HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 08/16/2017Economic Health
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MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
DATE: Wednesday, August 16, 2017
LOCATION: Colorado River Room, 1
st
Floor, 222 Laporte Avenue
TIME: 11:00am–1:00 pm
For Reference
Wade Troxell, Mayor & Council Liaison
Josh Birks, Staff Liaison 221-6324
Rebecca Hicklin, Minutes 416-4349
Commission Members Present Commission Members Absent
Sam Solt, Chair John Parks
Linda Stanley Alan Curtis
Craig Mueller Ted Settle
Denny Otsuga
Connor Barry
Ann Hutchison
Staff Present
Josh Birks, Economic Health Director
Rebecca Hicklin, Admin/Board Support
Guests
Dale Ademy,
Sun (no last name given)
No public comment
Agenda items added: None
Review and Approval of Minutes:
July minutes approved as presented.
Meeting called to order: Sam called to order @ 11:08 am
Public Comment: None
Sam: Need to update Charter.
Craig: Century Link has been “uninvited” to Broadband.
Josh: Process is still underway, there were originally 5, 2 made it to the short list. Staff is continuing to
update 3rd party options. The language will be changed, but we will keep all the doors open. We could get
an update from SeonAh?
Craig: We would welcome the update.
Ann: October ballot language was approved.
Connor: No update.
Ann: She and Linda sat in on the Capital Investment Fees conversation with Mike Beckstead.
Linda: We will share minutes and answer questions, no opinions.
Ann: Different groups that participated: Board of Realtors, Parks & Rec, Zoning, Water Board, Planning,
Hotel Development, Sales Tax, Economic Health, fees must be collected and spent on what they were
intended for.
Linda: Level of service will be a topic.
Sam: Seems like the need for the funding precedes the actual collection. People moving here-we have a
problem, how come problems can’t be fixed before they happens?
Ann: There are multiple buckets of money that pay for different projects. Some fees are plan based.
Linda: How would things change if we were to change methodology? Is it appropriate?
Sam: FC Innovates. Suggestions: 1) Coach for the presenters on the 18th we will hear who the winners
are. Seemed to be a discussion with the lack of discussion around TBL.
Josh: It was a reverse RFP. Focus was on greenhouse gas reduction. Maybe it can still do good things in
other parts of the economy? My colleagues want thoughts on how to improve.
Sam: We saw only 5 of 85 submittals.
Josh: 15 were invited back. They will put out $250,000 this year. Are we investing the right amount of
staff/time into it? Did the “Pitch night” achieve that purpose?
Ann: We are looking at business solutions, not just government solutions.
Denny: Resigned from FVC/Mesh—it’s public now. FVC/Mesh will be closing down, and there is
another operator that will be taking over. He is trying not to create that negative emotion.
Josh: Plan is to reach out and let them know that we value this relationship.
Ann: Possible future topic—maybe focus on Entrepreneurial space? Maybe a deeper dive?
Sam: City of FC does an incredible job in supporting entrepreneurials.
Josh: Galvanize and Mesh had extenuating circumstances. When Sam was in the office, we did do some
work on this, but there is more room to grow. We will always be catalyzing change. The challenge is that
it doesn’t always work the best.
AGENDA ITEM 1: City Plan Update—
Josh: Looks like the budget and scope are finally settled. There will be a more formal
presentation made maybe in September or October? We are ready to start the process of doing
work. Still planning to work on the issue book.
AGENDA ITEM 2—Final Review of Periodic Review
Linda: I liked the changes, disagree about the boards and commissions and reducing numbers. I believe
that they help to get citizens re-involved. I like the fact that there are many different boards and
commissions.
Sam: You said that there is too much information, that is somewhat conflicting. Gerry and Mayor Pro
Tem believe that it needs to be a more unified group.
Josh: There are a lot of commissions and each sees a lot of information.
Linda: We see a lot of things that we don’t really have time for. If there were fewer boards, there would
be more people giving presentations.
Josh: Many boards and commissions are hearing the same presentations we do.
Sam: 29 Boards and Commissions, 12 stand alone—unique subjects. The remaining 17 have incredible
overlap. If TBL is a big deal for the City, how do we get there?
Craig: We would be disappointed if they eliminated EAC.
Linda: Within some groups, they have very specific outcomes. Not all groups do.
Josh: September’s meeting will be extended to 3 hours. There will need to be quite a bit of time to talk
through Periodic Review—60-90 minutes. There will be info on Climate Economy Action Plan and
Business Engagement Action Plan.
Sam: When I talked to Bob (District 1)—he suggested some dashboard that could run from meeting to
meeting. Maybe we could do a SWOT in regards to economics in FC? The 80’s were an interesting time,
then CSU and the changes that have taken place. I heard that HP is no longer attractive to IT employees.
We need to think about a discussion around SWOT at the beginning of a meeting.
Josh: Today we have a variety of rates on our dashboard. We did a lengthy review—there are at least 30
threats that were identified. CSU was put into all 4 categories.
Sam: Maybe we have a place where EAC can place comments?
11:45–12:00 Lunch
Agenda Item #3 Economic Impact Criteria – Josh Birks/Board (Discuss/Act)
Josh: There are 4 Villains to Decision Making.
Brainstorm potential criteria:
Economic impact criteria—historically we use an input output model. Direct, Indirect and induced.
Direct—the impacts from the proposed project itself, Benefits: Jobs, wages, construction material Costs—
infrastructure costs, available land.
Linda: When you say a benefit is a job, why?
Josh: Jobs are bringing wealth and wages to the community.
Linda: Why is that a good thing? Jobs are fairly fluid. People in the community need jobs.
Josh: Maybe relate jobs to the impact they have on the community.
Sam: Job creation needs to be addressed community to community, not universally.
Josh: Direct Impacts, Indirect impacts: The impacts from the new economic activity. Induced impacts-
the impacts from the impacts.
Direct: Wages compared to county/city average, sustainable wage, jobs in specific
target sector, tax revenues for all districts, benefits to employees (401k, healthcare, and
tuition reimbursement).
Indirect: number of net new supplier/support sector jobs with wages below social
service income levels? Tax revenues generated?
Induced: Number of new induced jobs with wages below social service income levels.
Josh: What should we be evaluating?
Ann: What is the goal for the criteria—specific or wide?
Josh: It needs to be useful for the Council to make decisions. Josh hopes that EAC helps design the
criteria.
Denny: Exercise is to make tools to help EAC make decision, correct?
Josh: Council will use to assess their already stated goals.
Ann: Industry clusters, supply chain?
Linda: Maybe jobs vs. investments?
Denny: Maybe a risk reward ratio? There should be two factors being compared.
Josh: Homework –come October—maybe come in with a handful of proposed criteria. We will then vote.
Denny: Maybe send Council’s EHO strategies?
Upcoming Topics:
September:
Discuss Periodic Review with Council Liaison – Mayor Troxell & Board (Discuss/Act)
Business Engagement Action Plan – Josh Birks (Listen/Clarify)
Climate Economy Action Plan – Sean Carpenter (Listen/Clarify)
October:
Sustainability Assessment Tool – TBD (Listen/Clarify)
Quality of Place Criteria – Board (Discuss/Act)
Approve for Submittal Periodic Review – Board (Discuss/Act)
November:
Alignment with City Objectives Criteria – Board (Discuss/Act)
Natural Resource Stewardship Criteria – Board (Discuss/Act)
Next meeting time and location: September 20, 10:00am–1:00 pm, Colorado River Room
Meeting adjourned: 1:01pm