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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996 02 14 Commerce & Industry Development Board Meeting Minutes ,.- '-' c c MINUTES COMMERCEnNDUSTRYDEVELOPMENTBOARD FEBRUARY 14, 1996 MEETING 1. Call to Order Chairman Lup called the meeting to order at 8:15 a.m. in the conference room, city hall. 2. Roll Call Sally McGinnis, present Walt Dittmer, present Jackie Gieseler, present Jim Lup, Chairperson, present Mel Glickman, absent John F. Bush, Mayor, present Ron McLemore, City Manager, present Tom Grimms, Comm. Dev. Coordinator, present 3. Approval of January 10. 1996 Minutes Motion: Approval of the minutes as read. Motion by McGinnis. Seconded by Mayor Bush. Vote: All ayes. Motion passed. 4. Unfinished Business Glickman arrived; Lup asked him for comments regarding the map. Glickman explained that the city would supply pictures and city information to the map company (Community Map Co., Pennsylvania); then the map company does the rest. The only cost to the city would be the postage. Glickman said that he would ask the map company for the contract. Mayor Bush recommended that the CommercelIndustry Development Board regulate solicitation of the ads, and names of the elected officials be eliminated from the map because the officials may soon change with elections. A couple of the board members said they have asked numerous times why city officials don't attend the meetings. Mayor Bush said that he will begin attending the meetings, and when he is unavailable Deputy Mayor Ferring will attend. Mayor Bush said that the commission needs help from the committees for research and ground work. Example: The Industrial Park on S.R. 419 does not use city water. The owner of Broadway Gymnastics asked for city water, and was told he could have city water ifhe paid for it. He wants to know why he pays impact fees. Dittmer suggested that they be charged little or nothing at the time of hook up, and divide the charges into the monthly billings. Mayor Bush said that this is the type of issue the C.I.D. Board could examine. Glickman said that the C.I.D. Board was given four months in which to respond to the commission with ideas and a plan. McGinnis said that she feels the board needs to have a staff member attend their meetings who can help guide the board, answer questions, and inform them of what the other boards are doing. c c c Minutes CommercelIndustry Development Board February 14, 1996 Meeting Page 2 Mayor Bush explained that McLemore has made it clear that before he sends anything to the commission, the financial impact will have to be spelled out. A recommendation to the commission becomes an agenda item; it will be thoroughly researched, the financial impact will be spelled out, the commissioners will have time to study the item before the meeting, and the board members can speak on their item at the meeting. Glickman said that the C.I.D. Board wants to get ideas for attracting new businesses from McLemore. Mayor Bush asked McLemore how the charges that the commission have given this board can be fulfilled. McLemore said advisory boards, such as the C.lD. Board, are rarely successful without staff support. A strategy needs to be laid out which makes sense for this community. McLemore recommended contacting other communities, like Winter Springs, which have had successful economic development programs. He said that he's not quite sure yet what the prescription is for the city, so the only advice at this time would be to start putting something together. McGinnis said that a four month mandate is not enough time. McLemore agreed that not much will get done in the next four months. Mayor Bush suggested the C.lD. Board send a recommendation to the commission that four months may not be a reasonable time frame in light of McLemore's discourse on needing time to assess the impact, also educate himself and staff He added, from the board's stand point, that he would be interested in hearing what Wmter Springs business people think of the community. Glickman stated that the board had discussed doing a survey. Mayor Bush suggested talking to the business people first, then construct a survey based upon the concerns of the people. Glickman also mentioned a breakfast which the board had previously discussed. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea. Chairperson Lup will need to construct a letter explaining to the businesses the purpose of the meeting. Mayor Bush told the board to recommend this breakfast function to the commission, and ask for the resources to pay for the breakfast. Brief discussion on the letter by the mayor welcoming new businesses to the city. Gieseler suggested sending a letter with license renewals thanking businesses for staying in the city. Mayor Bush said that he would construct a letter, and send it to Chairperson Lup. Glickman explained that this will be the first year that the Orlando Chamber of Commerce Expo will include both Orlando and Seminole County, so the board may want to reconsider having a booth at the expo. Mayor Bush stated that whatever the city does, it should be first class. Mayor Bush left the meeting at 9:00 a.m. City Manager, Ron McLemore, shared a brief employment and personal background of himself with the board. Dittmer asked for McLemore's opinion on impact fees. McLemore said he believes that government has been stretched to the limit on ways of getting money. Impact fees are a political response to funding local government; a policy issue that says "We don't want to pay for new growth, let new Minutes Commerce/Industry Development Board .'- February 14, 1996 Meeting "-' Page 3 growth pay for new growth," and to a degree it tampers with new growth. Impact fees are very complex, and he has mixed emotions on the subject. The reality is that the fees are here to stay; it's the only tax that can be levied with public support. Majority of the public is not affected by the fees. McLemore stated that he feels annexation is the key for Winter Springs, but the number one issue to be addressed should be the 434 Corridor. His experience in government is that you have to be different. The most successes he has had in government are from communities which are willing to do things different, and take risks. Putting a booth at a trade show is not going to do any good unless the city could exhibit development ready sites. The C.lD. Board needs to get opinions from the business representatives viewpoint. c McLemore said that he has talked with Grimms about creating an overlay district for S.R. 434. This means telling what standards need to be met, and if the developers agree then maybe something can be done about the impact fees. Glickman said that a start was made in that direction eight or nine months ago. McLemore said a moratorium may be a good idea because the city only has this opportunity for a little while. The city has an unbelievable opportunity, if they cease it now because it will be taken away a little at a time. Some of the property owners are going to oppose it. Chairperson Lup mentioned that Schrimsher Properties had development standards which at the time of development exceeded the standards of the city. McLemore said that he will be meeting with the visioning consultant so he can understand what the process is, and what has been done already. McLemore said that the number one goal should be to address the 434 Visioning Project. Grimms said that Lake Mary had to battle to achieve underground wiring along Lake Mary Blvd. He also mentioned that there has not been a visioning committee established. McLemore said that he would like to see a few of the boards focus on this issue. It will take some public initiative and ground work established by groups such as the C.I.D. Board to make the dream come to life. People working on the issue will need to know what it will cost, and the effort and time involved. If the utilities are put underground, the signs standardized, and the landscape created like we want, then it will change the character of the place. Chairperson Lup asked if the city's economic difficulties would be resolved by the corridor being commercial. McLemore said that if the corridor was developed properly, it could add a lot of money to the city. Grimms shared his employment background with the members. c Grimms asked if the city was a member of the Mid Florida Economic Development Commission. Glickman said that the city is not a member, but is in contact with them. Minutes CommercelIndustry Development Board - February 14, 1996 Meeting '-" Page 4 Chairperson Lup stated that the board needs to be more educated. McLemore said that he agreed. Let's become intelligent about what makes up our community. We need a sense of priorities. We need to get the commission to agree that the C.I.D. Board and the B.O.W.S. Board are good groups to work on this project; revising the visioning process, but we have to move quickly. We can move to the next piece of the puzzle when this is settled. He said he is trying to structure in his mind what the priority is, and how time can be best utilized. He is looking forward to meeting with the local business community. Glickman asked McLemore ifhe will be attending the C.I.D. Board meetings. McLemore said he or Grimms will attend. Chairperson Lup asked the members of the board what time would be best for them to meet. The members agreed to continue meeting at 8:15 a.m. Chairperson Lup asked McGinnis to find out the cost at different places for holding a breakfast meeting. There should be an R.S.v.P. 5. New Business No Comments fI""" 6. Adiournment '-' Motion: Adjourn the meeting at 9:50 a.m. Motion by Glickman. Seconded by Gieseler. Vote: All Ayes. Motion passed. Respectfully Submitted, APPROVED: Jim Lup, Chairperson "..... ~