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MINUTES New Brighton Economic Development Commission Regular Meeting — February 3, 2009 7:00 a.m. Members/Liaisons Present: Bob Benke, Mary Burg, Dennis Flahave, Cynthia Lesher, Mark Nelson, and Jim Sculthorp. Members/Liaisons Absent: Linda Harmon and Tim Roche. Staff Present: David Black, Assistant Community Development Director; and Jennifer Lavandowska, Office Support. Call to Order Nelson called the meeting to order at 7:00 a.m. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the January 6, 2009 meeting were presented for approval. All approved. Council Report Burg reported that the first of the annual neighborhood meetings was held at Totem Pole Park on January 29th. She praised staff for an excellent presentation, which compared New Brighton with similar -sized cities. The next meeting will be held at Sunny Square Park on February 5t''. She encouraged all citizens to consider attending one of the next three meetings. The Town Hall Meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd. The Council held a "team building" meeting in late January where future policies and dockets were discussed. Nelson asked whether the Northwest Quadrant would be considered a "shovel -ready" project for the new federal stimulus package. Burg replied that the City is currently in talks with a lobbyist firm in Washington, DC to help bring portions of the project forward. Northwest Quadrant Report Black reported that the Northwest Quadrant Task Force was presented with the market study that was completed by Colliers International. A joint meeting between the Council and the City commissions will be held on Monday, February 9th at 6:30 pm. Sculthorp inquired if there would be an opportunity to ask questions of the task force. Black suggested that due to the size of the meeting there would most likely not be an open question -and -answer session. He added that the Council still needs to review the study and then decide what direction they would like the development to take. Black reported that most of the DEED and Metropolitan Council cleanup funds for the west side have been received, and the remaining funds will be used to clean up the railroad and/or Ferrellgas sites. The City has been awarded roughly $8.5 million to date, with a little more than half having been received to date. Flahave inquired whether there were any conditions placed on the awards, similar to the Metropolitan Council condition requiring affordable housing. Black replied that this is the only substantial condition; however if there is no housing planned for the east side the agreement could be modified to require that jobs are created. Black announced that City closed on the railroad property on January 16th. Cleanup of the site will begin in the spring. Burg congratulated staff and noted that the City Attorney stated that he