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Home My WebLink About1/18/2017 - Minutes The Economic Development Authority of Roanoke County Roanoke County Administration.Center 4th Floor Training Room 5204 Bernard Drive Roanoke,Virginia 24018 Minutes Wednesday,January 18,2017 ANNUAL MEETING Members Present Chairman-Steve Musselwhite Vice Chairman-Woody Windley Greg Apostolou Max.Beyer Bill Branch Steve Anderson Kirtesh Patel Ssunny Shah Leon McGhee Jill Loope, Secretary-Treasurer Ruth Ellen Kuhnel,Counsel Glenna Ratcliffe Members Absent Dan Toti Guest Tom Gates, County Administrator, Evan Malone,Financial Analyst, Brian Carter, Finance Manager; Philip Thompson,Director of Planning,Al Bedrosian,Roanoke County Supervisor The Economic Development Authority of Roanoke County,Virginia met this day at the Roanoke County Administration Center. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Steve.Musselwhite determined a quorum was established and called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. REQUEST TO POSTPONE, ADD TO, OR CHANGE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA ITEMS None Page 2 January 18,2017 Economic Development Authority Minutes APPROVAL OF December 21,2016 MINUTES A motion was made by Ssunny Shah and seconded by Kirtesh Patel to approve the minutes of December 21, 2016 as written. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. FINANCE REPORT Brian Carter, Finance Manager, presented the Financial Report for the month ending December 31, 2016. He stated the financial report was very similar to the previous report as there was little activity. In response to a query by Max Beyer, regarding a line item in the amount of$25,000 for Change of Use Grant Program, it was pointed out that these funds were appropriated at the request of former Board Member, Mike Altizer, for the Town of Vinton to assist with requests to change residential property to commercial property. No request for this grant has been received to date. 4;. After a motion by Max Beyer and second by Woody Windley, the financial report was accepted as presented. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. NEW BUSINESS • Election of Officers Ms. Loope stated the floor is open for nominations for Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Economic Development Authority. A motion was made by Kirtesh Patel Steve Musselwhite as Chairman. Hearing no further nominations, Mr. Musselwhite's nomination was seconded by Max Beyer. The motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. A motion was made by Ssunny Shah nominating Woody Windley as Vice-Chairman. Hearing no further nominations, Mr. Windley's nomination was seconded by Kirtesh patel. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. A motion was made by Woody Windley, seconded by Steve Anderson nominating Jill Loope as Secretary-Treasurer. There were no further nominations. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. f,.. Page 3 January 18,2017 Economic Development Authority Minutes NEW BUSINESS Discussion with Tom Gates,County Administrator Steve Musselwhite welcomed Mr. Gates to the meeting and stated that the members requested to meet with the County Administrator to discuss the role of the Authority and how the EDA can best serve the County. Mr. Gates thanked members for their time and service to the County. He stated that as we move forward, the economic development approach is changing. The focus is changing more towards regional cooperation and conununity building, with an emphasis on how to build an attractive community; a community where people want to live— about the kind of targeted projects we want to attract and how they align with the community. Much discussion ensued around community building as well as expanding the tax base and improving the ratio of residential to commercial, which is currently 87% residential and 13% commercial. Mr. Gates stated he would love to set specific targets for an appropriate mix as benchmarks, but the County is not there yet. He discussed the importance of implementing the Explore Park Master Plan, redeveloping Tanglewood Mall, completing the Relmagine 419 corridor study, and rezoning/master planning the Woodhaven Properties with the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority. Leon McGhee questioned the practice of using EDA funds for projects that should be approved by the Board of Supervisors through the County budget process (government funding through the EDA budget in support of projects versus through the County budget). It was pointed out that these requests have occasionally been considered by the Authority, such as the Explore Park Bike Design project, to provide seed money to attract private enterprise. In this case, it was also requested due to the timing of the project and the desire to move forward with the design in the spring, rather than wait until the County budget is approved by July 1. It was also mentioned that the EDA has previously requested to be included in County economic development activities and these are the community building projects currently underway. Leon McGhee stated the Vinton area of the county struggles; he felt that East County was slowly becoming Southeast City and that developers needed help. Mr. Gates pointed out that the Vinton area has been making progress with projects like the Roland E. Cook and William Byrd school redevelopment projects, the new Macado's restaurant underway following the sale of the former Vinton Library, the construction of the new Vinton Library, and the new Twin Creeks Brewery opening. He felt that this forward momentum in downtown Vinton would spur additional growth in the area. f.. Page 4 January 18,2017 Economic Development Authority Minutes Mr. Gates stated that he saw the role of the EDA as marketing the County, and the members can assist with selling the County every day as ambassadors. The Authority can also work with existing businesses, as growth in the future will come from existing businesses. Roanoke is evolving and we can embrace the forward momentum of the City and region. He also suggested that the members can support regional efforts to connect with neighboring communities, and encouraged holistic thinking moving forward. Max Beyer gave a prepared statement citing his view of the EDA's role to the County. He felt the Authority could be as involved as they choose to be with County projects. He felt the EDA should work closely with the Department.of Economic Development in support of private enterprise in an effort to create jobs and broaden the tax base. He felt the Board of Supervisors did exercise control over the EDA. Steve Anderson stated it was his impression that prospective companies were more impressed with areas that presented prospect packages together. Steve Musselwhite suggested a tour of the Carilion Research Center as the medical industry is a very important part of the Valley. CGreg Apostolou stated he felt there was much more the EDA could do and would like to be made aware of projects before they ended up with the EDA. He also stated he felt a program for workforce training in high school was needed. He felt the EDA should be more active with existing businesses. Leon McGhee asked if anything is happening regarding the I-73 project. Mr. Gates stated that discussion is ongoing with the Roanoke City, Martinsville, Franklin County and Henry County working on funding opportunities. Members thanked Mr. Gates for his time and insight. At this time, Mr. Windley and Mr. Shah had to leave because of other commitments. BRIEFING r:. Relmagine 419 Plan At this time, Philip Thompson gave a PowerPoint presentation regarding transportation concepts of the Relmagine 419 Plan. This presentation was given publicly on January 4, 2017. Leon McGhee asked if the new owners of Tanglewood Mall were on board with all the planning of the area. r: i9 Mr. Gates stated the County is working with Blackwater Resources, the mall owner and the Stantec, the consultants on the Relmagine 419 project to create a redevelopment strategy that works best for all parties. I' Page 5 January 18,2017 Economic Development Authority Minutes ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATES Ms. Loope stated she did not have any new updates to present at this time. NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for February 15,2017 at 9:00 a.m. in the 4th Floor Training Room. ADJOURNMENT After a motion by Max Beyer and second by Steve Anderson, the meeting was adjourned at 1:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 4Jil Loope, Secretary-Treasurer is