rates for Commercial Businesses
· Gas line to Homer
· Tax reduction for small business for the first few years
· Keeping up with technology
· Continuing the relationship with Chamber EDC.
Commissioner Day agreed to be the liaison between the City and Chamber EDC.
COMMENTS OF CITY STAFF
Special Projects Coordinator Holen congratulated the Commission for getting through the lease policy.
COMMENTS OF THE COUNCIL MEMBER
Councilmember Wythe had no comment.
COMMENTS OF THE CHAIR
Chair Erickson thanked the Commission all their work tonight.
COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS
Commissioner Neece requested an addition to the next agenda. Sitka and Seward EDC’s are more like an LLC or a business, and more aggressive about getting out and doing things. He asked that the Commission discuss an Economic Enterprise Zone. Commissioner Neece said it is great to finish the lease policy and welcomed the new Commissioners.
Commissioner Hoppe said the information in this first packet looked a little intimidating, but he his looking forward to being on the Commission.
Commissioner Ravin commended Chair Erickson on her job as Chair. He said it is good to have the Lease Policy off their shoulders. He thanked the Councilmembers and said he is glad to see them here. He commented regarding Governor Angus Kings letter which had his observation that a third of the employment in the state is federal and another sixth is state, so half of the employment in our state is government. That gives us an idea what the future may look like if we don’t find more economic development here as government runs out of money and resources to spend. Things are going to either get really quiet here or we are going to have to find some more private investment, production, or some means of generating some wealth and employment here. That burden lies squarely on us and our sister organization, the Chamber of Commerce. The future of our local economy is in what we do here, trying to develop some private industry. He paraphrased a quote by Wayne Gretsky; “It is easy to skate when you know where you are going. Think about where the puck is going to be, not where it is now.” Commissioner Ravin said we all need to stop looking at our feet, and look at the horizon. That is the challenge.
Commissioner Faulkner congratulated everyone on getting the lease policy done. He said another hat he wears is he is on the board of the Charter School. He said earlier this year they tried to buy the Owen Marine Building on Ocean Drive and looked at leasing the Southwest Pilots building. Originally they looked at the Haus Electric building to put more classrooms in, particularly a K-2, which they have kids signed up for. They settled on the Owen building, however it is in GC1, which doesn’t allow schools. They have the same problem subleasing from Southwest Pilots, but adjacent to them is Head Start. He said he was tasked with opening that back up and seeing if the zoning could be changed. The Commission will probably be seeing it as they go through planning with it. The Charter School had 35 students signed up last year that they didn’t have classroom space for. He finds it interesting that in Ms. Bevis’ work the college is the number one thing people want to see, and they just got shut down hard trying to find a place to have a school, as it is very limited. It is good clean money, it gets driven to town every day, and the state law was changed last year so that Charter Schools are funded on a more equitable basis. He said the Board is going to take off after the Borough on their next shot to try to get equitable funding there. If your kid goes to a public Charter School and you pay property taxes, none of your money goes to that kid. There was agreement to add that to the next agenda. Commissioner Neece said that ties in to the film school he is working on. There is also interest in discussing things they would like to see change at Homer High in the kind of classes to develop entrepreneurs it is a worthy cause to discuss.
Commissioner Day said she appreciates the appointment and looks forward to being part of a forward thinking group.
ADJOURN
There being no more business to come before the Commission the meeting was adjourned at 7:54 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for January 12, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Cowles Council Chambers.
MELISSA JACOBSEN, CMC, DEPUTY CITY CLERK
Approved: