EDC MEETING MINUTES, FEBRUARY 28, 2008

CITY OF LAKELAND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008, 6:30 PM
CITY HALL, LAKELAND, TENNESSEE 38002

I. CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m., Thursday, February 28, 2008, by Mark Lawrence, Chairman.

II. ROLL CALL:
Don Barber Present
Shirlee Clark Present
John Dudas Present (Arrived at 6:45 p.m.)
Mark Hartz Present
Connie Hess Present
Mark Lawrence Present
Joshua Roman Present
Boyd Ruppelt Present
Pamela Womack Absent

City of Lakeland staff members present:
City Manager, Robert Wherry
Growth Management Director, J Higbee
Executive Assistant, Theresa Meyer

III. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES:
Action on EDC Regular Meeting Minutes dated January 24, 2008, 6:30 p.m.
Approved by acclamation.

IV. PUBLIC DISCUSSION:
None.

Motion made by Mark Lawrence to move New Business Item 2, “Presentation and possible action on Attracting Retail by Ray Gill of Ray Gill Properties” in front of Reports From Members of the Board. There were no objections.
Motion carried, voice vote, all in favor.

* NEW BUSINESS:
2. Presentation and possible action on Attracting Retail by Ray Gill of Ray Gill Properties. (Lawrence)
Prior to introducing Ray Gill, 8100 Lakeland Station, Cordova, of Ray Gill properties, Rudolph Jones, 4836 Canada Road, distributed information on “Context Sensitive Solutions” and made brief comments on context sensitive design and community involvement in the process.

Ray Gill, spoke about the process of matching community consumers (the citizens) with providers of community services and identifying what is possible and feasible in the attraction of those types of retailers into the Lakeland market.

General discussion followed Mr. Gill’s presentation.
No action taken.

V. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE BOARD:
Update on Lakeland’s Chamber of Commerce. (Roman)
Mr. Roman reported that approximately 70 people attended the Annual Chamber Kick-Off meeting held Tuesday, February 19, with guest speaker Memphis Head Football Coach, Tommy West.

Melissa Smithmier is the Chamber President and Don Oliver is Vice-President.

Update on New Business Licenses. (Franklin)
Ms. Franklin reported five new businesses since the January 24, 2008 meeting.

Update on Planning Department. (Higbee)
The Preliminary Site Plan for the Lakeland Outlet Mall was approved by the MPC on January 22 and by the DRC on February 12. The Final Site Plan is moving forward to the March 17 MPC meeting. They are adding 24,000 square feet to the existing footprint of the main building and are re-doing the facade.

The Lakeland Commons project is still pending.

Several meetings were held in January and December to review one of three or four waves of codes and suggestions for coding that Farr & Associates brought us. The project is less than one-third of the way done. The next few months will be a very busy period.

Mr. Higbee would like to make a presentation to the EDC to bring them up to speed on the code re-write project. Chairman Lawrence will contact Mr. Higbee to schedule the meeting.

Mr. Higbee provided copies of the MPC New Projects Monthly Report dated 02/06/08 for EDC Members.

Mr. Higbee has continued to work on the retail database he developed and inquired about the participation of the Retail Development Team.

Update on Wi-Fi and Surveillance Project. (Roman)
The project is progressing. Bids have been obtained for presentation to the Board of Commissioners at the March 24 Work Session. City Hall Park will be the pilot project with Wi-Fi and video surveillance.

Update on TVA Consumer Connection Community Retail Development Program. (Lawrence)
The City, through involvement in the TVA Consumer Connection Program, has access to the Claritas Demographic Marketing Database as well as the Crittenden Retailer Database. Retail Development Team members met at St. Francis Hospital on Thursday, February 21, and received database training. Passwords were distributed to team members so they could do data mining. The training was successful.

The next meeting will be held in the month of March.

Update on Interchange Re-development. (Stuckert)
The design process should take approximately 1.5 years. A footprint for the interchange is needed. City Manager Robert Wherry will check to see if a footprint will be available prior to the projected 1.5 years.

Update on DRC Approval of Site Plans for the Mall. (Higbee)
This item was covered by Mr. Higbee in the “Update on Planning Department”.

Following a five-minute recess, the meeting reconvened at 7:43 p.m.

VI. OLD BUSINESS:
None.

VII. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Presentation and possible action on Lakeland Commons Site & Occupancy Planning by Cory Brady. (Lawrence)
Cory Brady of SR Consulting, 5909 Shelby Oaks Drive, Memphis, distributed copies of the presentation and a Memorandum summarizing a Market Study for the Lakeland Commons Planned Mixed Use Development. Mr. Brady was asked to provide information on the site plan and its potential tenants.

Following Mr. Brady’s presentation, the floor was opened for a brief Question and Answer period with property owners David Shores and Vince Smith.

A motion was made by Josh Roman to table the item until the next meeting and adjourn. Motion seconded by Connie Hess.
Motion carried, voice vote, all in favor.

*2. Presentation and possible action on Attracting Retail by Ray Gill of Ray Gill Properties. (Lawrence) (This item was taken out of order following approval of minutes.)

VIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None.

IX. ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 8:44 p.m.

These minutes were approved March 27, 2008.

Mark Lawrence, Chairman

ATTEST:

Sontidra Franklin, City Recorder