Economic Development Commission

DeKalb Municipal Building PLEASE NOTE LOCATION Council Chamber, Second Floor 200 South Fourth Street DeKalb, Illinois 60115 AGENDA Economic Development Commission November 3, 2017 8:30 a.m. A. Roll Call B. Approval of Agenda – Additions / Deletions C. Approval of Minutes – October 6, 2017 Meeting D. Public Participation E. New Business 1. DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation Presentation F. Old Business 1. TIF Phase Out & New Central Business District TIF G. Adjourn  MINUTES MEETING OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CITY OF DEKALB October 6, 2017 The Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the City of DeKalb, Illinois held a regular meeting on Friday, October 6, 2017 in the Council Chambers of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. ROLL CALL Roll was recorded by Economic Development Planner, Jason Michnick, and the following members of the Economic Development Commission were present: Trixy O’Flaherty, Mark Sawyer, Mohammed Labadi, Vernese Edghill-Walden, Jeff Richardson, and David Barrow. Absent was Tom DeVries Also present were City Manager, Anne Marie Gaura, Economic Development Planner, Jason Michnick, Executive Director of the DeKalb Area Chamber of Commerce, Matt Duffy, Alderman Pat Fagan, and Executive Director of DCEDC, Paul Borek. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Any additions, none MOTION Mr. Barrow made a motion to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by Mr. Sawyer. The motion carried on a voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION Mr. Sawyer made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 1, 2017 meeting. Mr. Labadi seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Jerry Smith the Mayor welcomed Jeff Richardson to the commission. Jeff is a 35-40 member of the community, very involved in many committees. On behalf of the city council we welcome you. Everyone introduced themselves and gave a little bit of their background. There was no public participation. OLD BUSINESS 1. Review Draft of 2025 Strategic Plan: Economic Development Commission Implementation Strategies Planner Michnick started with the latest draft of the 2025 Strategic Plan: Implementation Strategies, received from Center for Governmental Studies. This includes corrections of the last meeting. Planner Michnick requested any final changes to the document before recommending it to Council. Mr. Labadi stated a desire to promote Northwestern Medicine taking over Kishwaukee Hospital. It should be a great attraction for high skilled positions. It might be addressed in there already and maybe highlight it more. It could attract new jobs. The document did state the hospital as a largest employer but was recommended to include in two other areas of the document. Bob Snow’s name is still in there, should it be? It was determined that everyone that participated, new and old, should be included. The commission recommended removing Dr. Steve Glasgow as a participating member of the commission. Mr. Sawyer said Pg. 4 session 1, wording might need to be changed, David Barrow talked about rewording, and part of the sentence was removed. Correction was made to the spelling of Egyptian Theatre throughout the document. MOTION Mr. Sawyer made a motion to amend the changes in the document that were previously highlighted, Mr. Labadi seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote. MOTION Mr. Richardson made a motion to recommend the document to City Council as amended. Mr. Barrow seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote. NEW BUSINESS 1. Annie Glidden North Revitalization Plan Update Planner Michnick informed the commission that City Council approved a contract with an Urban Planning firm called Camiros, to lead the process of creating an Annie Glidden North Revitalization Plan. The first task force and community meetings were held the week prior. Mayor Smith appointed 30 people to the task force. Mr. Labadi, who was appointed to the task force, reported on the meeting. It’s a diverse group of people. Some people rejected the idea initially and came in with their thoughts. There was good participation from all, and it seems like there is a lot of genuine interest. If you have an opportunity to come you would better understand the challenges. Camiros has worked with other communities that have universities, including Bowling Green, KY. They also were involved in the Choice Neighborhood process in Rockford, IL. Mr. Sawyer asked what the end result would be. Planner Michnick stated that the firm would help identify early action items throughout the process, recommend zoning changes, and develop a marketing plan for attracting new businesses. After the task force meeting, about 140 people showed up for the community meeting. Mr. Barrow was happy to see the Greek students show up and were interested. Ms. Edghill- Walden said they had action items to work on for the next 3-5 months, low cost things to do. Ms. Edghill-Walden recommended that we use the same amount of outreach to ensure future participation in community meetings.  City Manager Gaura stated that people walked the neighborhoods handing out flyers. Mr. Richardson said he had a business in the Greek Row area years ago and they were very involved. It would be nice to see them reinvest in the community again. Mr. Labadi said the willingness is there but they need a leader in the Greek community to help with this. Planner Michnick said it’s a process and not short term. Mr. Labadi pointed out that University Village is doing a great deal of remodeling and improving. Ms. Edghill-Walden commented there was a cross section, action & liabilities were all the same, that was pretty powerful. 2. Future Meeting Dates and Time Planner Michnick requested feedback on changing the meeting day and time, given that there is a new commissioner. MOTION Mr. Labadi made a motion to move the meeting time to 8:30 AM on the first Friday of the month. Mr. Sawyer seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote. Mr. Michnick will change this on the city’s website. November 3rd will be the next meeting at 8:30am. The location will stay the same. 3. TIF Phase Out (Tax Increment Financing) Planner Michnick stated that the next topic of discussion is the proposal to create a new TIF district. Planner Michnick had a pervious conversation with commissioners regarding conflict of interst. Chair O’Flaherty and Mr. Sawyer both recused themselves from the discussion and left the meeting. Mr. Labadi will close the meeting as chair. Planner Michnick gave out packets and informed the commission on the three options that were presented to Council on September 19, during a special Committee of the Whole. Due to Mr. Richardson owning property in the current TIF district, only option 3, the creation of new TIF, was discussed. Planner Michnick requested the commissions feedback on the proposed boundary, and potentially reducing the footprint further. The commission felt that the West Lincoln Highway portion was important to achieve the downtown to NIU campus connection. The commission asked whether staff felt the current momentum in the downtown was sufficient to carry through and spread to other developments without the use of TIF. Planner Michnick stated that the condition of many of the historic buildings, and the current lease rates in the downtown did not make it economically feasible to rehabilitate and redevelop without TIF funding. The commission also stated that public/private investment into buildings was not sufficient to achieve the desired vision for downtown. There is still a need for civic space and park space. The commission supported moving forward with investigating the creation of a new TIF district for the downtown. City Manager Gaura stated that we would bring the topic back to next month’s meeting and requested that the commission come with any further questions or ideas. Announcement Mr. Duffy made an announcement saying they are working with the High School on a program called “First Impressions Count”. It will be Oct 24th and spending a day with the DeKalb High School students doing economic classes. This will help improve communication skills. They need evaluators for this if you are interested. Following up Thursday of that same week. This is career month. If you have questions reach out to Mr. Duffy. ADJOURNMENT MOTION Mr. Richardson moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Barrow. Motion carried on voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 9:50a.m. ________________________________ Respectfully Submitted by Linda Odom, Recording Secretary