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Council reviews economic‑development feedback, staff to prepare near‑term incentive proposals
Summary
Council members reviewed public feedback from a May workshop and urged staff to bring forward vetted business incentives, facade‑rehab support and a consultant‑led zoning update. Staff said near‑term incentives are a short‑term action but unlikely to be ready by July 7.
City staff and councilors used a June 30 work session to review public feedback on economic development and to set near‑term priorities for retaining and attracting businesses.
Director Joerger summarized themes from the May workshop, saying there was “consensus on implementing incentives that retain and attract new businesses” and interest in programs to offset facade rehabilitation and to support adaptive reuse projects. He told council staff will work to present development incentive programs “within our current budget constraints” and prepare an RFP to hire a planning consultant to update the subdivision and land‑development ordinance and the city zoning code to align with the 2023 comprehensive plan.
Council members pressed for timing and next steps. One councilor asked when incentives vetted through Main Street and the incentive subcommittee might move toward policy adoption; Ricky, a staff member, said the items are “short‑term action” and that staff felt they had “sufficient support” to bring a product forward for consideration but declined to commit to inclusion on the July 7 agenda.
Council also discussed whether to establish business improvement districts and how any future districts should deploy funds: respondents at the workshop favored using district funding to improve connections between the riverfront and downtown and to create more public gathering opportunities. Members urged staff to propose design guidelines and to engage stakeholders in developing funding approaches for incentives such as a facade rehabilitation program.
The council asked staff to prepare prioritization materials that feed into budgeting decisions, including feasibility and likely budget impacts. Director Joerger and other staff said the prioritization will be multi‑step and should inform next year’s budget planning. The session closed the economic development discussion with staff committed to return with specific proposals and an RFP timeline.
What’s next: Staff will finalize incentive proposals and the RFP timetable and bring them to council for formal consideration; no ordinance or vote was taken at this meeting.
