City Council Committee Agendas

City of Mount Vernon Economic Development Committee Minutes from June 17, 2015 Chairperson Joe Lindquist called the meeting to order. Council members Bob Fiedler, Mike Urban, Dale Ragan, Gary Molenaar, Ken Quam and Mayor Jill Boudreau were in attendance. Staff members Bob Hyde, Rick Prosser, Rebecca Lowell, and Jerry Dodd were also present. Council member Mark Hulst was absent. Jeff McGuiness, President Downtown Mount Vernon Association, was the only audience member. Minutes: Mr. Ragan moved, second by Mr. Molenaar, to approve the minutes from the meeting of May 20, 2015. Motion carried. Strategic Plan Review: Mayor Boudreau provided a brief review of the goals created in the Strategic Plan. These included:  annual review  highlight volunteers  adopt regulations identifying sub-area plans  ward meetings A brief discussion ensued regarding the ward meetings. Mr. Molenaar stated attendance has been very low and suggested group ward meetings to address larger issues. A future discussion will be held to consider a different structure for ward meetings. Comprehensive Plan Updated Vision Statement and SWOT Exercise: Mrs. Lowell provided a copy of the 20 year vision statement which can be found in the Comprehensive Plan. It was added in 2000 and needs to be updated for 2016 update. There are several groups that will be adding input to the vision statement. Mr. Hyde explained the exercise called SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The results from this exercise will be used to aid in the vision statement. Mrs. Lowell will provide those results at the next committee meeting. Facility Projects Update: Mr. Prosser updated Council members on the status of the City’s facilities scheduled for repair. The Kincaid building roof project begins June 22nd. Bid documents for the Library roof are nearly ready, and bid documents for the Police Court Campus will go out this week. Mr. Prosser is working with an architect on the plans and phasing of the Cascade West apartments. The fire investigation has been completed for the Teriyaki restaurant at 521 S. 2nd Street. A notice was sent to the property owners to clean and fence the site. The plans for the new jail facility have been submitted. Downtown Parking: Mr. Hyde provided a brief review of the revenue generated from parking tickets, number of tickets written and the fine schedule. The Downtown Association is in favor of increased fines. Mr. Molenaar, Mr. McGuiness and Mr. Hyde will be meeting on the following day for further discussion on this. The general consensus is parking fines should be increased. Staff was directed to research the fine schedules of other cities. Miscellaneous: Discussion on the Pre-Application Meeting Schedule was held. It was noted that one business was operating without proper permits discovered by office staff when they applied for a sign permit, and advised to come in for the Pre-Application meeting. Staff is hopeful a new business may be leasing the former Albertson’s. Mrs. Lowell requested to amend individual sections of the sign code for Council approval until staff can address the sign code in its’ entirety. Specifically, the sections of the code that have are problematic. Temporary signage is an example. Council agreed to review amendments to the sign code individually. A brief discussion was held regarding water conservation at the Kiwanis Spray Park. A reduction in hours of operation was suggested as an alternative to closing the water features at the park. There being no further business the meeting adjourned.