City may soon put RDA in charge of commercial development
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
A 13-month-old proposal to put the Regional Development Association in charge of promoting commercial development is finally coming to the front burner for the Emporia City Commission.
At Wednesday’s meeting, three of the five city commissioners said they were ready to act on the measure next week. Commissioners Jim Kessler, Jeff Longbine and Bobbie Agler each said they favored making the RDA the “point agency” for retail development just as it is for industries.
Longbine, the outgoing RDA president, said the idea was to have the agency work on the bigger or more complicated projects, such as those involving a national chain or a multiple-store development.
“I don’t think the RDA needs to pursue individual stores,” Longbine said. “We have groups that do that and do it well. I don’t want to compete with the chamber’s efforts. I don’t want to compete with the mall’s efforts or Main Street’s.”
But Commissioner Kevin Nelson said that Emporia Main Street deserved to be at the forefront as well. He called for the RDA to add a Main Street representative before he would support the plan.
“Main Street has done a lot over the last 10 to 15 years, but we’ve been put back on this column where we won’t be as effective,” Nelson said as he indicated the organizational chart showing Main Street involved in commercial development, but below the RDA. “I seriously think Main Street needs to be a huge player at the top of this.”
Nelson, Longbine and Agler were all on the original task force that met in 2005 and 2006 to look for ways to recruit new retailers and encourage existing ones. That task force agreed that more needed to be done but often split on who should do it: the RDA, existing commercial groups such as Main Street and the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce, or a combination.
The final report in April 2006 recommended putting the RDA in charge while establishing a volunteer group to help with the groundwork. That group was to include one entrepreneur or commercial businessman along with representatives from Emporia State University, the Small Business Development Center, the city zoning office, Emporia Main Street, the Flinthills Mall, the Sixth Avenue corridor, the RDA, the chamber, Lyon County and Emporia Enterprises.
The division among the task force and, at times, on the commission may have been one reason the report languished this long, some commissioners said.
Agler said that the plan and whether to expand RDA’s membership could be treated as separate issues. Nelson wasn’t sure about that. And Longbine wondered what kind of precedent it would set to add Main Street to the mix.
“I agree that Main Street needs to be an influential part of this,” Longbine said. “But what if the mall association asks to join? What if the car dealers decide they make up 20 percent of the retail and they want to be represented?”
Mayor Julie Johnson suggested holding a study session with the original task force to discuss the report and whether to expand the RDA board. But Kessler, Longbine and Agler said they were ready to move ahead.
“I’d like to see this brought forward next week to approve as is,” Kessler said.
“We need to move forward, I agree,” Nelson said. “But with how it’s stated, I disagree.”
About $20,000 in “seed money” was given to the RDA last year, with some of it used to begin a marketing study and make contacts at some national conferences. Director Kent Heermann said that if commercial development officially becomes part of the RDA’s charter, he will need at least one additional staff member.
The issue will come to the commission at its 7 p.m. May 16 meeting.