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Home My WebLink About2011-02-10 ACE MINUTES• • • ALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD February 10, 2011 I. CALL TO ORDER [iJl The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood (ACE) was ca ll ed to order at 11 :42 a.m. in the City Council Conference Room of the Englewood Civic Center, Chair Lonborg presiding . Present: Lonborg, Vasilas, Schalk, Sarconi, Calonder, Knoth, Weinberger Absent: Champion Also present: Joe Jefferson, City Council Liaison Jim Woodward, Mayor (entered 11 :45) Per Karlqvist, Brookridge Eyecare Staff present: Alan White, Community Development Director Darren Hollingsworth, Economic Development Coordinator APPROVAL OF MINUTES January 13 , 2010 Chair Lonborg stated that the Minutes of January 13, 2010 were to be cons i dered for approval. It was determined there was a quorum. Chair Lonborg asked if there were any changes or adjustments to the Minutes. There were none. Vasilas moved: Knoth seconded: THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 13, 2010 BE APPROVED AS WRITIEN. The motion carried unanimously. ~ ACE 's newest member, Hugo Weinberger introduced himself. Chair Lonborg asked everyone to do the same. II. ELECTION OF OFFICERS ~ Vasilas moved: Weinberger seconded : TO NOM INATE JEANNETIE SARCONI FOR CHAIR The motion carried unanimously. Lonborg moved: Vasilas seconded : TO NOMINATE CHAD KNOTH FOR VICE CHAIR. Th e motion carried unanimously . 1 • • • Mr. Vasilas thanked Ms. Lonborg for her two years of service as Chair and said she did a great job . Ill. ACE BUSINESS ~ 2011 GOALS COUNCIL STUDY SESSION WITH ACE Chair Lonborg asked what precipitated City Council's desire to h ave a study session w ith ACE so that th e members ma y take that thought under advisement as they consider the 20 11 goa ls . Councilmember Jeffe rs o n said he bought up the issue. He said he feels th ere 1s some expe rtis e th ere and that City Council could use ACE's advi ce on some issues. Mayor Woodwa rd provided background information on the retail assessment study that i s being done. Mr. Jeffe rson said he feels the r etail study is in the rear view mirror; the greater question is does ACE want to be involved and have a voice in th ese typ es of Council decisions going forward? Mr. Schalk said he believes that is exactly why we are here. Mr. Jefferson said what h e realized when the retail assessment study came out in the media and he started to ge t phone ca lls from people was that the business community does not know what Council's effo rts are. Council co uld use ACE as a so unding board to say here 's where we're going w ith this ; what does ACE think? Council can th en say they hav e fe edbac k from th e business co mmunity and h opefull y it won't catch th e business community as a whole by surprise when money i s spent. Ms. Lonborg said when people ask what is ACE and what do yo u do she t ells them that ACE 's rol e is to advise th e City Council on matters important to business in the City of Englewood. Lonborg moved : Knoth seconded: FOR ACE TO BE INVOLVED IN BUSINESS DECISIONS GOING FORWARD AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND ADVICE TO THE ENGLEWOOD CITY COUNCIL. Mr. Schalk said h e wanted to see a return on investment when any study is done. Mayor Woodward noted studies that have been done in th e past are still being used as tools by various d epa rtments anq boards. Mr. Jefferson agreed. Ms. Lo nbor g said she a nd Director White had a discussion after th e last ACE me eting to use ACE more positively to let Director White and Mr. Hollin gswo rth showcase what Community Development has and is doing and to as k more frequently fo r a report so that ACE can see th e progress. ACE has spent a lo t of tim e focused on w h at we think maybe isn't happening whe n probably what we ought to be doing is ask in g more often; t ell us 2 what is happening, tell us what is working well, can you help us with the results from some of their goals . • Mayor Woodward and Mr. Jefferson discussed how City Council would provide information to ACE. Mayor Woodward said in his opinion it would be Mr. Jefferson, as City Council liaison to ACE , to bring it forward to the group. • The motion carried unanimously. The 2011 goals were discussed. It was noted the catalyst program was fully funded this year. Mr. Jefferson said it is one of the most successful programs . ACE members asked for a monthly report. Director White stated he needed some parameters. He asked if they wanted housing included in the report. Several members said y es . He noted a monthly report on everything the Community Development department is doing would entail a lot of work. Chair Lonborg suggested a format for the report. She said sh e hoped the report would not be more than one page. May or Woodward said he spoke to Mr. Tom Clark, head of the Metro Denver Economic Development Commission and asked him about possibly attending an ACE meeting to discuss "what is economic development." He also suggested the report include sections of the general fund report showing where the revenues are coming from and the expenditures. Mr. Schalk would like ACE to be able to make recommendations before mon ey is spent. Mr. Calonder said once the money is spent it is too late for ACE to be effective. He said maybe Director White can help ACE determine when we can be effective. The goals established are as follows: 1. To see an Economic Development report on a regular basis. 2. Review current Community Development programs they have for the business community to see if they are effective and suggest new programs that may help businesses. 3. Sign Code update 4 . Medical Marijuana update 5. Citywide events update 6 . Survey from new businesses as to how the City is doing 7. Discussion regarding programs and incentives 8 . Monthly financial summary Ms. Sarconi said she would like ACE to have a discussion regarding all the vacant c omm e rcial property in Englewood and what the City is doing to encourage people to c om e into the community. What is the City doing to help promote the owners of all the empty stor efronts to lower rents or provide incentives to rent the empty spaces? Director • White said there is not a program at this time; maybe ACE can help Staff figure out what is 3 ,. ~ the appropriate ro le of governme nt 1n those sit u ation s. Mr. Jefferson said the Cata lyst Program is a part of th at. • Mr. Knoth suggested the li st be pr ioritized at the n ext meeting. Chair Lonbo rg stated the vacancy prob lem wi ll be put o n the March agenda. She said the financial summ ary wil l be he lpful during this disc u ss ion. • • IV. PUBLIC COMMENT l?ll There was no pub li c com m ent. V. COMMENTS & EVENTS [!] CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Ms. Mello was not prese nt. BID COMMENTS [!] Mr. Vas il as updated the m embers on the sum m e r event planned for Jun e 25t11 • Vo lunteers are needed to ass ist the BID. ACE MEMBERS [!] Ace members had nothing further to report. STAFF COMMENTS ~ Mr. H ol lin gsworth will emai l the eco n omic development u pdate to ACE members. He distri buted a copy of the Business Services brochure th at goes o ut to a ll new businesses. Ms. Lonborg asked what ACE co uld do to help produce a more su bstan ti al piece. Do we have good qua lity, professional materi als ? IV. UPCOMING ACE BUSINESS a. The next meeting is sched ul ed fo r March 10, 20 11 . No further bus in ess was brought forth for co n sid e rati on. The meeting was adjourned at 12:48 p.m . 4