02-18-2020 EDC Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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EDC Minutes February 18, 2020 Page 4 of 8 ----------------------------- traffic into our businesses. Commissioner Lelwica questioned what the increase of building cost percentage wise is versus five years ago or 10 years ago for commercial buildings. Mr. Grotzke stated just off his memory an office about five years ago was about $150 a square foot to build not including land cost, just construction costs, and now it is around $178 to $182 per square foot. He stated that industrial has not changed as drastic. He said that labor costs are the largest increase. He said that labor costs are going to continue to change significantly because projects are hard to get done today. He stated that is because school districts are eating up a lot of labor because of all the projects that are going on in a five County area. He also said multiple senior developments are going on right now too. Mr. Grotzke stated that these contractors cannot manage the project alone so they are hiring other contractors to assist them with these large projects. He said this is leading to increased costs for projects because the contractor will charge more so they can subcontract it out to get the project done sooner. Discussion ensued about the lack of trained workforce in the construction industry in the area. Commissioner Rieck asked how realtor fees work. Mr. Grotzke explained that it depends on the type of project. He stated that the standard fee is 7% of sale price. He stated that what happens in projects like this is a realtor normally ends up having to put a minimum fee in because communities have gotten aggressive when they start these projects and have said first ones in get a really good deal to the point of a dollar and we end up with 7 cents. Discussion ensued about estimates for lots due to visibility, lot size and different pervious surface structures. COMMISSIONER HOLLEY MOVED TO APPROVE THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO OBTAIN A QUOTE FROM CLOSE AND CONVERSE TO MARKET THE HEART OF THE GOOD LIFE DEVELOPMENT. COMMISSIONER LELWICA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 5. Welcominq Communitv Advocacv Group Brainstormina — 10 people needed from followinq sectors Chris Lindholm said in the email from Dawn Espe to Nancy Malecha the next steps would be to get together up to 10 individuals from the Pequot Lakes community. He stated they should have a makeup of public, private, nonprofit, schools, students, and community members representing marginalized populations. He said that once the group is established Ms. Epse will help facilitate getting the first meeting scheduled and there will be multiple meetings over a year and a half. Chair Lindholm said he talked with Ms. Espe about having two or three students for one seat on the group because students can show up, not show up, come back, and kind of evolve. He recommends that they get finro or three sophomore students because by the time they get their first meeting scheduled, it will