Economic Development Commission

Regular Meeting

DeKalb, IL · April 6, 2018

Minutes

MINUTES MEETING OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CITY OF DEKALB April 6, 2018 The Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the City of DeKalb, Illinois held a regular meeting on Friday, April 6, 2018 in the Council Chambers of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 8:35 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, Vernese Edghill-Walden, Mohammed Labadi, Jeff Richardson, Tom DeVries and Mark Sawyer. Not present was David Barrow. Also present were Alderman Pat Fagan, Executive Director of DCEDC, Paul Borek, and Executive Director of the DeKalb Area Chamber of Commerce, Matt Duffy. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION Mr. Sawyer made a motion to add a discussion of I-88 Construction to New Business. The motion was seconded by Ms. Edghill-Walden. The motion carried on a voice vote. Agenda approved as amended. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION Mr. Richardson made a motion to approve the minutes from the March 2, 2018 meeting. Mr. Sawyer seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None NEW BUSINESS 1. I-88 Construction The commission discussed how to effectively communicate with area businesses in regards to the ongoing construction that will take place on Interstate 88 throughout the Spring and Summer of 2018. The DCEDC and Chamber of Commerce have both sent out information, including a link to the tollway authority’s construction website, to their membership. Communication also needs to take place with NIU’s Convocation Center, as they will be hosting several high school graduations in the coming months. Information about construction has also been posted to the City’s website. OLD BUSINESS 1. Economic Development Website Update & Review Planner Michnick updated the commission on discussion that he had over the previous month with website designers, and proposed that the commission consider making a recommendation to leverage the Proudly DeKalb website as the key marketing site of the community. The commission discussed the advantages and disadvantages of having a separate website for marketing and sharing information that is pertinent to businesses. The commission determined that it was favorable to continue working on making improvements to the City’s website, rather than expending funds to build a new website. The commission then discussed other municipal websites that were more user-friendly and could be used as examples for the City’s website. Planner Michnick stated he would continue to work with staff to improve the Economic Development pages and create new PDF documents with information that would be important to a business. 2. Annie Glidden North Revitalization Plan – Status Update Planner Michnick provided an update to the commission about the Annie Glidden North Revitalization Plan. The next community meeting is scheduled to take place at Westminster Church on April 16. The commission discussed the importance of resident participation and buy-in. AGN residents have voiced a concern of there being a lot of talk about improvements but nothing happening. . ADJOURNMENT MOTION Mr. Sawyer made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Richardson. The motion carried on a voice vote and the meeting was adjourned at 10:05. Respectfully Submitted by Jason Michnick, Economic Development Planner

Agenda

DeKalb Municipal Building PLEASE NOTE LOCATION Council Chamber, Second Floor 200 South Fourth Street DeKalb, Illinois 60115 AGENDA Economic Development Commission April 6, 2018 8:30 a.m. A. Roll Call B. Approval of Agenda C. Approval of Minutes – March 2, 2018 Meeting D. Public Participation E. New Business F. Old Business 1. Consideration for a separate City of DeKalb Economic Development Website 2. Annie Glidden North Revitalization Plan Update G. Adjourn MINUTES MEETING OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CITY OF DEKALB March 2, 2018 The Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the City of DeKalb, Illinois held a regular meeting on Friday, March 2, 2018 in the Council Chambers of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 8:40 a.m. ROLL CALL Roll was recorded by Economic Development Planner, Jason Michnick, and the following members of the Economic Development Commission were present: Vernese Edghill- Walden, Mohammed Labadi, Jeff Richardson and Mark Sawyer (Acting Chair). Not present were Tom DeVries, David Barrow and Trixy O’Flaherty. Also present were Alderman Pat Fagan, Administrative Assistant Natalie Nelson, and Executive Director of the DeKalb Area Chamber of Commerce, Matt Duffy. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION Mr. Richardson made a motion to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by Mr. Labadi. The motion carried on a voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION Mr. Richardson made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 2, 2018 meeting. Ms. Edghill-Walden seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None NEW BUSINESS None OLD BUSINESS 1. Economic Development Website Update & Review Planner Michnick reviewed updates Ms. Nelson has made on the website. There was a discussion on leasing lists for rental properties. It can be difficult to make sure the lists are updated. Mr. Richardson suggested listings get dropped off after 6 months, then it would be the responsibility of the property owner to renew it. Currently if someone is looking for property to lease they can call the City and Planner Michnick will give them the information they need. One suggestion was to leave the link on and Planner Michnick will still answer calls if there are inquiries along with having a website specifically for marketing economic development opportunities in the City that is linked back to the appropriate information on the cities website. Another suggestion was to have a link with a list of brokers and sites, IT could track the hits on it for 6 months to see if it is worthwhile to have. The Commissioners will review by the next meeting the Business FAQ list that was handed out. Having a separate website will be discussed at next month’s meeting and what the cost would be. 2. Annie Glidden North Revitalization Plan – Status Update The 4 sub committees have been created: public safety, housing & commercial development, social services, and infrastructure/open space. The committees will begin discussing desired outcomes in the next month. There will be a community meeting in mid-April. Ms. Edghill Walden asked if the sub-committee meetings are engaging the public. Mr. Michnick replied not at this time. Mr Labadi responded that some of the committee members have been reaching out to the public. The next town hall meeting will be in April. 3. Tax Increment Financing – Phase Out Plan & CBD TIF Eligibility Update Mr. Sawyer would recuse himself on this topic and the commission would lose a quorum. ADJOURNMENT MOTION Mr. Richardson moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Labadi. Motion carried on voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 10:06a.m. ________________________________ Respectfully Submitted by Linda Odom, Recording Secretary