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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 02/04/2003 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAMM CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOPXORUM TUESDAY,FEBRUARY 4,2003 CITY CENTER 5:00-6:25 PM,HERITAGE ROOM II 6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher,Ron Case, and Jan Mosman, and Philip Young CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal,Police Chief Dan Carlson,Fire Chief George Esbensen,Public Works Director Eugene Dietz,Director of Parks and Recreation Bob Lambert,Management and Budget Director Don Uram, and Recorder Lorene McWaters HABITAT FOR TECHNOLOGY: Nick Eian, Irene Kelly,Joe Stoebner,Pat MulQueeny, Scott Thiss, Sharon Grossbach Heritage Room H I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. HABITAT FOR TECHNOLOGY (HFT) City Manager Scott Neal said Habitat for Technology was on the December 17, 2002, City Council agenda to request funding for a pilot program for a web portal. David Luse, who was a Councilmember at that time,raised questions in advance of the meeting and the City and HFT mutually agreed to delay the request. HFT Board President Nick Eian said HFT had requested to come to this Workshop to explain their proposal and provide additional information to the Council about the HFT initiative. Eian said the HFT Board has three main questions it wishes to ask the Council. 1. Since its creation two years ago,HFT has experienced good relations with the City; however, the association has never been formalized. Eian said HFT would like to have"official sanction" of the Council. 2. HFT is asking Mayor Tyra-Lukens to participate on the Board. Eian noted that Director of Management and Budget Don Uram has served as the City's Board Member for the past two years and has worked cooperatively with them on several projects. 3. HFT also asked the Council to consider approving their grant proposal,which includes $50,000 in funding for HFT's pilot economic development portal. City Council Workshop Minutes February 4,2003 Page 2 Eian noted that HFT has modified their original proposal over the past year to include only the pilot project,to bring in into better alignment with the City's new economic development initiative. He said City Business Survey shows support among the Eden Prairie business community for this initiative,which is a partnership of private businesses,the Chamber of Commerce,Eden Prairie High School, and Hennepin Technical College. He said the formal addition of the City to the partnership will strengthen the coalition and provide a unique opportunity for the City to be part of a groundbreaking project. Mayor Tyra-Lukens asked if other municipalities have undertaken this type of initiative. Eian said he is not aware of any other such venture that has been successful. Councilmember Butcher said it is important for the City to stay on the cutting edge of technology. She would like to see the HFT initiative gain more visibility. Perhaps they could present a case study to the Council at one of the regular Council meetings. Eian stressed that the missing element is Council's formal support of HFT. He said under these circumstances, it is difficult for the City Manager to be supportive of their work. Tyra-Lukens said that although she remembers hearing about HFT over the past two years, she does not recall the Council making a formal policy statement. Neal said that if Council wishes, staff will draft a resolution for the February 18 Council Meeting. Councilmember Mosman said she knows the City is looking to attract high tech businesses,but she wonders if they are also looking for a balance between high tech businesses and businesses that use technology. Young said that as a new Councilmember,he was confused about what differentiated HFTs first and third requests. He asked what they are looking for other than funding. Eian said the Board envisions this as an equal partnership. Case asked what effect the collapsing technology market has had on HFT. HFT Board Member Scott Thiss said that he is a business owner who considers his operation"low tech,"but also one that is a heavy user of technology. Board Member Joe Stoebner said he was the originator of the HFT concept, and that it could as easily have been called Habitat for Business. He said he came up with the idea the summer of 2000,when he noticed a trend of more venture capital flowing into the City at the same time some big name companies were exiting. He said as the economy picks up,technology will also. He said HFT is simply one way of supporting business in Eden Prairie. The funding HFT is requesting represents only a small portion of the City's economic development budget. After this initial request, HFT plans to become fully self-sustaining. Eian said he is very frustrated that they have lost 18 months of time. He said HFT needs to know if the City can and wants to be a partner. Butcher said only Mayor Tyra-Lukens can answer whether or not she feels has the time to devote to the HFT Board. Butcher said she believes the Council has considered itself a partner to HFT all along. Butcher also asked Uram how much money the City has tagged for economic development. Uram said there is $400,000 set aside from the sale of the Singletree Lane property. City Council Workshop Minutes February 4,2003 Page 3 Tyra-Lukens asked how HFT plans to evaluate the success of the pilot program. She said it is important for the Council to know what measurements will be used. Eian said the pilot will involve work with eight Eden Prairie businesses that have already expressed interest in participating. These customers will provide feedback on how well the program is working. He said he doesn't know why someone hasn't developed this type of portal already. He said one day any Eden Prairie resident or business owner will be able to turn on their computer in the morning, call up the portal and instantly know what is happening in Eden Prairie—in the school system, in the business community, in retail and commercial arenas. Mosman said her concern is how HFT ties in with other initiatives the City is considering, including possible formation of a Convention and Visitors Bureau. How do the schools, the Chamber, CVB and HFT all fit together? Stoebner said HFT is not trying to be the only organization in town promoting business, and that this is just a humble beginning, Councilmember Case said he can't imagine why the City wouldn't want to participate in the program. Case said that five years ago the City"squelched"an Art Center initiative and"the people just went away." He said we wants to make sure that does not happen in this case. HFT Board Member and Hennepin Technical College President Sharon Grossbach said she feels privileged to be part of this partnership. She said as a member of the public sector, it has been rewarding to work with the Eden Prairie business leaders on this initiative. She said the Habitat initiative is important to the work the college does, helping to prepare students for careers. School Superintendent Melissa Krull said that the schools' partnership with Habitat provides them with additional ways to provide their 3,300 students with new and different opportunities for learning outside the classroom. Councihnember Young said he agrees with Mayor Tyra-Lukens point that there should be set measures by which to evaluate the success of the program. He strongly believes the City needs to work cooperatively with both the schools and business community,that everyone's success depends on it. He said he is a great supporter of creative approaches to economic development, and the City should not be an obstacle. Mayor Tyra-Lukens said she would like to suggest that City Manager Scott Neal be appointed as the City's Board Member, since his position is comparable to Superintendent Krull's. Neal said he would be interested in serving on the Board. He said if the Council would like to support the HFT pilot program, they should provide affirmation in the form of a resolution that includes approval of the funding request. IV. OTHER TOPICS Council Chamber V. OPEN FORUM (Scheduled participants, 6:30-6:50 p.m.) No participants were scheduled for Open Forum. City Council Workshop Minutes February 4, 2003 Page 4 VI. OPEN PODIUM(Unscheduled participants, 6:50-7:00 p.m.) No one requested to speak during Open Podium. VII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m.