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LAKE
CITY
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
2003
ANNUAL REPORT
DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION...
The Lake City Economic Development Authority was pleased
to announce the execution of a purchase agreement with Lighthouse Management,
Inc. for the former Schmauss Property and the corner parking lot in downtown
Lake City.
The proposed development
will be phased construction and the motif will be consistent with a historical
river town. This will replace
a severely underutilized detriment to the aesthetic aspect of our community. Negotiations for the property took place
over the last year and a half and were consummated with the signing of
the purchase agreement.
EDA Executive Director Ron
Zeigler states, “This is an exciting time for downtown Lake City. Lighthouse Management brings an exciting
project to the table that will redevelop what once was a very blighted
area of our community. They
are bringing forth a project that enhances rather than detracts from the
overall beauty and integrity of our downtown. Couple
this project with the recent Fiesta Foods expansion, the Rivage completion,
the current construction of the expansion for Lake City Federal Savings
and Loan Association, the expansion of City Hall and all of the downtown
storefront revitalization projects and you can see that downtown Lake City
has a lot to offer, not only in goods and services for the community but
tax base as well.”
Catherine Nichols, President
of Lighthouse Management, Inc. stated “We are excited to move to
the next step in planning, our preliminary drawings were well received
and we look forward to discussing our ideas with City Staff.”
INDUSTRIAL BASE EXPANSION...
The Lake City EDA was proud to assist in the creation of a Tax Increment
Financing District to allow the expansion of Pepin Heights Orchard to move
forward.
The Lake City EDA was also proud to assist in the creation of a
Tax Abatement Plan for the forthcoming construction of the new Lowtis Woodworks
facility.
It was exciting to receive notification that the application submitted
by the EDA as part of the Southern Minnesota JOBZ Alliance application
was accepted in its’ entirety for the Job Opportunity Building Zone
designation by the State of Minnesota. Lake
City was awarded the four-subzone designations requested to assist in the
creation of additional job opportunities outside the metro area.
TAX BASE...
The tax base in Lake City continues to grow with building permit
valuation over the last seven years being $69.5 million of which $11.1
million was for the year 2003 permits. Seventeen
commercial type permits were issued in 2003 with a valuation of $3.2 million.
Housing units also continue to increase with 46 unit permits in
2003 and 513 unit permits over the past seven years. In 2003, six manufactured home permits and 34 single-family
home permits were issued along with one multi-family project totaling six
units.
Lake City’s tax base market valuation stands at a total of
$292 million for pay 2004. This
is an almost $24 million increase or an 8.9% increase over pay 2003. The commercial market value classification
increased $930,800 representing an increase of 3.75% and the industrial
market value classification increased $629,900 representing an increase
of 5.96% over this same period.
JOBS...
Thank you to those industries and
businesses that have created additional
employment opportunities for our
community!
The Economic Development Authority annually surveys the largest
employers and/or the manufacturing base of our community to determine job
growth. Twenty-six firms were
surveyed this year with twenty-one responding. Of
the twenty-one firms, eight expanded their employment base in 2003 and
six reduced their employment base. The
net positions ended 2003 with the creation of 87 new positions!!! The twenty-one firms reporting have a
total employment of 2,412 positions. Of
these 2,412 positions, 1,918 (80%) are considered full-time and 494 (20%)
are considered part-time. Over
the past several years 950 net new positions have been created in our community! This is an amazing statistic for a community
of slightly over 5,000 population. It is a positive aspect to have job
growth in different aspects of our community as this does help to insulate
the community from economic turns or downsizing from one particular industry.
IN
THANKS....
The Economic Development Authority
Board of Directors and Staff would like to say thank you to Les Arndt for
his eight years of service as president of the Board of Directors. Les was appointed to the Board as an
At Large Member on January 16, 1996 and was elected president that same
day. Les’s dedication to the EDA and
the community with offering his time, talents and knowledge to make Lake
City a better place to work, live, recreate and do business is very much
appreciated! Les does remain
on the Board currently serving as vice-president. The
Board elected and welcomed Tom Dwelle as president for 2004.
The success of the EDA is shared
with our benefactors
and the many community volunteers
and organizations of Lake City!
IN
PARTICIPATION...
The Lake City Economic Development
Authority is involved in varying degrees in many different projects. The following is a sampling of a few
of the projects:
* The
EDA continues to work on downtown revitalization with redevelopment of
block 25 and the work on the storefront revitalization program.
* The
EDA continues to work on the bike trail project for our community. The
bike trail project remains with the City to have the Planning Commission
and City Council adopt a Bike Trail Plan for our community. The EDA worked with a University of Minnesota
graduate student in preparing an Economic Impact Study for the bike trail. These
results will be forthcoming in first quarter of 2004.
* The
EDA is part of the Lake City Diversity Coalition, the Downtown Planning
Committee, serves as the staff for the Joint Meetings with the City, School,
Chamber and EDA, co-sponsor Large Employers/Manufacturer’s Week with
the Chamber and the EDA staff serves as a Commissioner for the Goodhue
County Economic Development Authority.
* The
EDA continues to meet with prospects concerning a number of issues including
availability of space, businesses for sale, technical help and financing. The EDA continues to be a resource for
local and regional businesses and agencies. In
2003, 68 inquiries were received for differing information needs.
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE...
The 1987 City Council “found
and determined that the encouragement and financial support of economic
development in the City is vital to the orderly development and financing
of the City and in the best interests of the health, safety, prosperity
and general welfare of the citizens of the City. It
is further found and determined that the economic development and redevelopment
of the City can best be accomplished by the establishment of an EDA”.
Over the years, the funding for the EDA has increased to not only
include the City and Chamber but twelve additional public and private organizations
that believe in the mission of the EDA. We appreciate the confidence these public and private organizations
have shown in our organization. 2004
brings new challenges for funding to keep the EDA operating. The City benefactors cumulatively cut
their funding for the EDA by 21%. Discussions
have and will happen between the two bodies and other benefactors to determine
a methodology to establish a funding mechanism for the future of this organization.
The 1987 City Council had the vision
to create an organization to support economic development. For a community to remain strong and
vibrant an Economic Development Authority is needed. The
EDA needs to continue to bring forth programs, projects or possibilities
that meet the mandates of job creation or retention, tax base expansion
and business start-up expansion, relocation or the like. With this in mind, the EDA needs to continue to be a part
of the community and to be progressive and proactive in the dedication
to our community!
A
Special Thank You to the EDA Investors
* City
of Lake City * Lake City Area Chamber of Commerce
* Lake
City Marina * Lake City Utility Board
* American
Bank Lake City * Lake City Federal Savings & Loan
* Acrotech,
Inc. * LC Medical Center-Mayo Health Systems * Valley Craft, Inc. * Sprint
* Xcel
Energy * Fiesta Foods
* Schleicher
Funeral Homes * Hearth and Home Technologies, Inc.
* Pepin Heights Orchard, Inc.* Lake City VFW
* Automation Services, Inc.
Lake City Economic Development Authority
2004 Board of Directors and Staff
Position Held Person Represents Term
Expires
------------- ------ ------------- ------------
President Tom
Dwelle At
Large 12/2008
Vice President Les Arndt At
Large 12/2007
Sec./Treasurer Phil Nyberg Chamber 12/2009
Director Al
Thompson Chamber 12/2006
Director Nancy
Spooner-Mueller City Council 12/2008
Director Mike
Blair City
Council 12/2004
Director Dale
Oliver At
Large 12/2005
Executive Director Ron Zeigler Telephone: 651.345.5265
Facsimile: 651.345.6235
email: eda@lakecity.org
webpage: http://www.lakecity.org