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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 04/15/2015MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 Location: Training Room, 300 Laporte Ave., Building B Time: 11:00am–1:30pm For Reference Karen Weitkunat, Mayor & Council Liaison 416-2154 Josh Birks, Staff Liaison 221-6324 Dianne Tjalkens, Minutes 221-6734 Commission Members Present Commission Members Absent Sam Solt, Chair Kim Dale Linda Stanley Glen Colton Ted Settle Ann Hutchison Michael Kulisheck (Mike) Denny Otsuga Staff Present Staff Absent Josh Birks, Economic Health Director Dianne Tjalkens, Admin/Board Support Barbara Schoenberger, Partnership for Age-Friendly Communities in Larimer County Wade Troxell, Mayor (arrived 12:30) Bob Overbeck, Councilmember (arrived 12:40) Guests Eric Sutherland, citizen Meeting called to order at 11:05am. Agenda Review—no changes. Review and Approval of March Minutes Ted moved and Mike seconded a motion to approve the March minutes as presented. Motion passed, 7-0-1. Denny abstained. Public Comment—Eric Sutherland said litigation is underway for Sprouts in Loveland. One claim could have been made by Fort Collins to protect the City’s interests to prevent unfair competition from sabotaging our tax base. Same developer is sponsoring effort to put King Soopers on south College to stop sales tax leakage from Fort Collins to Loveland. URA and TIF have had deleterious effects on the community as a whole. Many claims will affect the municipality; including how the general assembly never authorized DDA to backfill funds to school district. The school district will be out $2 million next year if they do not take action. • Schools shouldn’t be backfilled was part of previous legislation? 1 | Page o Legislation extended life cycle of tax increment of DDA. Part of that legislation pretended to affect a backfill of PSD property taxes. Does not instruct county assessor to take steps to take action. Also, there was no vote. • Unsure what role does the commission have in this, but appreciate the comments. o Will be filed in district court soon. Heading toward all taxes gained going back into subsidies. Property tax increases from new development; no one is building anything significant unless receiving subsidies. • Change in DDA law does not allow it to go on in perpetuity. o The 5 mills can go on in perpetuity. • Has the lawsuit been filed on Sprouts? o Yes. Barbara Schoenberger said changing demographics (silver tsunami) are changing our economy. Aging is 3rd largest industry in Larimer County. Sectors are grappling with what they can do; major learning curve. However, this is a plus for the county. Those dependent on serving a changing a demographic in a positive way are reaping economic benefits. Partnership for Age-Friendly Communities in Larimer County is holding an Aging Summit May 7 at the Senior Center. Experts from across the country on economics of aging will attend. Looking at what other communities are doing to harness wealth and resources aging people have access to, and how they can positively impact the community. Commission members requested to participate in event and take information for strategic plan. • What is behind 3rd largest industry fact? o Impact on housing, health care, consumer good, service industry, etc. Based on economic data. People in this county who are buying homes are over 50. Those buying most expensive cars over 50. Paying cash. Retire here. Bring resources and steady income. Don’t need jobs. Most people who are purchasing consumer goods are over 50. Those who stay here or move here after retirement bring immense resources. Want community that embraces them. • First time in history of having older population? o In the world. Larimer County for first time in history making shift to more older than young people. More people relocating here for retirement. Northern Colorado facing influx of retirees. And local retirees are not leaving. Will have more older people than children in next 2 decades. Huge change in way we do business. • If do analysis by city rather than county, how do numbers change? o Many who move here move into rural/outlying areas in communities. Larimer County will have same demographic shift. Exciting thing is the Summit offers quality information from experts. Need to be aware for good business decisions. • The City markets itself as a place to retire. EAC work plan, should discuss silver tsunami regarding local economy. o Will be discussing how older people are vibrant, healthy, contributing members of community. How do we gain benefits? • Retiree has same impact as a primary job. Have retirement, IRA, pension, assets, etc. Seniors are not a drain on society. Should be included in analysis as a primary job. Bring in outside dollars. • Ann can provide presentation from State Demographer via email. • Social sustainability has one seat open at Summit. Email Josh if interested in attending. Sam volunteered. o Scholarships also available. • Is there any economic analysis on multiplier effect of one senior versus one job. Retiree does not necessarily carry the same multiplier as a job. o People paying for care centers: employees and supplies. Also buy goods and services. 2 | Page Commission Member Updates— • Hosting 2nd Annual CSU Ventures Symposium May 1. Scotts Engineering Building. Student presentations, seminars, etc. • Personal email accounts are subject to open records requests relative to commission work. Staff Updates—MOR— Josh gave the following updates: • Commission may want to provide input on Council Liaison appointments, water-related issues, Econ Health Strategic Plan, Affordable Housing Strategic Plan, Mountain Vista area plan, and URA items. o Downtown Plan should be on list. As conversation with tri-districts matures and Fort Collins determines role and provision of water to growth area, will want primer before making recommendations. o Mike and Sam will meet with Josh to draft agendas for the next few months. Will discuss in May meeting.  Request for update on the airport. It’s on work plan.  Have presenters narrow down to most relevant pieces that commission can act on. Give guidance to speakers.  Mountain Vista plan: commission should see a cost-benefit analysis. Need overpasses, schools, sewer and stormwater, etc. Who pays for infrastructure? AGENDA ITEM 1—Definition of Economic Health: Sam Solt Defining Economic Health gives the commission a filter by which to evaluate projects presented by staff. No other city uses this term. Draft provided. Discussion/Q & A: • Wondering why looking at this again when our role is to provide input to Council? o For reference point. o One of five goals of commission. Difficult to determine if achieving goals if don’t have agreement on definition. o Economic Health Strategic Plan (EHSP) was delayed by Council (needed more community outreach). At last meeting talked about annual report and work plan. Hard to set work plan if don’t have a standard for what is within and without purview of Economic Health. Definition could find its way into EHSP. Addresses Council’s concerns if the definition comes from the commission rather than staff. o Thought we agreed to react to issues important to Council after meeting with former Mayor and drop subcommittees. • Josh will meet individually with any member who would like to give additional comment on the Economic Health Strategic Plan. • We’re the only ones who use this term because we’re afraid to say economic growth. o When we have a vibrant economy with resiliency, interactions, etc., can have health without growth. • Is the group comfortable using the second paragraph as the working definition that will move into the EHSP? o Members suggested edits. o “Managed growth” does not discuss limits to growth. Should not be reliant on physical growth.  The flipside is unbridled growth. This is saying the market should be controlled to not take the community where we don’t want it to go. o Rather than “retaining” current standard of living, should try to improve standards. o Have to manage growth to have meaning. • Ted requests member edits emailed to him by Monday, April 20. 3 | Page o Some language has been vetted at multiple Council work sessions. When making suggestions, compare to existing language in EHSP draft (“What is Economic Health” section, page 6). AGENDA ITEM 2— Economic Health Strategic Plan Discussion: Josh Birks Community Prosperity—Discussion/Q & A: • Glad this recognizes other than primary. Support jobs do more than support primary jobs, though. Local jobs that keep dollars in community need to recognize importance. o Primary job piece leaves open to economic shock. Need equal focus on support and service jobs. • Challenges: need to be clear they are national, not Fort Collins-centric. May add that outside of our control and can be opportunities as well. • Economic opportunities for residents: already have very low unemployment rate. Increasing jobs will not help existing residents but attract new people. Given that fast growing and attractive already, why are we giving up tax revenues to attract more? Let quality of life and place be incentives. • Update some of the information that was pulled from 2012 plan. o Will update data before goes to final. • Too ambitious throughout. Many items not the City’s role. Staff will be spread too thin. Some things are the Chamber’s role or FRCC. o The 2012 plan was a community strategic plan. New plan is intended to be departmental. Implementation will require community. Final draft may include graphic that shows relationship to other City plans and role in implementation. • Unless planning on tripling staff size, very difficult to implement on your own. Structure: would like to see more partnership. Existing businesses and services collecting this data. Leverage existing resources. The City is the connector and will implement connections. • Some items are already being done. o Can use enhancements. • Part of challenge is to separate a multiyear strategic plan from an operating plan. This is not just one department. Not apparent in document where another department is responsible. Interdependencies can be clarified, especially where others take the lead. o Has a 3-5 year horizon. Can map activities to other departments. • Goal should be diverse employment opportunities for residents. • Retention and expansion and incentives: don’t like incentives when appear to be indiscriminately provided. Developed a chart/system for scoring to make transparent and cut down on criticism. Goal should be about developing system of standardization for incentives. o Read within context of economic health and managing growth, being intentional about opportunities. Can add defining a system to determine how incentives are awarded. Refine and enhance tools already have. Governed by objective of economic health within City’s vision. • Not appropriate for the City to develop a marketing plan. Implies attraction. Diversify so not so reliant on sales tax. URA and rebates give up tax revenues. If give TIF away, partners in county and school districts are deprived revenue. Some of the tools used to retain, etc., pull money away from partners needed to have sustainability. Need good schools and county services. • Metrics: using metrics that compare or give ratios are more demonstrative than whole numbers. o Section on metrics, what they mean and how they will be used. • Department’s goal page, unemployment goal should be within a range from national/state, rather than 5%. 4 | Page • Underemployment is still high. Have moved away from glut of people ready to work. Sub- bullets don’t fully capture changes that have happened. City in partnership with others to have workforce ready for future opportunities. Not just career ladder. o Career ladder can help with retraining, etc. Percentage of residents who live and work in the city is important metric here. Implication son character of community and what happens regionally. Labor force study shows the county is net exporter of employees. Unintended consequences on infrastructure. o Should not be a city goal that we provide jobs for everyone who chooses to move here. People need to make choices. High underemployment because people want to live here. Avoid governmental overreach. Should not feel sorry for people who could get a better job elsewhere. o Careful on overreach on personal choices, but what is government reaction when the market has people coming to our community. Have role in shaping future when people choose to come here. • City’s role is too development focused. Loses vision for community. Should not pay for capital infrastructure to pay for new development. o Have policies. As land supply is limited, and some set aside for employment, need balance for employment and residential. Within context of established systems, need to prioritize. o Without context of environmental plan, this says little about environmental sustainability. Implies should make processes and procedures geared toward economy. Growth focused. This is rapid population growth plan. Not a sustainability plan. o Intersection between economics and land use. How do various boards, committees, and departments integrate plans? o Triple bottom line is new; trying to implement. Will be borne out in individual decisions in individual projects. This plan will evolve.  SSA was formed in 2012. Started this plan last year. Developing systems for making choices is still new. Part of a larger puzzle of the service area. Statement on sustainability as a whole needed. • Other departments in service area are developing strategic plans as well. Environmental Services has been working on Climate Action Plan, so will have strategic plan later. o Curious if economic statements in environmental and social plans. o Those plans can be presented to this group. o Don’t see environmental and social pieces interwoven into plan.  Staff from other departments has provided input throughout the process. Grow our Own—Discussion/Q & A: • Bullet about conversion of intellectual property, etc. is huge and not the City’s role. o How do companies nurture spin-outs in our community? A lot of new ventures have to do with single entrepreneurs or small groups. Is that another area to nurture?  Area we are attempting to understand. HP has stranded intellectual property. Left on shelf. Wealth of potential economic activity. Challenge. Many individual entrepreneurs are HP alum. Human capital.  Entrepreneurial competition. Get large employers to think of how to nurture and have staff participate in spin-out. • Meeting and talking with employers. • Look at role as caretaker within competitive world. Avago expansion was a good thing. It kept technology here. Need to be cognizant of role as caretakers. As grow out industrial infrastructure, how do we help them be resilient? • Grow our Own is local food, economic gardening, not high tech. The plan is high tech focused. Should be more about small local businesses, not just primary jobs. Would call this section Innovation and develop another section on Grow our Own. 5 | Page o Add local business/import substitution as a goal. B6 begins to cover, but flesh out role in economic stability. • Community build-out, have CSU Ventures, Innosphere, lot of emphasis there. Need to be realistic that cannot provide office space or land to all businesses that want to come here or stay here. Can incubate here and move out to places that really need those industries. Don’t need to keep everything we grow. • Tension between local economy and region; plan has conflicting goals. • B1 has good information on local economy. B6 goal is loftier than its bullets. Combine in some way? Place Matters—Discussion/Q & A: • Too much emphasis on built environment and infrastructure. Should also discuss protecting Poudre River, limits there, small town feel, open spaces, etc. • Place Matters is not good descriptor of this section. Process. o Land use heavy. o Missing quality of life aspects. The Climate Economy—Discussion/Q & A: • Economy and too many people that have destroyed the climate. Now we want to make money from fixing it. • City should not have role in attracting expertise to address impacts on business community from climate change, etc. o How do we help businesses operationalize adaptation? Don’t have the expertise.  Work with FRCC on developing workforce that can do that.  May be expertise that does not yet exist.  If right incentives in economy, will be developed.  Have ClimateWise and consultants in town. Think Regionally— Discussion/Q & A: • Thinking is not enough. Should be more active: “Act Regionally.” Behavior needs to reflect acting, leadership role. Sales tax leakage should not be a discussion. Cannot be a region and complain about leakage. o City has been leader regionally and has done good job trying; many barriers. o Issues that don’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries. Conversations about retaining incubated companies. Staying in region is good for region, which is good for us. Healthy tension between history and future goals. • When talk about marketing region that is already one of fastest growing, people will react. Downplay. o What is rationale for marketing when focus is on retention, etc. o Tell our story so as market unfolds and people choose to come here, they are complimentary to the path/character we have chosen. Fair sense of what is available, shaping perspective.  Not recruitment. Framing.  Change language to clarify framing story, not marketing for attraction. Be involved in process. Overall Comments • New Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) starting end of May. Can these plans be delayed for adoption until new CSO is onboard? o Can’t wait for adoption to figure out what going to do (work plan). Living document. Not a final statement. Staff is having process oriented question about what level Council needs to act at in terms of adoption. On schedule for June 2. o Commission should be prepared next month to make recommendation to Council. o Plan should recognize intersections with other department plans. 6 | Page AGENDA ITEM 3—Other Business May Agenda • Not discussed. Review City Council’s 6-Month Planning Calendar/Agenda Planning • Not discussed. Announcements • Not discussed. Meeting Adjourned: 1:36pm Next Meeting: May 20 7 | Page