Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/03/2002 EDC minutes MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 2nd Floor Conference Room, Village Hall Thursday, October 3, 2002 8:00 a.m. The meeting of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the Village of Mount Prospect was held on Thursday, October 3, 2002, in the second floor conference room of Village Hall, 100 South Emerson Street, Mount Prospect, Illinois. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Norm Kurtz called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Commissioners Bruce Gillilan, David Lindgren, Ben Trapani and Tom Zander were present. Commissioners John Amdt and Pat Biedar were absent. Also present were Mayor Gerald Farley, Jim Uszler, of the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce, Bill Cooney, Director of Community Development, and Mike Jacobs, Deputy Director of Community Development. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the August 8, 2002 meeting were reviewed and approved unanimously. OLD BUSINESS Status Update Development Update Mr. Cooney stated that Costco had begun the interior demolition of the former Montgomery Ward's building. It is Costco's desire to be open for business by August of 2003. Mr. Cooney also indicated he had met with representatives from Randhurst to discuss the other opportunities at the center. The Commission briefly discussed the various details relating to existing and potential future tenants at the center. Mr. Cooney then stated that Caribou Coffee had signed on as the second major tenant in the Lofts development and that there were several other tenants that he hoped would be on board by the end of the year. He stated Fiesta Market would be opening next week in the former Frank's Nursery location. Fiesta Market is an international produce mart. Mr. Cooney then indicated that SB Tools would be moving into the former 3Corn building by April of next year. Their initial move would include approximately 500 employees and that the final employee count at this location could exceed 1,000. In addition, Mr. Cooney informed the Board that A. W. Zengeler was under contract for the final vacant parcel in the Kensington Business Park. They will be consolidating 3 operations from the city of Chicago into their new facility in the Kensington Center. A. W. Zengeler' s primary operation is the cleaning of industrial uniforms. NEW BUSINESS Update of Marketing Tools Mr. Cooney stated that staff was working on updating the Village's current marketing tools. He stated that the brochure and video that had been designed several years back was now out-of-date. The goal of the current modification is to design materials that can be easily updated and tailored towards specific users. Mr. Cooney demonstrated some of the proposed designs for a new marketing brochure that received general support from the Commission. He also explained that the Village would be purchasing blank miniature CD ROMs that would be sent to prospective tenants. He said that the Village could bum Power Point presentations onto these CD ROMs that are tailored specifically towards a prospective tenant. He also indicated that the economic development component of the Village's website had been updated to include existing office vacancies and a listing of shopping centers in Mount Prospect. He stated he would e-mail the website page to the Economic Development Commissioners so that they could review it and provide comments on the quality of the page. conomic Development Commission October 3, 2002 Minutes Page 2 Mr. Lindgren asked if staff had considered burning the existing video onto the CD ROMs. Mr. Cooney indicated that staff had not considered that and that portions of the video were out-of-date. He said he would inquire whether it was possible to splice the video and maintain a viable portion of footage to bum onto the CDs. Downtown Redevelopment - the next steps Mr. Cooney stated that staff had performed a Request for Proposals for a Phase II study on the small triangle area. Four firms responded and the low bid is approximately $4,500 to conduct the work. The Commission supported moving forward with the borings to determine if there were any environmental issues in this area. Mr. Trapani then stated he had prepared some draft site plans for the potential redevelopment of the small triangle area. The Commission reviewed the plans and indicated general support for moving forward with a recommendation to the Village Board to pursue the redevelopment of the small triangle area. It was suggested that the Commission wait until the results of the Phase 11 borings to determine the viability of the redevelopment of this area. There was concern that, given there were formerly two gasoline service stations on the lot that there could be substantial environmental issues. There was much discussion of what the next appropriate steps should be in order to move forward with such a project. Mayor Farley indicated that it would be appropriate for the Commission to provide a recommendation to the Board for their consideration. It was decided that once the results of the borings were available, such recommendation would be made. CItAIRMAN'S REPORT Chairman Kurtz had no additional comments. ADJOURNMENT The Commissioners agreed the next meeting would be held on November 7t~ if the results of the Phase I/ environmental study were completed. If these results were not available, the next meeting would be on December 5th. Mr. Cooney stated he would be in touch with Board members at the end of October to inform them when the next meeting would take place. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, William J. Cooney, Jr., AICP Director of Community Development WJC:bhs