 present here just for general information purposes this is our regularly monthly scheduled economic development committee meeting I think it's safe to say we're going to used to be the community development and economic development we're separating those committees now and so we'll just concentrate this group on economic development and I guess mr. Wilson will have more news on how we're doing the community development in it later right um we'll start with Ryan you gonna make a just a review of our economic development partners and for if you would start by describing what an economic development partner is yes sir so our economic development partners are third-party agencies that help us with with various priorities and tasks around the city generally from an economic development perspective that you know help us in our mission to grow the community improve the livability recruit retain businesses here in the city as well the contract system as far back as I recall probably goes back about a decade to around 2011-2012 we've been doing partner or partner contracts with various agencies when I took over in economic development probably around 2015 we had much larger partner contract budget at that point there were other groups such as ingenuity SC that we're doing some other initiatives there was nuclear hub fuel cell things of that nature we have gradually kind of scaled down these partner deliverables over the past few years and really kind of tried to work with the partners to make sure that the the items that they're concentrating on are what council is prioritizing that they're helping to improve the community and that they're they're providing the services that they need and so right now we've got a list of about eight nine groups that we still continue to fund the last funding round was done through the fiscal year so the last partner contracts were paid out in the first half of this year and total partner funding as of right now annually is about 308 thousand dollars and we will really won't revisit the budgeting on this until the next till the budget cycle begins to budget discussion cycle begins Mr. Pailin in the spring. Yes sir early spring. Will you got any questions on Robert? Eight four to be a short discussion because I know that we have some partners that were excited about us talking about this today. All right well I'll tell you what Ryan we'll like to say you know I think over the course of the year what we probably would like to do is have each one of our partners maybe a ten maybe two of them attend one of our scheduled meetings just to kind of brief us on what on up to date what they expect for the next year and things like that because I do think I do think and I see Mr. Shealy's in here with us today that that we're all learning fast and furious that if we don't work together across municipalities and other units of local government we is very difficult for us to succeed at anything and so I think our relationships and how we work together on these things are going to be very important as we grow the economy at Columbia. Yeah and I want to give credit to our partners I think they are all always interested in soliciting the feedback from council they want to make sure that the work that they're doing aligns with the city's priorities and so I think you know sitting down with them in a smaller scale and having some of that that dialogue and really dialing some of those things in would be beneficial. There are two in particular that I did want to kind of just point out real quick because they're structured a little bit differently than our other partners so the first one is the city-center partnership. We funded city-center partnership $70,000 a year that was done as a 10-year contract over the past 10 years and the way it was done that way was when the bid was renewed back in 2011 basically what happened was the city sat down with CCP and said you know we we have property here in the bid and we understand that we're a non-taxable entity and therefore we don't have a financial contribution that goes into city-center partnership and so there was a 10-year agreement that was structured that basically said we we will make a $70,000 a year payment to the city-center partnership in lieu of what our tax fees would be based on the property that the city owns that did lapse this past year so as of right now so it did lapse yes sir there'll be something that council will have to discuss yes sir and we okay I ask you and the staff to decide whether it comes to here first or whether it just goes to the general council and the budget I'll leave it up to you all the other one would be the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce most all of the partners are funded directly out of our budget the Columbia Chamber of Commerce is actually funded out of the general fund under a provision that council made and so we we manage that but that money does not actually come out of the economic development budget that's the 53-5 yes sir and that does that include the BRAC support I think yes overall it's for BRAC military friendliness you know the support and initiatives that they do because I do want to say make a comment that we appreciate the chamber and what they've done with our relationships with Fort Jackson I think it's been a been a very very meaningful and very successful relationship there and want to see that to continue you got to add to that okay all the hard work Susan and her team do so we really appreciate it and I echo that too but I did have a question Ryan as far as organizations that were no longer funding I caught ingenuity SC at top of mine are there any other groups that maybe we phased out ingenuity and then it was a couple of the subsidiaries they had the fuel cell collaborative they had New Hub I think we've made some reductions but no that's primarily it and do you anticipate any additional partners potentially for next budget year that could be impactful we haven't been approached at a staff level with any requests so that would be up for the committee I think to decide I would probably say you know I think one of the things that we all want to take a look at over the course of the next month or two is the grow code which we support which we've supported with some things and how that's going to relate with the USC and what they're doing at Bull Street and what we've got over here that may need a refinement and a look as well any other comments on the board skipping and you can address this when we skip down the floor is we talk about the measurables how are we are we doing our part with our partners providing them with what they need to be successful in their recruiting efforts so just something to keep in mind as we talk about metrics whether we're we're successful with our new economic development plan you know I think it's kind of a two-way street as well we need to give them what they need outside of just financially the tools to really recruit and retain small businesses just keep that in mind as we move forward with our reporting in the future anything else miss Harbert nothing else for me the next is and this is something that I asked to be added because today is kind of the genesis of a discussion I think that I think we should really begin to start doing is looking at a five-year plan for real estate and what I'm just and again this is open for complete discussion there's no no plan here but whereas we look at the assets primarily that the city owns is what we're really talking about I think here you know and and earlier today somebody asked me about and I was I was describing some as non-performing and some as performing and we I think as a city we've got a lot of non-performing assets meaning there's no building there's they're not paying taxes they're costing us funds for for cleanup and and things like that and you know and over the course of five years you know how do we how do we first step is inventory everything that we have and then work with our staff to come up with a plan to take what's non-performing and convert it to performing it may cause us to look at some assets that we've bought like the post office on the assembly street put it back in the private sector hands where it's paying taxes again there there are lots and and parcels out there that I think would make great little new neighborhoods affordable housing attainable housing rental and and homeownership that as we build out our economic development department we might be looking to get those things back into the market and recruit developers for again 2020 221 divine straight I think we'll come back on the market with that here very shortly you know maintaining the parking so we have a free parking path for five points and to allow future growth and density down there but get that building to where it's back into an eight-class office building to bring daytime traffic to support shops and daytime restaurants in five points will you're a real-estate professional I mean your comments on it will be very much appreciated yeah absolutely I think missy do we have a lot of that that inventory already fantastic yeah now I think you know the quickest path to smart quick growth is looking within what we what we can bring to the table and finding good partners to develop it absolutely I'm a big believer in leasing back our office space I don't know Jeff Palin agrees with me on that but as we as we you're absolutely right mr. Chairman as we look at that five-year real estate plan what is what is where our space needs how can we leverage our finances to get the best space for our employees yeah and I just wanted to add we have staff is working from a residential standpoint looking at all the lights that we have because we have a lot of lights because we can partner with developers like we're doing with some other groups for infill and get rid of these empty spaces and get them back on the tax roll oh okay because it's an empty space is a non-performing asset I think nothing good happens on empty lots and neighborhoods and new construction and new activity creates interest and frankly in some of our more our neighborhoods that are having issues with with food supply and things like that the more residences we can bring and the more we show and I think we'll talk a little bit about it when we get to measurables the more that we can show possible investors that were growing the intercity population the better the better off we'll be density increasing our density to be competitive and I would go to and I think I probably should have said this earlier will you your comments made it come back to mind I mean there's some there's some city assets though that we we need to look at probably replacing it some point time and how they'll from a new police headquarters perhaps you know to things like that and how do we get those budget in where we're looking we're looking three four and five years down the road on how we how we fund them how we pay for them how we disposition the property that may have been used for a certain purpose beforehand so I think this will be a really really good exercise for all of us to do for the staff and I see I see I think it can be a really big benefit Mr. Chairman what are the next steps you know you have it listed as creation as well I really wanted to put it on the table today and see what the appetite was from our committee and then then I think what we'll probably do is circulate something that asks you for what type of information I think you brought up the logical first step is to do to inventory or for us to take a look at the inventory of what we have and it might be you know working with Henry or Missy and Ms. Wilson staff that if there's pertinent information around you know the last thing we need to see is just a tax my you know a tax number and address you know what the age of it is if it's currently in use if it's empty or you know or whatever and like I say just just come up because if we you know I would say there's a very good possibility that we can convert these non-performing assets into cash that allows us to you know to put it into our capital program to build things I mean goodness gracious I think if we built a new if we were to build say a new police headquarters for example you know the way the city has spread out since the beginning I don't think it would be in the same place you know you'd have to have access you got to get quick access to to Wood Creek to Erma for you know and so we are where it goes but I mean you know you're talking about an extraordinary valuable piece of real estate in downtown Columbia that either helps offset the police headquarters or if we're funded and other means can go to do some other things so I think this can be a really cool healthy exercise for us and again I and I particularly like the idea that Ms. Harbert brought up on you know identifying areas and then maybe we work with our development corporation some of this land may be in our development corporations and we may need to suggest to them that it's time to develop I think that the interest again the mayor said this two or three times and recently it really has hit home with me you know our college students that live here many live in these very fine student housing complexes unfortunately I'm not so sure that when they graduate that there's something just as nice in the city center for them to move to and and I think with what you know how we how we manage again city properties here that might could be converted into something really nice the value of parking lots for parking is not quite as strong today as it was a month ago and and and I mean I was riding down Taylor Street the other day and saw I mean just looking at parking lots around and this is a little bit of a digression but around the Baptist hospital area and thinking wow what a what a great place for town houses and things like that but I just I think I think this is can begin to build upon that excitement you know and because a lot of these things would be begin I hate to keep quoting Ms. Harbert become real catalyst in single family areas for for for neat and cool stuff well and I think it's important too because we want to keep our they used to say young knowledge economy that's right and you know people in my family I won't call specific names they don't want a 90 year old house like I have you know they want something new with tons of amenities and the options within the city of Columbia we need some more options for them that's right and you know the cool thing too is what I'm you know what I'm seeing now is and as and what's really neat as our head of planning was down in Charleston last week in a in a in an urban planning conference with with you know Andreas Duvani and some of the top people in the world and I and I think we're seeing now and Columbia as a city's getting an understanding that density it may be the key that you're I'm like you when I finished college I wanted a house in Shannon with a backyard so I could put my hunting dog back there today these young people will live downtown you know be able to walk out walk to dinner walk to work and and and again I've been been fortunate in the last month and a half to stumble across some blank pieces of city on real estate that are in great locations that I think people want to live in downtown I think starting to plan this and getting and getting the excitement going will be a great thing for the city anything else on you know has me depressed because I'm thinking about that to-do list at my 90 year old house it is always something Mr. Palin we've told the world that we're looking for some economic development recruiters to go around the world tell us of capital just will you give us a quick update you and Jeff I mean you in Carolina where we are yes sir we've gone through the process of putting the position out there on the streets we had some really great talented candidates that have applied for that we've gone through a couple of round of interviews we've made a verbal offer to a candidate and awaiting response from them right now good that's great news to hear the last thing we have we've been to any I guess corporate shows or business those recently traveling just just got back from urban land Institute the fall conference and Dallas good good attendance from developers multi-family folks out there I think we're gonna have some folks that will be coming to visit Columbia here in the next few weeks that's great news sir and I would add to by the way I was fortunate enough to sit on the last round of interviews for these for these business recruiters that the interest by them to do research and put together what opportunities are here for developers and attracting capital I mean these these these are bright folks that we've we've got in the room with us and I think it again that's another thing I think it's gonna be really fun and really exciting that we'll have to look to I tell people all the time and I don't mean this in a negative way but you know we're in the center of the circle we got Charlotte Charleston and Greenville and Atlanta around us it's like brother McDowell says if we don't get up on top of the mountain and tell our story you know they got to come they got to come through everybody to get to us and I really do think Ms. Wilson is putting again Ryan and Jeff are putting together a great team to help us do that and I think we'll probably begin once we fill this to look for the real estate professional to help us with that five-year plan and that that's what I was gonna refresh my memory the total number of positions as a right now we've got a opening for a recruiter position and a real estate position and that doesn't include the one that verbal offer right what I wanted to touch on next if we're on that is when we approved our economic development plan we had in the we had in there some measurables for our for ourselves and I will add Mr. Brennan what you were talking about to it as well but the measures that we thought we would do is we would begin to track business license number growth year-over-year with quarterly updates announced number of new jobs and capital investment and we're going to not include non-profit like the university stuff on that this is one I was fortunate enough to stop by the city center partnerships annual meeting last night and I heard Mr. Kennel talking about it too so I know we're all on the same page and that's increasing our city center population year-over-year with quarterly updates and counted count that by new living units announced I think that's the easiest easiest way for us to do that and and then and I think we probably would also want to look at that we may want to look at that by dividing up different territories and measuring by by territory North Maine could be you know could be one the city center itself another I mean that's just something that we want to think about because and then the last would be the increased city revenue streams in other words how much property tax paying are we new money are we were we bringing in every year for you know how much accommodations tax we've got a lot of discussions on hotels I don't know if anybody's ever really sat down and talked about what what the ATACs would be generated by a particular hotel as part of this thing same thing on H tax new restaurants you know what are we projecting on on H tax increases water and sewer revenue increases I mean Clint we we we went through an exercise a week or two or three ago and found out that sometimes that water and sewer revenue could be better than tax revenue and also it helps us Mr. Palin explained it to me that we raise significant water and sewer revenue from new users that helps us control rate increases so that's why the one reasons that's so important and that's basically what we put into the plan and what I'm thinking is we probably should benchmark this as of you know as not net but from December 31st and in words begin to look at on a quarterly basis and use the end of the year and we probably what I'm thinking if the committee would agree is that we would track these more on a calendar year basis than a fiscal year basis because taxes are paid on the calendar year and and things like that I know I would just tell you at the state level we tend to track things more on the calendar year than we do on the fiscal year just because because of things so are you envisioning like an ongoing dashboard well I'm thinking as we get a quarterly report from our Economic Development Department this is this that basically yeah it shows quarter over quarter year over year I think we need to look at these things on a quarterly basis but more so than an annual basis just you know Ryan you any comments on that no sir I think those are all pretty good I think we also want to look at you know some things like maybe outreach and engagement with existing businesses making sure that we're we're getting our touch points there and as the recruiters come in I think you know we want to consider you know leads that we're we're generating and how those things are translating into active projects as well yes sir you know I'm all business right you can't spend leads you can't spend outreach but you can spend business license increases yes sir all right Ms. Harvard you got a comment I don't I don't all right so we'll shoot for let's shoot for a habit establishing our benchmarks sometime after the first of you using December 31st I start working on it now and Mr. Taylor do we want to what are we gonna meet next month those because I think it would be good to know exactly what those benchmarks or measurements are gonna what we're gonna use like I'm concerned about when you look tracking a number of people versus where they came from the accuracy of the people I think probably when we looked at other pure cities one of the things that we saw were say Greenville and Charleston for example there's 9,000 people live in the city center and I think Ryan's told us we're at 3,000 here it's tough to get census counts on that so what I think the easiest thing is for us to just and it's just it's just tracking mechanism so I think what we should decide is how many people do we want to allocate to a unit 1.2 or 1.4 whatever the census would tell us and it's easier for us to look at building permits see how many new units are being built and either either and again if there are certain particular areas beside the city center that we want to track we should probably list those in with this and just and again make it easy to track so it's accurate every time on the count of the units and then we'll just multiply by whatever the census tells us the average population is in there as long as we stay consistent with the multiple multiplier we should be fine anything on that anything else on the public part of the session and I was gonna say I'm gonna I want to add an area to that because we are looking I mean we need more density become competitive for grocery stores that's right but I want to narrow it down I don't want to no I totally agree with that that's why I say I think I think with the best areas of opportunity are for us to do there's some areas but I don't want to just put a blanket to 9203 to 9204 I think we should I think it's more of a geographic defined the other one of the nice things that we have in the city economies we got a wonderful GIS department they can can really help us with that just I I guess you know a big part of our assets is our parking is that parking study coming along I think you're looking towards December anything else amongst us thank all of our guests come we're gonna go into executive mr. Brennan is gonna make a motion or miss Harvard's gonna make a motion for us to go into executive discussion to discuss some contract and some exciting economic development projects here we will only come back into session you got parking meter money thank you for coming today Matt thank you and Susan thank you appreciate we appreciate everybody's interest I think I was yesterday at the restaurant lodging conference for local guys and I mentioned I think it's true I think the excitement that we're seeing for the opportunity in Columbia right now is really really good everybody seems to be want to play a role and be a part of it and that's how you make good things happen so thank you guys for coming thank you mr. chairman I'd like to make a motion in our executive session for discussion of matters relating to the proposed location expression expansion for provision of services encouraging location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the area served by the public body pursuant to 30-4-70 a file as well as discussion of negotiations incident to propose contractual arrangements pursuant to SC code 30-4-70 a 2 second all the favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?