General notes:  It’s almost time to get First Friday going again, and that’s what we’re focusing on at Sandy Main Street right now.  We’re having a bit of a rough go at the moment with getting our volunteers to assist us (see below under “Sandy Main Street”), but Aubrey and I are not going to let that deter us from putting together the best FF series yet.  Some of our local downtown businesses are so amped up for FF that they held their own unofficial version in March, and it was delightful to see the number of people that turned out that evening at SACC, the Library, Sandy Organic, Ox & Marley, the Beer Den and Dita’s.  That, my fellow Sandyites, is a great sign for the future…

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):

Heidi’s Unique Boutique/Wholesale Payments, Inc.:  Cyndi McKenna’s building (Cool Printing) is now fully occupied!  The couple that owns Wraptitude in Welches has decided to open a few more unrelated businesses, and have chosen the upstairs segment of Cyndi’s building to house their new ventures.

The rear portion of the space will house Heidi’s Unique Boutique, a women’s accessories retail store.  Owner Heidi Campbell will sell leggings, leg warmers, socks, scarves, tank tops and the like, and will branch out into belts, purses and other accessories once the store gets established.  Her unique designs are her own creation, and much of her inventory is made locally.  Heidi’s husband Ryan Cummings has opened Wholesale Payments Inc., a business-to-business check and credit/debit processing business.  Both businesses have been through their initial fire/life safety inspection, and the required changes were so minimal (change front door handle to lever, install fire extinguisher, remove barriers to electrical panel) that Terre has approved their respective business license applications pending re-inspection.  They should receive their licenses and certificates of occupancy any day now.  [ps: my 1^st question to the couple was “So when are you going to open a Wraptitude in Sandy?”  Their response: “As soon as we can find an available space with a commercial kitchen!”  Now wouldn’t that be cool…]

Iris Healing Arts:  Just a quick note to supplement last month’s report on this business…I have recently had occasion to speak with Ms. Michet (she is also a SACC board member), and she informs me that her bottom line has GREATLY improved with this move.  Her overhead has been dramatically reduced (50%+), her customers find her new practitioner’s space to be quite comfortable, and Ms. Michet and Ms. Zell are working together quite well.  A positive move for all involved.

Two Bros. Mexican Restaurant:  Victory!  We have uncovered the story behind why this establishment has been closed for lunch recently, and the story has a happy ending.  The owner of the restaurant had some health issues that left him unable to drive for a couple of months, and he was commuting to his restaurant from his home on Sauvie Island by bus.  He was not able to arrive at the restaurant in time to get food prep done for the lunch crowd, so he served dinner only during that period.  However, last week he started driving again and Two Brothers is now back open for lunch.  We were also able to address another issue with him (he had received a backflow testing letter and didn’t know what it was – I explained the letter to him, assured him that the testing required was not expensive, and gave him the number of Montgomery’s Backflow Testing, a local business that does this kind of work), and even posted a notice at his request on the City of Sandy’s Facebook page informing that Two Brothers is once again open for lunch.  Special thanks to Councilor Gerberg for visiting the restaurant with me and addressing the owner in his native tongue…this was critical to get to the heart of the issue, as well as to assure the owner that we were there to help.  Muchas gracias, Olga!

Mike’s Tire Service:  Work on this business is coming along – Terre has approved his business license with conditions, and he is free to open for business for the time being.  The only remaining work that has not been signed off on yet is the housing for his exterior air compressor, which still needs a coat of paint (to match the building per code), some siding and some seismic straps to secure it to the ground.  Mike has until May 2014 to complete this work before re-inspection.  Also, Terre has confirmed that the illegal loft in the upstairs of this property has been properly posted and is not in use – research on that issue continues, but should not affect Mike (building owner’s responsibility!)

Country Companies:  This new insurance agency has moved in to the upstairs of the Web Steel building, and had a ribbon cutting on 2/21 that was fairly well attended.  The offices look very professional, and the ladies that run this office are delightful.  They have passed inspection, have their certificate of occupancy, and are open for business.

AntFarm Cafe:  Our friends over at AntFarm celebrated the grand opening of their new Café becoming full service early in the month – they now offer sandwiches and home-made soups along with their espresso, pastries and gelato.  Although the ribbon cutting was an 8am affair, this was the best attended ribbon-cutting ever!  There were between 50-60 people present all told, and the pride was buzzing in the air.  Nunpa introduced all of the kids that worked on the project and currently staff the café, and gave a little of the history of the project.  Mayor King then gave a brief speech that gave thanks to Nunpa and AntFarm for being an invaluable asset to the community, and I can attest that there were a more than a few moist eyes in the house when he finished.  Rumor has it that the Mayor was in danger at one point of becoming emotional himself, but valiantly regained his composure before anyone noticed.  Of course, that is just a rumor…  🙂

Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce:  Due to the end of both the City of Sandy and pending Clackamas County annual contributions, the Chamber is looking to its lower overhead costs.  As part of this operation, the Chamber has greatly pared  back its gift shop operations, and will cease to have a gift shop on July 1.  As this will greatly reduce the square footage requirements for the organization, the SACC is also looking for a smaller, less expensive space somewhere in the downtown couplet to move to.  We have talked about several different locations, and are currently doing our due diligence to determine availability, rents and terms to see which might be the best fit.  More to come….

Bunsenbrewers:  I have finally made it in to see the current operation, and I believe that Aaron is beginning to hit his stride.  He has hired several bartenders, and the one I was conversing with over a pint seemed very knowledgeable about the brewing process, was very personable (he gave me a quick tour of the facilities upon request) and had a positive outlook on both the business and the community.  The chemistry theme runs strong through the business – the bartenders wear chemistry lab coats, the furniture is all surplus high school chem lab desks and chairs, and the beers are all named after famous scientists (I need to try “Nye – the Science Rye”, named after Bill Nye, the Science Guy).  I told him when he names a beer after my favorite scientist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, I will buy a keg from him.  🙂

Aaron is looking to add food to his establishment as the next step.  He is looking at either building a commercial kitchen, or possibly looking to set up Bethy Rossos and her waffle cart as a food vendor IF there is a change in the code in the near future to allow carts on private property.  The Planning Department is currently studying the viability of this option, and will bring the results of that study to Council soon.

Sandy Main Street:  We now have our new website up and running.  It is still in the build out stage, so not all of the content has been added yet.  However, there is infinitely more content there now than there was on our old website, which we had been “locked out” of by the company that designed it.  We also purchased sandymainstreet.org in the process of setting the new site up, so both that address and sandymainstreet.com direct to the same page.  In related news:

• More on the “lock out”: We had basic editing rights to sandymainstreet.com, but could not fundamentally change the look and feel of the page without admin rights. Scott Brown suggested building a new site and redirecting, and Laura Allen acted as an advisor to SMS to help us get set up.  Laura did most of the basic technical setup for us FREE OF CHARGE, and Scott redirected the old web address to the new page last week.  Aubrey has been responsible for most of the content, and has been doing a bang-up job so far.  But special thanks go to Laura Allen at AEC for stepping in and helping us out with this project.  If you happen to run into her at an event, be sure to thank her on behalf of the City.  She did a lot of pro bono work to get us to where we are today, and without her technical expertise we would still be floundering…
• The response to our “mandatory” Promotion committee meeting was sadly lacking.  We had only 2 committee members show up for the meeting (although one committee member actually brought a friend, who is now on the committee), and only one actually performed the phone calls on behalf of First Friday as we had asked.  This puts Aubrey and I in an extremely difficult position, as we will have to make all of the phone calls, collect all of the payments, and distribute all of the materials to participating businesses ourselves in addition to designing, implementing and marketing the program.  Our Oregon Main Street advisor, Sheri Stuart, was very abrupt – she has told us that when this has happened in other cities, her advice has been to do what you have time to do, and otherwise let the program fail.  I am not willing to do that, as FF is fast becoming integral to the social cohesion of our downtown core.  However, it is more than apparent that it is time for some new blood on the Promotion committee, and I will begin recruiting efforts shortly.  I would also ask that the City Council please be patient with me, as I am going to have to put some of my economic development work on the back burner so we can ensure the success of Main Street in general, and First Friday 2014 specifically.

Project work: 

• The Mayor’s “Business-Friendly” Task Force – The beta version of the “How to Open a Business in Sandy” Guide is now the official version, and it is up and running.  I have completed a Building review with Terre and Noryne, and they are largely satisfied with the content from the perspective of the Building Department.  I next meet with Tracy to go over the parts of the guide dealing with planning issues – our initial meeting will take place on 3/11.  I have also requested feedback from the directors of the SACC as to their comfort level with the Guide, and the responses I have received so far have been wildly positive.  85% complete.
• Presentation to PSU’s PA558 class (Managing Public Projects and Programs) – On 2/24, Mike Walker and Thomas Fisher accompanied me to a session of the Public Administration Department’s class on Public Works Management at the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State (my old program).  The class is taught by one of my mentors, Jim Hough (the former city manager of Warrenton and Banks, to name a few), and exposes its students to active public works professionals to give them a better understanding of the field.  Mike and Thomas were fantastic – Mike gave a quick history of how we got the Sandy gas tax enacted, and Thomas talked about how he happened to get into the field. What I found most interesting about this night, however, was what the students wanted to talk about – SandyNet Fiber!!!  At that point, Mike and I took over the conversation and answered a lot of questions about how SandyNet formed and why we were pursuing this project.  It was astounding how up to date the students were regarding this project, and their interest (as Jim later confirmed) was genuine – although Jim asked them to have a couple of questions for us, he never mentioned fiber….they brought that up themselves.  I believe that this is proof positive that we are absolutely on the right track with the Fiber To The Home project, especially when it comes to millenials – If we build it, they will come!!! 

Conferences/training:  No conferences in the month of February.  [Next conference for me will probably be the OCCMA Spring Conference at Skamania Lodge in late March of 2014.]  The only training I received in February was a day-long workshop in Salem regarding the Scenic Bikeway Program and their newest project, the newly ascribed Cascading Rivers Scenic Bikeway between Estacada and Detroit.  More bicycle tourism options in the region will only add to our tourism draw – and I wouldn’t mind looking into a “Mount Hood Scenic Bikeway” sometime soon…..more to come.

General notes:  As some of you might already know, I have been accompanying Terre on his initial fire/life safety inspections for several months now.  I feel that a) it is vitally important for me to understand the Building and Planning worlds a little bit better, and these inspections really help me to determine what Terre’s looking for and therefore how to advise businesses, and b) it gives me an opportunity to offer my services as the City’s business liaison and meet these business owners face-to-face.  While going through this process with a new business, we came across a problem that Terre runs into quite a bit, and one that might benefit from a little bit of direction from Council.

As we were walking through the property, we came across a fairly substantial “storage loft” (600-800 SF) that the business owner was planning on using as a day-care space for his kids while he worked, as well as to store equipment.  Upon further inspection, the loft was found to be recently (> 2yrs ago) constructed without permits, possibly by the building owner himself.  Terre instructed the business owner that he would not be able to use this section of the building until further notice as he needed to determine how and when this space was constructed, and was asked to post a sign saying that no children were allowed in this area at all.  He is currently researching the situation.

Terre would be well within his rights as a building official to make the building owner tear out all of the unpermitted work and start over.  However, this would definitely not be seen as being a “business-friendly” move, a goal that Council has made clear that they would like us to work towards whenever possible. We can’t ignore such a move because of the liability to the City, and because to do so would be unfair to building owners that play by the rules. My suggestion was to ask if there was some way we could require the building owner to get permits for the work retroactively, pay the permitting fees, and pay a penalty on top of those fees that would hurt, but not hurt as much as tearing out what might be perfectly good work.  But of course, this is a policy decision and is therefore not ours to make.  Looking forward to any thoughts you might have with regard to this issue…

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):

Crawlers (38250 Pioneer Blvd):  Plans have changed for this space in Brian Tolle’s building at the corner of Bluff and 26.  As mentioned in previous reports, the Boring area auto repair shop that had its eye on this space has backed out of that deal for unknown reasons.  The current plan is for Sara McKay, daughter of Mad Dogz Hobby Shop owners Mike & Kathy McKay, to create a complimentary business in the space next door.  The plan is to build a “track” for the radio-controlled (RC) vehicles that Mad Dogz sells inside the back end of the property, and to build a RC-themed restaurant in the front called Crawlers to serve those folks that would like to run their vehicles there.  Sara tells me that the menu will be similar to Dea’s Restaurant in Gresham (burgers, fries, shakes, etc.).  They are currently in the process of building out the interior of the space, and project a March opening date.

Iris Healing Arts:  Iris House has landed!  After moving out of her space behind the Beer Den on Strauss Avenue, Heather Michet has worked out a deal with another health care provider here in town.  She will move the office portion of her business to her home, and she will be moving the practitioner’s portion of her business into a space provided for her by Anna Zell of Pearl Acupuncture.  This move should represent a significant savings in overhead costs for Ms. Michet, which should help to keep this business viable in the near to moderate future.

Two Bros. Mexican Restaurant:  Concerns here about the overall viability of this business continue, although the patterns here are a little confusing.  I have been checking regularly now, and this business no longer seems to be open for lunch at all, even while the sign on the door says that they’re open at 11am.  My contacts in the restaurant industry say that this is a sign of “the beginning of the end” for this business.  However, I regularly see decent crowds at this restaurant at dinner time.  Not sure what to make of this yet, but I will continue to try and get in to talk to Angelberto about his situation.  Councilor Gerberg:  Whenever you have the time, I will work around your schedule.  If you’re still up for it, let’s go chat with him sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Office # is 503-489-2159, and personal cell # is 503-475-8430 — call me anytime.  Como dije antes, la primera cerveza está en mí.   🙂

Mike’s Tire Service:  This is a small wheel and tire dealer/installer that is setting up a small shop in the industrial-zoned buildings at Industrial Way across from Fred Meyer’s gas station.  He is currently working on his initial fire/life safety inspection list – he has one mechanical permit in process, and needs to paint his air compressor storage unit to match his building before his business license will be processed.

Tamale Factory:  Spoke with Antonio Paez last week about how this build-out is progressing….he was unaware that the state law regarding grease interceptors had changed and that this would be required of any business serving any kind of food now.  This equipment can be expensive, and he had not factored this into his budgeting when writing up his business plan.  However, he has worked out some sort of deal with Andrew Muff (building owner) to split the cost somehow, and plans are back on track.  Look for fresh tamales starting in March! (old Coffee Station property next to Tovar’s)

Starbucks:  As mentioned in earlier reports, the (now) former Jack In The Box on US26 will be the new home for the Starbucks located next to Bi-Mart.  The pre-application meeting has already happened, and their contractor is currently working on the remodel for the interior of the building.  They are anticipating a summer move at the latest, and Starbucks employees are very excited to be moving to a building that has a) sunlight, and b) much, much more space.  From a business standpoint, this move should increase their visibility substantially and give a much more spacious, relaxing environment on the interior.

LoriRyland.com:  I’m really, really excited about this one….Lori Ryland has signed a deal with Dr. Eric LeMay of Bull Run Chiropractic to lease the space formerly occupied by Hahn Consulting on the corner of Proctor and Strauss.  Although the space is only about 1400 SF, it is substantially larger than her previous location and should provide a fantastic opportunity for Lori to expand her business.  Lori plans to continue with her art classes, but will now have a space that can be used both as a gallery and as a social gathering space in the future.

On a personal note, I had been hoping that Lori could find a space somewhere in the couplet so that we could keep her involved in First Fridays and other Sandy Main Street events.  Having a local artist in the downtown area, especially someone as talented as Ms. Ryland, will be quite advantageous to Sandy Main Street in the future.  Aubrey also plans to approach her to ask if she might consider serving on one of Sandy Main Street’s committees as our art and marketing advisor

Bunsenbrewers:  Aaron Hansen is operating on a temporary business license and is currently serving libations at Sandy’s newest brewpub!  He still has one plumbing permit open (thus the temporary permit), and has some things to complete for the county health inspector prior to being fully operational.  However, the mayor tells me that the grand opening a few weeks ago was standing room only, so Aaron has certainly been marketing his business well.  I will stop by in a week or two to see what kind of progress he’s making (and to get a growler of Heisenberg for sure!) – go to his Facebook page to see the latest (https://www.facebook.com/Bunsenbrewer)

Sandy Main Street:  Due to the fact that we do not appear to have administrative rights to the website for Sandy Main Street (and because our website is, quite frankly, a little lame), we have started work towards setting up an entirely new website.  I recently purchased the domain name sandymainstreet.org to use alongside sandymainstreet.com, and we will direct both to the new site.  Look for the new site to be up and running by the end of the month!  In related news:

• The restaurant promotion concept was, unfortunately, a non-starter.  Aubrey had floated this idea to as many restaurants in town as she could contact.  The general response she got was that they might participate, but only if it didn’t cost them any money (not just in participation fees but in offering specials as well – no discounting on anything).   She also heard several businesses say that they had tried this before, and it didn’t work.  Rather than beat a dead horse, we just let the idea go for lack of enthusiasm.
• First Friday starts in April, and planning for this year’s event has already begun.  We are currently going over what we would like to offer for this year’s themes, and will bring this up at the SMS Promotion Committee meeting next week.  Aubrey has been putting together new marketing materials for this year’s event, and they look fantastic.  More to come…
• In continuing to work with our two committees, we have basically told our committee members that next month’s meeting of the Promotion Committee is essentially mandatory, as we have a lot of outstanding items that require committee direction and action.  First Friday planning will require some action on behalf of committee members as far as contacting participating business and collecting fees, and staff cannot (and according to our charter and our national organization, should not) be doing all of the leg work.

Project work: 

• The Mayor’s “Business-Friendly” Task Force – The beta version of the “How to Open a Business in Sandy” Guide is now up on the city’s website.  I am currently working on the wording and flow of Step 4 (Meet with the City Building Official) with Terre and Noryne.  Once that process is complete, I will meet with Tracy to go over the parts of the guide dealing with planning issues.  There are formatting issues with some of the graphics, as with almost all of the pages on the city’s website.  We are waiting until the City moves over to the new web platform in the next few months, and then we will correct the current formatting issues and add additional graphics then.  As it stands now, the Guide is about 70% of the way to completion.

Conferences/training:  No conferences in the month of January.  [Next conference for me will probably be the OCCMA Spring Conference at Skamania Lodge in late March of 2014.]  There were two training classes this month, both being put on by the state Main Street organization.  The first was a networking and administrative meeting in Salem that introduced us to some more mature Main Street program, so it was good to make those connections.  We now have several people in places like McMinnville, Astoria and Oregon City that we feel like we can call and ask for advice, and Aubrey and I will be taking a field trip in the spring to some of the more successful organizations for advice on how to build the program.  The second was a 4-hour presentation by a Main Street organization from New Mexico that has completely transformed their town.  They placed a lot of emphasis on small, issue-oriented or single event workgroups rather than committees….I think they had 27 groups instead of the 4 committees that a fully-formed Main Street would have.  They say this worked much better and promoted much better participation by the volunteers.  We are analyzing this approach now…

General notes:  Regarding the “Sandy Syndrome” issues that I brought up last month….I have spoken recently with the city manager and others on the planning/building side of the City.  I understand that we will begin to shift our focus to the handful of dilapidated, unmaintained properties around the City and what to do about them this summer.  I believe that the first step in dealing with “Sandy Syndrome” is to make sure that there is a functional price attached to failing to maintain your commercial property.  Paying the costs of catching up on maintenance in addition to annual property taxes might be enough to motivate these property owners to do something with their property rather than just sit and watch them disintegrate in the Oregon rain.  Whether they sell these properties to a speculator at a discount, tear them down and plant grass or fix them to minimum standards and develop them themselves, any of these solutions would be better than the disintegration path.  In any case, I believe this will be a good start, and I will be more than happy to help out in any way that I can.  If we maintain pressure on these properties to improve, I believe that the market will fix the rest (as in, if the only built properties left available by this time next year are SS properties, potential business owners will have to decide which is more appealing – overpaying significantly for a space, or building your own.  If the latter is more appealing, SS property owners will be stuck with failing buildings that they will have to maintain.  That means either lowering your price or being stuck with a big annual maintenance bill (on top of a big annual property tax bill) that will be rightly enforced by the City in some manner).

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.): 

38250 Pioneer Blvd:  There has been a recent change in the development of this space.  The Boring area auto repair shop that had its eye on this space has since backed out.  Current plans are to develop this space into a place where people can bring their radio controlled cars in and run them on an actual track.  This business is a different one than Mad Dogz Hobby Shop, although one would assume that there are some business connections there between this company and Mad Dogz.  No word yet from Mr. Tolle about fiber and VOIP phones, although conversations between Brian and SandyNet continue.

Iris Healing Arts:  Heather Michét will be moving out of this property probably by the end of January.  Ms. Michét will be transferring the office portion of her business to her home here in Sandy, and is in the process of trying to find a space (again, here in Sandy) to practice her craft.  There are a number of local businesses she has been communicating with regarding a practitioner’s space, and I’m fairly certain she will be able to work out something with one of them very soon.  More to come…

Two Brother’s Mexican Restaurant:  I am beginning to become worried about the viability of this business.  I have attempted to eat lunch at this restaurant at least half a dozen times during the last month, but although the sign on the door states that the restaurant is open for business at 11am, the front door was locked on all occasions, whereas my arrival times were anywhere from 11:30am to 1pm.  This would seem to be a very bad sign for the continued viability of this business, yet the owner came in to City Hall today (1/13) and renewed his business license for 2014.  No idea what’s going on here.

I will attempt to make contact with the owner of this business in the next couple of weeks, but I have had communications issues with Angel in the past (his English comprehension is somewhat limited).  Councilor Gerberg – If you have any free time in the next couple of weeks, would you mind accompanying me to this restaurant for an appetizer or a cocktail (my treat, of course).  I’d like to see if there’s something we can do to help him.  If so, I’d like to try.  And if he does end up failing….well, let’s just say that we have some options there as well.  More to come….

Country Co. Insurance:  All work on this property is complete and this office officially opened for business on January 3. Have not heard yet whether or not there will be a ribbon-cutting for this business, as they have not joined the Chamber yet…

Sandy Vacuum property & Great Expectations property:  Carl Jacobs and his wife continue to work on these properties.  We haven’t heard much from them, although Mrs. Jacobs has applied for a few permits for the former Great Expectations site.  I will check in with both of them soon to see how things are progressing…

Bright Beginnings:  Sadly, this project will not go forward.  After doing their due diligence and working with the Building and Planning Departments on an almost daily basis, the owners of Bright Beginnings had a decision to make – move BB to a new location and make about $20,000 in upgrades for the new space, or sell the business.  After much discussion, the decision was made to sell the business to the assistant director of the pre-school instead.  That person was not in a financial position to a) buy the business, b) make all of the necessary upgrades to the new building, and c) move all of the operation in a matter of weeks.

Energy Unlimited LLC:  These folks have finally decided that they no longer need their 5,000 square foot office space, and will close their doors on Pioneer to become a home-based business operating out of the owner’s home in Estacada.  This doesn’t really come as a huge surprise to the ED office, as they never really used more than a quarter of their office space and the principals of the business were hardly ever there.  I don’t think that there’s anything that we as a city could have done to prevent this – rather, this move was probably inevitable at some point.  The silver lining to this cloud is that we now have some prime retail space open in the middle of the downtown business district.  My guess is that this space will not be vacant for very long…

Sandy Main Street:  We are at a transition point for Sandy Main Street at the moment.  All of our events for the year are complete, and we have a couple of months before we have to start planning for First Friday again.  Therefore, we are spending our time at SMS reaching out to local businesses and organizing for the future.  Here’s what we’re currently working on:

• Aubrey has taken the lead on a new project suggested by former SMS head George Hoyt – trying to put together a restaurant promotion for the downtown area for spring 2014.  Unfortunately, the first round of business outreach meetings with said restaurants are not going as well as we anticipated.  Most of the restaurants are only mildly interested in a promotional event – and that is only if they don’t have to discount anything on their menu or pay for anything…period.  We initially wanted to do a monthly promotion that would take place in February, March, and April, but due to the unbridled enthusiasm we have felt from the restaurants, we are now looking at a Valentine’s Day event only.
• We have begun planning for a downtown visioning event to take place sometime during the spring, probably in April.   The idea is to bring in all of the stakeholders in the downtown area (business owners, property owners, the Chamber, folks living in the residential area, the school district, the City (staff and electeds), the churches and other non-profits, etc.) and discuss how we would like Sandy to look 10, 20, 30 years in the future.  What kinds of businesses would they like us to pursue?  How will fiber effect commerce downtown?  What changes does the City and the SD anticipate in that time frame?  Hopefully we will distill questions like this down to the essence of what the community would like to see in the future regarding the downtown core.
• The biggest problem we are facing as an organization right now is the dysfunction of our committees.  We have two active committees: the Promotion Committee (which has been doing a fairly good job) and the ED Committee (which is a mess).  According to the state and national Main Street organizations, we need to make sure that the committee members on our Promotion Committee actually do a fair amount of the work involved, which they have unfortunately been pushing off onto staff to do.  We also need to do a complete revamping of the ED Committee to eliminate members that don’t show up to the meetings (about 60% of them), and to get them to commit to a little work as well.  In addition, neither of these committees have had a chairperson until recently.  Carl Exner has volunteered to chair the ED Committee (thanks again, Carl), and promises to have a full agenda ready for us next time we meet.  We are searching for a chair for the Promotion Committee and will shortly infuse that body with a little bit of new blood as well.  Work here is ongoing…

ED Committee:  There is no ED Committee meeting scheduled in January – I simply have nothing at the moment for them to discuss.  It is very likely that this committee will ramp up in February again, as I intend to ask them for their input regarding how to approach marketing fiber to the community.  Need to get some more information from the SandyNet boys first though.

Project work: 

• The Mayor’s “Business-Friendly” Task Force – Our second meeting in December was instructional.  I developed the first two volumes for the “How to Open a Business in Sandy” guide and presented what I had accomplished so far.  The task force has instructed me to reduce the amount of prose involved in this guide and try to get our message across with the fewest number of words possible.  Next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 29^th.  I will attempt to complete this guide by then if possible as instructed by the task force, but my workload of late has increased quite a bit due to end-of-year reporting and other project work, as well as an abnormal amount of business movement (closures, moving locations, desire to move locations, new business openings, posting newly vacant properties, etc.)  In order to complete this guide by the 29^th and not ignore my other responsibilities, it is likely that I will have to work a fair bit of overtime.  I will discuss with the city manager prior to doing so to make sure that this is not a problem.

Conferences/training:  No training or conferences in the month of December.  [Next conference for me will probably be the OCCMA Spring Conference at Skamania Lodge in late March of 2014.]

Sandy Lumber/Sandy River Brewing property

General notes:  I would like to use this space to talk about a problem that everybody in Sandy knows about, but no one knows how to tackle.  We have a problem here that I refer to as “Sandy Syndrome”.  We have many vacant properties in the downtown business district that could house any one of a number of viable types of business.  With the uptick in the overall economy, we are starting to see demand for these properties go up, as have local realtors.  You would think that this would be a good thing for our local commercial property owners, as many of these folks are from older generations and would probably like to retire.  However, a handful of large downtown property owners are refusing to offer their properties for anything close to market rates, preferring instead to ask for wildly inflated prices reminiscent of 2007.  The average asking price for commercial property in Sandy city-wide is between $1 and $1.25 per square foot at last measure….some of these properties have asking prices well more than twice that.  Perhaps the most egregious example of “Sandy Syndrome” is the former Sandy River Brewing/Sandy Lumber property.  Scott Lazenby and I were researching this last year, and found the most recent assessed value of that property at $363,432 (building AND land combined – see attachment above this post).  The current asking price is $1,200,000 for a 23,400 square foot property with a 6,000 square foot partitioned building that is completely torn apart on the inside, and an exterior yard filled with rotting timber and junk.

This problem is well-known in Sandy.  Up until now, the attitude about this at City Hall has been that we will have to wait for these properties to pass along to the next generation of property owners before we can do anything about it.  The problem with that strategy, of course, is that could take 20 years.  That, and there’s no guarantee that the next generation of owners will view the property any differently.

“Sandy Syndrome” is killing business deals left and right, and if the current economy keeps improving we are likely only a few years away from these properties being the only built properties available downtown.  I would very much like some direction on how to approach this problem.  One potential solution to this would be to have the City either split the cost with the owners or pay entirely for a commercial property appraiser to give an independent report on valuation of these properties, so their owners can see what reality looks like.  They may choose to ignore it or argue with it, but at least they would have an appraisal from an independent professional giving them valuation in today’s terms.  This would cost us some money in the short term, but if it means filling a couple of these spaces with active, taxpaying businesses, it would be a fairly good investment over time.  Other than that idea I am open to suggestion, and look forward to discussing this with you individually and with the city manager over the next few months.

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.): 

38250 Pioneer Blvd:  This is the building on the corner of Bluff and US26 owned by Brian Tolle that currently houses Mad Dogz Hobby Shop.  The martial arts dojo next door to the hobby shop absconded a few months back, and several local businesses looked at the vacant space and the building (vacant space for lease/building for sale).  The building will remain in Mr. Tolle’s hands for now, as he has found an auto repair shop in Boring that is looking to move to a more permanent location. (Sorry Bill!) There is a possibility that the building owner might be interested in VOIP phones (definitely) and fiber internet (possibly) in the near future – I am working with Scott Brown right now to get him some pricing options.

Country Co. Insurance:  Work continues on this property.  They planned to be open by January 1, but permit applications for some of the work ordered by the Building Official (ADA parking space, fixing life safety issues with internal staircase) were not completed and turned in to the Planning Desk until the 1^st week of December.

Sandy Vacuum property & Great Expectations property:  An economic development double-whammy!  These two properties are being looked at by Carl Jacobs and his wife as potential locations for a new coin-op laundromat (former) and an accompanying café (latter).  They own 3 other laundromats in the metro area (Gresham, St. John’s, SE 142^nd), and would like to open one here so they can close the SE Portland location (bad neighborhood).  No permits have been pulled on the former, as Carl is waiting for equipment to arrive before arranging the store and the utilities.  However, there has been a permit pulled for a grease interceptor for the latter, leading me to believe that this project is moving forward.  We have given much encouragement to Carl considering the state of our current laundromat and the sheer number of complaints we receive due to its condition.  I have even offered to do some social media marketing for this store in the future if it would help him get established.  More to come for sure…

Bright Beginnings:  This little day care center at the corner of Bornstedt Rd. and Cascadia Village Drive is looking for a new home, and I believe we may (emphasize “may”…there are no guarantees here) have found them the perfect one at the corner of Strauss and Hood Streets.  This building, owned by Leonard and Elvira Muff, used to be an office building for a church that used to sit where the current parking lot is.  The property would be the perfect location for parents who have day-care age kids and kids in grade school, as Sandy Grade School is right across the street; plus, the City would benefit by getting another business along Pleasant Street, helping to solidify that street as part of the downtown business district in the collective mindset of Sandyites.  While the asking sale price for the building is currently way, way too high (reason: “Sandy Syndrome”!) to consider buying the property, the business owner (currently working with Rich Monnie, developer and owner of the property at 16621 Champion Way) is currently trying to work out a rental contract with the Muffs that will work for both parties.  They have also researched the building thoroughly, and although there are a lot of upgrades that will need to take place (this building has been vacant since 1998 to the best of our knowledge), they believe it will work IF they get a rental price from the building owners that they can work with.  It is unknown whether or not this will happen.

We had a pre-application meeting with the business owner and Mr. Monnie at the end of November.  The builder told us he was on a strict timeline as the lease on BB’s current space is up on 12/31, so he had to make a go/no go decision soon.  We have not heard anything since, although I do have an inquiry in with Mr. Monnie as to the current status.  I will keep my fingers tightly crossed, but this particular building owner has not been reasonable with asking prices in the past, which is why all but 1 of their commercial buildings in town are currently unoccupied (and that 1 is only 50% occupied).  Chance of success: 30%

U.S. Metal Works expansion:  With their business starting to ramp up again with the overall economy, Lyle Drucker and company have taken this opportunity to hire some more machinists and build out a new building or two on their property.  They are also taking advantage of the Sandy Enterprise Zone incentives to get some of their property tax money back from the County.  I have been accompanying Jamie Johnk and the Business Oregon folks to talk to them about this program and collect their paperwork for the incentive.

Sandy Main Street:  Most of the work Aubrey and I have taken on with regard to Main Street in November was in preparation for the Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 6^th.  Since this event happened in December, the details will be in next month’s report.  While we had to spend a fair amount of money this year to prepare for this event (including hiring an arborist to help hang the lights), I see areas where we can save money in the future:

• The arborist will not be necessary for next year, as the lights are hung well and secured for future years, and there’s not really any room to add any more.  This will save us $500 in specialized labor expenses.
• PGE also sent 2 bucket trucks and 3 linesman this year at no cost to the City.  If we have anything to hang next year, they should be able to handle it no problem. [and we will be drafting a letter for the Mayor to sign thanking them for providing this to us at no cost…]
• Local restaurants and coffee shops have been eager to donate food and help out.  This can be expanded next year to include more food options
• We need to refine our fundraising efforts – start earlier, manage more closely, train stores on how to be more effective.  I believe we underutilized this resource this year.
• We should really look at trying to get some corporate sponsors in addition to fundraising.  This could be the difference between a good tree lighting and a fabulous tree lighting!

ED Committee:  There is no ED Committee meeting scheduled in November or December due to the holiday season and other commitments of my position.  Look for this to ramp up again in January.

Project work: 

• SACC Board Retreat and Annual Meeting – The annual retreat happened on the 2^nd of November at Heather Michet’s business behind the Beer Den.  We discussed many of the pressing issues like “Will the SACC hire an executive director in the near future?” [probably not], “Will the Chamber move to a new location?” [probably – looking at joining the Historical Society at the museum], “How are Chamber finances at the moment?” [grim, but better than this time last year], and “How can the Chamber improve in 2014?” [focus on what services we provide for businesses].  Of the outgoing members, we will miss Jay McRostie, Lisa Foster and Madeline Eno for their leadership and dedication to the organization – also departing is Rod Barker (wasn’t there much towards the end).  Incoming members include Debbie Vann, Dawn Loomis of MHCC, Marlene ??? , and Debbie Grimes.
• The Mayor’s “Business-Friendly” Task Force – Our first meeting in November was a success.  We identified many areas where the City can improve as well as many areas where we already have improved.  The “How to Open a Business in Sandy” guide concept was well received, and I was encouraged to continue.  The outline is now complete, and after getting feedback from the Planning and Building departments, I will begin to flesh out the first couple of pages for the next meeting.

Conferences/training:  No training or conferences in the month of November.  [Next conference for me will probably be the OCCMA Spring Conference at Skamania Lodge in late March of 2014.

General notes:  The Economic Development Department/Sandy Main Street office is starting to come together.  Organizational work continues, but the piles of paper are slowly receding.  I did find a way to move my old desk and all of my office furniture from the SandyNet offices, and we have a much more functional office because of it (and no additional office furniture expenses!)  SandyNet was also able to give me network access to the main copier at City Hall, which essentially allows me to print and copy in color, allowing me to avoid purchasing a color printer for our office as well (we’re going to be doing a lot of color flyers and promotional materials for SMS over the next couple of months, and substantially more once the FTTH project gets rolling in the spring.)  We are also in the midst of installing the SMS signage on the western-most window of the AEC Building, which should match Tracy’s new façade improvement on the building quite nicely.  Stop by and check it out when you get a minute…

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.): 

We are beginning to see some movement on a number of potentially large development projects.

• We have had the first of (hopefully) many discussions with Bob Skipper and the Lundeen family on how to proceed with developing their parcel of property north of 362^nd.  The next step here is to get permission from Eric Lundeen to stake out the 362^nd expansion north of US26 so we can get a visual on that project and determine what structures on the properties will need to be moved.  Clackamas County’s Business & Economic Development team is assisting us with this project.
• We have a meeting scheduled at City Hall in mid-November to introduce Wendy Higgins (destination hotel) and her project staff, Brandon Johnson (owner of Johnson RV), and Mark Benson’s property management representative.  See below for more information.
• We have a small developer looking at the property at 17275 Strauss to see if they can purchase it from the current owners and turn it into a day care center.  The project looks viable IF they can get a purchase price from the property owner that is anywhere close to reasonable.  Sadly, this is not likely to happen…
• Repairs on the Sah Building (next door to City Hall) continue….the monument sign out front has been repaired (lighting) and is now displaying only current businesses, and several of the vacant spaces have been upgraded (new floors, paint, removal of unneeded walls, etc.)  Stephanie’s Intl Restaurant is considering converting the old Rainbow’s End (glass shop) property into a banquet room, and there are several businesses that are considering the old Reel Tackle store as a new home.  Due to confidentiality requests, I must keep the identity of these businesses under wraps for the time being, but if a deal happens, you’ll hear it here first.  J

Old Coffee Station property:  This is the property in the downtown couplet that seems to be receiving the most attention from small business owners as of late.  There are currently two businesses that are actively looking at this property, and a third that is at least considering it.  The first is a gentleman from southern California who is looking to put in another coffee shop featuring a bean roaster.  The second is a gentleman who has a successful tamale shop in the region, and would like to sell tamales out of the location.  Finally, I spoke to a local Sandy woman a few months ago who was interested in putting a waffle shop there, but she is looking at other locations as well, and indicated to me that this property might not be big enough for her needs.  All of this is amazing for a property that is almost $2 per square foot.  More on this property as things develop.

Royal Flesh Tattoo, version 2.0:  The tattoo parlor formerly in the Sah Building has relocated to the old Sandy Gold Swap location.  The owner is a very nice young man, and has been very easy for Terre and I to work with during the build out.  His shop will be open for business in November.

Country Co. Insurance:  Work has begun upstairs on the property at 37396 Ruben Lane (Web Steel HQ), and they’ve already landed a business.  Country Co. will be opening a branch office in the small suite of this building, and plans to be open for business by January 1^st.  The building owners will have some easy ADA updates to make (adding an ADA parking space and sign, vertical grab bar in bathroom, add handrails to entrance of building) and a safety update for the staircase in the middle of the building, but they were anticipating these repairs and seem to be OK with them.  They also told me that they have had a serious offer on the other, larger suite in this building as well, and that we should see a business license application for a client moving into that property very soon.

Union 76 Station:  This station has been purchased by a franchise operation out of Eugene, and they have renovated this property literally overnight.  I accompanied Terre to their fire/life/safety inspection, and they had a crew getting the store ready for a November 1 opening date, a deadline they made with hours to spare.  Special thanks to Terre for arranging a fire inspection to fit this deadline on a moment’s notice (and while the fire inspector was on vacation as well!)  This store is currently open for business.

Ox & Marley:  I recently spoke to one of the owners of this fantastic new store, and believe it or not, they are already making money!  They also have a holiday party at the store scheduled for tonight (November 8^th) from 4 to 8pm, so if you haven’t yet had the opportunity, stop by and check out this brilliant new retail store!

Sandy Main Street:  Aubrey and I have taken Main Street by the horns and are currently trying to wrestle it to the ground, so to speak.  We have moved full-time into Jason’s old office and are currently trying to get the office as organized as possible.  Right now, our priorities for SMS are as follows:

• Preparing the Tree Lighting Ceremony for December 6^th
• Working on the committee structure for SMS (relieving members that no longer wish to participate, finding replacements, changing the administrative nature of the committees (getting committee chairs to commit to actually chairing meetings and drafting agendas – thus relieving staff of those responsibilities), and possibly reviving the Steering Committee)
• Beginning data entry into Downtown Diva
• Creating another SMS event for Q1 2014 centering around restaurant promotion
• Establishing a downtown visioning event for late Q1 2014 to discuss how stakeholders would like to see downtown Sandy evolve 10, 15, 20 years into the future
• Figuring out how SMS can serve most effectively as a general consultant to small business and putting procedures and resources in place to that effect

If you as counselors (or small business owners for that matter) have any input into any of this (Carl, I’m looking at you), SMS’s number is (503) 489-2173 and our office doors are always open.  Please use Aubrey as a primary point of contact for Sandy Main Street, and feel free to discuss with her any and all issues you would discuss with me – she is actually closer to the day-to-day operations of the department than I am, and is quite capable.

SMS Trick or Treat Trail (October 26, 2-5pm):  This year’s event went off without a hitch.  We did not capture an abundance of statistics from the event, but preliminary results seem to indicate that we received between 500-700 children, depending on location.  This is a substantial increase from last year’s numbers (300-400).  I believe that our numbers improved due to improved weather (overcast but not raining, as compared to rain during most of last year’s event) as well as improved organization and outreach.  Special thanks to Aubrey Erwin (who not only did the majority of the ground work on this event but sacrificed her Saturday to make it happen) and Wesley and Samara at the AntFarm (who provided us with a few crossing guard volunteers to serve at some of the more congested intersections in the couplet at no cost to the City).   Special thanks is also extended to Charity Chalmers at Chariteas, Julie Kennedy at the UPS Store, and the staff of the Sandy Historical Society for setting up our three costume contest photo-op stations….winners of the costume contest will be selected at the next SMS Promotion Committee meeting.

ED Committee:  There is no ED Committee meeting scheduled in October.  Due to the evolution of my position, I have put off ED Committee meetings until early 2014 – taking over Main Street and making sure SMS events are not only flawless but correctly documented for future promotion is the priority right now, as well as my director duties for the Chamber of Commerce (retreat, annual meeting, potentially moving the Chamber to the Historical Museum building, etc.) and my “Business-friendly Task Force” duties for Mayor King (primarily putting together the “How to Open a Commercial Business in Sandy” document for the City of Sandy website).  Plus, as we have seen with the committee structure for Sandy Main Street, it is difficult to get committee members to show up for meetings in November and Dec ember due to holidays and vacations.

Project work: 

• destination hotel – Movement!  We have a meeting currently scheduled for November 14^th in the City Hall conference room to discuss the possibilities surrounding a potential move for Johnson RV.  Meeting attendees include Wendy Higgins and her project staff, Brandon Johnson (owner, Johnson RV), Spencer McCormick (Mark Benson’s property management aide), and City staff (currently myself and Tracy, although Seth is always invited to anything related to destination hotel promotion).  I would caution the Council that the prospects of finding a solution that everyone can agree to are not overly high, as the plot of property involved has less buildable land than Brandon’s current location (he would like a larger lot), although Mark Benson has committed to talking to the Sobellas to see if they would like to sell some of their land on the other side of the property.  However, you can’t make any deals without talking first.  I will inform Seth and the Council as to the progress, if any, on this project if and when that progress is made.  Think positive thoughts…  
• SIFI fiber project – Contract negotiations between the City of Sandy and SIFI continue.  We anticipate having a completed contract to discuss at the second council meeting in November.  Joe and Scott’s available time will be understandably minimal over the next few months as a rollout plan is finalized and monitored.  I have secured a commitment to discussions with Joe when time permits pertaining to marketing and advertising issues related to the rollout, including a standard pricing and services plan for different tiers of fiber as well as VOIP phones for business (which I am anticipating will be almost as desirable as fiber for some local businesses)
• The Mayor’s “Business-Friendly” Task Force – Participants have now been identified (Grant Baker, Lois Coleman, Seth Atkinson, Lisa Foster [LT Travel, SACC director], Tracy Brown, Terre Gift, myself), and our inaugural meeting has been set for Nov. 20^th.  Results of this meeting will be in next month’s ED report.

Conferences/training:  [OEDA Conference, 10/21,22, Hood River Best Western]  OEDA is a great networking opportunity for economic developers statewide to come together for a couple of days and talk shop.  Some of the most invigorating programming pertained to using outdoor recreation as a draw to get people to come through your town.  You would expect this from cities like Bend and Hood River, but I was surprised at the success rate of programs put together by places like Cascade Locks.  I have long had the idea of putting together a “Guide to Outdoor Recreation in the Greater Sandy Area”, which would contain all outdoor recreation for the area, including the obvious (biking, hiking, equestrian, camping, rafting, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, hunting, etc.) and the not-so-obvious (skateboarding, paintball, BMX, golf, disc golf, archery, etc.)  Now if I only had a budget and a staff…

Upcoming conferences include:

• “Building the Gigabit City in Oregon” [Friday, November 22^nd– Eugene, OR]:  Councilor Pietzold recommended this training opportunity for Seth, Joe and I as part of our preparation for the coming FTTH rollout.  It’s an all-day session taught by a broadband specialist at the EWEB’s training facilities in downtown Eugene.  The focus of the course is to:
  • identify potential local funders and anchor subscribers for the network
  • design surveys and other data gathering tools that identify needs and generates potential customers
  • assess business models and network financing options (working lunch)
  • create an initial project that drives your network build out and broadband adoption
  • develop marketing strategy and tactics that generate revenue

We are currently looking to see if we have funding to cover this event for the three of us, which is looking likely at this point.

General notes:  The Departmental Report for Economic Development will be changing format somewhat starting with this month’s report.  This report will now be reflective of Sandy Main Street’s operations, which I have assumed managerial control of at the direction of the Council.  I will include SMS operations under a separate sub-heading further down in this report.  I will no longer be updating you on my public information officer-related duties as these responsibilities are in the process of transferring over to Caroline Ramer.  These will include the current utility bill newsletter and information on the City of Sandy’s social media outlets (Facebook and Twitter), although I have included one last update with regard to social media on this month’s report.

Also, please note that my office has moved once again.  I am now in the Sandy Main Street office in the AEC building (Jason’s old office), and we’re still working on getting my office furniture and other effects moved along with me.  Please bear with me through this chaotic process:  I have half an office in the SandyNet building, the other half in the AEC building, and the desk I am currently typing this report on will be removed tomorrow by Firwood Designs (the current owner of my desk) at a time as yet to be determined.  I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to get my old desk to my new office.  As you can imagine, my organizational skills are being challenged like never before…

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):  Barbara Sah & Rich Monnie properties // Skipper/Lundeen properties // Mark Benson properties

Bunsenbrewer:  This business has made great strides forward since last month.  I received an e-mail message from Mr. Hanson on September 11^th detailing his then current level of frustration regarding a) an exhaust fan install, and b) a floor drain/grease interceptor requirement.  Please (seriously, please!) read the letter and ED departmental response here:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      G:\Economic Development\new businesses\Bunsenbrewers\aaron letter and response.docx

This response seemed to adequately address the questions that Aaron had, and when asked about his situation at his appearance at the Sept. 16 council meeting, he said things were going pretty smoothly.  We then had an “all-hands-on-deck” (myself, Tracy, Terre, Noryne, Aaron Hanson, Mike Maiden) meeting at Bunsenbrewer on September 25^th to discuss pending issues, project timelines and the change to a two-tier project (phase 1 = keg/growler distribution only / phase 2 = on-site beer sales and consumption).  This meeting also went very smoothly, and approval for a business license for Phase 1 of the project is pending.

Sandy Gold Swap:  As I have discussed with some council members earlier in the month, this business essentially packed up shop and absconded into the night a few weeks ago.  As far as I can tell, there were no outstanding bills or damage left behind, so all is well.  It was interesting to listen to the owners of Ox & Marley (building neighbors) describe the departure though – “They just pulled up a truck on a Friday evening, packed everything into the truck that wasn’t nailed down, and disappeared leaving a completely empty box of a store in their wake.”  Fortunately, the Paola Bros. (building owners) have already found a new tenant, and he is already working inside the property customizing it to his liking.  The new business occupying this space will be the reincarnation of Royal Flesh Tattoo.  More to come….

Verizon Wireless store:   The quest to get these gentlemen onto SandyNet fiber continues.  Scott Brown and I have talked with Greg Shippen (store manager) and Connor Smith (regional manager) multiple times, and they always sound positive about the prospects.  The business that owns this store (Cellular Plus) is busy expanding in Colorado at the moment (opening 3 new stores), so Connor has asked for patience as they work through that process.  Scott and I will continue to monitor the situation.

The Buzz at Bakers:  The ribbon-cutting/grand opening at their new location on September 25^th was a smashing success.  We had 30-40 people show up (including most of the Chamber of Commerce!), and the ribbon-cutting made for a fantastic photo-op for the owner.  Preliminary reports indicate that they have lost a few customers (who don’t want to drive to that end of town…sheesh!) and gained a few as well, most likely due to the improved visibility (catches traffic going both directions on US26 instead of just one way on Proctor; lots of stops in that complex).  I predict that this will end up being a profitable move for the owner in the long run.

ribbon cuttings:  In and around the month of September, we (ED/Chamber) have done ribbon cuttings (and one “virtual” ribbon cutting – Hi Bill!) with the Mayor at the following businesses:

*  Ox and Marley (Sept 6)

*  Verizon Wireless Store (Sept 6)

*  Sandy Family Restaurant (Sept 12)

*  The Buzz at Baker’s (Sept 25)

*  Pizza Hut (Oct 3)

This is a fantastic PR move for both the City and the Chamber, as all of these events have been extremely positive in attitude and wildly popular with the business owners.  More of this, please!

Public Information:

• ·         Social media:  Facebook followers = 3,341 (+20) // Twitter followers: 143 (+6) // Nothing really to report here – the most activity any post showed was a job posting by Otto’s Ski Shop that merited 15 shares, but no comments.  Slow month…
• Current copy of the Sandy Business Insider –

Sandy Main Street:  We have welcomed our first RARE student into the fold, and I for one could not be happier with the results.  Aubrey Irwin started in the Sandy Main Street office as our new SMS Coordinator at the end of September.  She comes to us by way of Boise, and has never lived outside of the state of Idaho before.  She has a degree in environmental science, and hopes to continue on to a master’s degree program in planning at either University of Oregon or Portland State.  If you haven’t met her yet, please stop by the Sandy Main Street office sometime soon and say hello.

ED Committee:  There is no ED Committee meeting scheduled in September or October.  Next ED meeting will be in early November.

Project work: 

• destination hotel – Doing a review of buildable land for the potential move of Johnson RV to another location on the west end of town.  Unfortunately the only lot anywhere close to the same size as Brandon’s current property is the Benson property next to Sanford Jones’ ARCO station.  This property is slightly smaller than Brandon’s current property, but he’s actually looking for a larger lot so he can expand.  Will discuss with Mark Benson in person in mid-October, and will get advice from Jamie Johnk at CC for additional options if any.
• SIFI fiber project – Final recommendations to the Council have yielded a Council recommendation to accept the most current offer from SIFI and begin moving forward.  This ball is in Joe Knapp’s hands for the time being.  I do plan on arranging a meeting with Joe and Scott to talk about a) a pricing schedule for business fiber so we can begin to offer organizational rates to future business customers instead of case-by-case pricing, and b) a sales strategy and pricing schedule for VOIP phone service.  This is contingent on their availability, which is understandably going to be close to nil until early 2014.
• PPLIP – So sadly, this project didn’t yield the results that Kelly O’Neill and I were hoping for.  It did increase awareness of the parking lot’s existence, but not by nearly enough to make a noticeable difference in usage.  However, it did increase goodwill between local businesses and the City (all prizes were from local companies; cheap and effective advertising for them) and citizens (vast majority of winners were Sandyites), so all-in-all our efforts were not completely wasted.  However, we believe that better signage will be the most effective answer to this problem.

Conferences/training:  [ELGL Conference, 10/4, Kennedy School (Portland)]  A good day of training with Kelly O’Neill at the Kennedy School in Portland.  CHighlight of this 1 day conference was listening to former Governors Kulongoski (OR) and Gregoire (WA) talk about leadership, moderated by former OR Secretary of State Phil Keisling.  Fantastic panel and very energizing discussion!

Upcoming conferences include:

• OEDA Conference:  Sunday, October 20 – Tuesday, October 22 – Hood River, OR

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):  After the Council meeting in which the owner of Bunsenbrewers aired his concerns about the building inspection and permitting process, the city manager and I discussed the situation in one of our regular one-on-ones.  As a result of that situation, Seth has instructed me to design a new section for the Business section of the City website entitled “How to Open a Business in Sandy”, and to make it as all-inclusive as possible.  In it, I will discuss the following at minimum: doing your due diligence prior to finding a location (business plan, sample budget, business legal forms (do I want to be an LLC, C corporation, S corporation, etc?) where to get advice on how to do these things, etc.) business types (service, retail, office, restaurant/bar/brewery, etc.), the city permitting process (including average costs for each type of permit), SDCs (what they are, why we have them, when we charge them , average charges for certain business types, etc.), county requirements (health inspections – why? what types of businesses need them?), what’s involved in a change of use/occupancy, and a whole new section on the I-2 zone, i.e. what you can put there, what you can’t, and what you can but really shouldn’t put there.

If you as council members have ideas about additional topics you think might be of use to an aspiring small business owner, please don’t hesitate to add your $0.02 (I will be adding a separate inbox for suggestions from Lois, Carl, and Bill to handle the excess volume).  However, this is going to be a major upgrade to the Business section of the website and I want to make absolutely sure that I don’t put out any erroneous information.  Your patience with regard to this project is most appreciated.

Bunsenbrewers:  The saga continues….after the incident at the City Council meeting, Seth and I met to discuss what we can do as a city to mitigate this issue (see above).  Part of the problem seems to be that the owner of this business had no idea of the costs associated with a change of use.  Just because we now allow some commercial usage of light industrial sites doesn’t necessarily mean that doing so will be cost effective.  Buildings in the I-2 zone were designed for industrial usage, and to convert them to commercial usage (especially where it concerns kitchens) is not cheap, as Mr. Hanson is learning.  I will continue to work with him and the Building/Planning Depts. to see if we can get through this process.

Buddha Kat Winery:  We celebrated BK’s 1 year anniversary with a ribbon cutting on August 21^st, and it was a positive event all around.  We toasted the Wasson Bros. and publicly thanked them for the 3 decades of wine, and then officially welcomed our new winery owners to town with a ribbon cutting photo op.  They had the event catered (by Chariteas, I think), both sisters were behind the bar, and the winemaker had cask tastings and a primer on winemaking out on their production floor.  The event was very well attended (40+?) by Chamber members and citizens alike, and the mayor looked particularly dapper in a suit and tie (who knew?)

Verizon Wireless store:  The ribbon cutting for their grand re-opening in their remodeled space went very well.  Store management was very impressed that the mayor took the time to show up.  Also, as we were prepping for this event earlier we had discussed upgrading them to fiber as their current internet connection (Frontier) is horrible.  I took the opportunity after speaking with SandyNet staff to send them a proposal, and they are very interested.  They are currently discussing this opportunity at their corporate offices, but preliminary indications are that they are going to try to get out of their current contract and go with SandyNet Fiber.  (5 year contract @ $250/month = $15,000 in revenue to SandyNet!!!)

Ox & Marley:  We celebrated the grand opening of this fabulous new store with a ribbon-cutting and refreshments during the September First Friday.  The store is easily the best interior decorating job of any retail space in town, and opening night customers raved about it.  Their prices are also very reasonable – particularly when considering the furniture they are selling (I have some experience with antique furniture, and their prices are awesome – but they assure me they are making a healthy profit despite the prices!)  Checked in with both owners the following week, and found that they made quite a bit of money on their opening night and have been doing better than projected since.  They are operating on restricted hours at the moment (11-6 Wed-Sun, I believe), but plan to expand those hours as they start to become more established.  A fantastic start to a future Sandy landmark!

The Buzz at Bakers:  A ribbon-cutting/grand opening at their new location is scheduled for the 25^th of September, but they have been fully operational now for a month, and so far, so good.  Preliminary reports indicate that they have lost a few customers and gained a few as well, so thus far their bottom line has remained about the same.  However, now that they have better visibility (visible from both directions on 26, better signage, Starbucks/BiMart traffic in their parking lot, etc.), I would bet that their volume will slowly increase in the coming year.

Iris Healing Arts:  Heather Michét recently lost her subletee – Dina Yerex moved into her own space over in Cyndi McCool’s building – and is currently searching for another.  Although Heather really likes her current space, there are some issues with it (antiquated heating system, windows with dry-rot and broken panes, etc.)  I also have it on good authority that the owner of the Beer Den would love to take over that space for expansion purposes.  I will talk with Heather this month about her search for a new subletee, and see if she might be interested in relocating if the search is not fruitful.

Great Expressions:  Sadly, I have learned through my secret sources that this coffee shop will be closing within the next 1-2 months.  Considering their location, I fear it was inevitable, but I truly feel bad for these folks, as they are exceptionally nice people.  Once this store closes, there will be 5 vacant properties in Mr. Picking’s complex – the other 4 having been vacant since well before I joined the staff here 2 years ago.

Public Information:

• Social media:  Facebook followers = 3,321 (+83) // Twitter followers: 137 (+6) // Large increase in traffic this month due to the credit card fraud issues concerning a couple of Sandy businesses.  Citizens had a massive response to the original post about the problem (20 likes, 55 comments, 147 shares (!)) as well as the next day’s update and warning about credit/debit card usage at the two affected businesses (31L, 31C, 93S (again, !)).  Facebook is proving once again to be a very effective communications tool; considering that these 2 posts generated 250 shares (and one can assume virtually all of the shares were with other Sandy citizens), this is clearly a much faster and more effective way to inform the public of a known issue than press releases or the local paper.  This also contributed to the large increase in “likes” to our page and our Twitter handle, as citizens that have been “shared” with add City of Sandy social media outlets to the pages they are following so they can begin seeing these posts directly.  Bonus points to Chief Yamashita and the PD for displaying a most effective use of social media!  The only other post that generated a moderate amount of traffic was the notice of the Compassion Sandy Free Clinic (41L, 7C, 93S) which will provide free health and dental checkups for those without insurance in the community – and the community response to this program has been heart-warmingly positive! 
• Current copy of H2O bill newsletter – G:\Economic Development\PIO duties\Water bill newsletter\previous newsletters\2013\Sept 2013.pdf
• Current copy of the Sandy Business Insider –

ED Committee:  Meeting – August 6^th, 2013 – Unfortunately, this particular iteration of the ED Committee suffered from the “summertime blues”; only 3 other members showed up!  Thanks to Dawn Loomis (MHCC), Connie Knittel (Pioneer Pacific) and George Hoyt (Sandy Main Street) for being troopers and coming to a meeting on a beautiful 85 degree day.  We discussed the H2C local coupon program, which unfortunately was a bust (see below), and I recounted my largely problem-free experience at the staging area.  We also discussed the rapid response team training – particularly the data sheets I would like to put together on different topics (i.e. crime, schools, neighborhoods, etc.)  I will need additional committee members there to discuss helping me with data gathering, as I will need people to identify what their particular area of expertise is.  When discussing the business to business guide I am currently putting together in fits and starts, Dawn Loomis also brought up the “Try Local First” program in Gresham as a potential model.  She is going to try to set up a meeting between the 2 of us and the director of that program, so stay tuned….

Project work: 

• destination hotel – Just communicated with Wendy Higgins yesterday – here’s the latest.  Wendy has spoken with Brad Johnson, and he is amenable to selling his property to her IF he can find somewhere else to relocate to (preferably on the west end of town)  Wendy has asked me to get in touch with Brad and discuss options with him, which I will do shortly.  We might run into a problem if there are no 10 acre plots of land available for sale, so I will need to find out exactly what is out there.  The idea of using the Skipper/Lundeen property for this purpose has been floated, but a) that is a 100 acre property, which is orders of magnitude more than what Brad needs, and b) the County would have a collective heart attack if we did that, as this is the only employment lands parcel available in Sandy, and they would like to see this land develop into something that will create (new) jobs.  I will do an inventory of possibilities soon and discuss with Brad.
• SIFI fiber project – Final recommendations to the Council have been pushed back to the first October meeting due to more communications issues with SIFI.  SandyNet continues to look at “Plan B” because of this, even though SandyNet Advisory Board has officially endorsed and recommended their new contract.  It has been difficult to get information on this project due to Joe’s multiple absences over the last month, but ED is still ready, willing and able to help with the marketing of FTTH once a decision is made.  (Also, see “Verizon Wireless Store” above – another business account is in the works)““`
• PPLIP – We have a few prizes left to claim, but none left to distribute.  This program will be officially over by next month’s report.  Didn’t do what it was intended to do, but did increase goodwill between local businesses and the City (all prizes were from local companies; cheap advertising) and citizens (vast majority of winners were Sandyites).
• Hood to Coast – This event took place on Saturday, August 23^rd.  I was present at and monitored the staging area for part of race day to observe and assist race officials and local businesses with any issues that might arise.  The coupon program unfortunately was a bust – Great Expressions was the only business to receive any coupons back, and they received a grand total of 1 – so we are probably not going to pursue this program any further.  However, my take on the event was that racers were mostly polite and well behaved.  In speaking to the staff at the Sandy Inn Best Western, trash was at a lower level than last year and racers were very respectful of their parking situation, which was properly marked and monitored by race officials.  There was good communication between race officials, and both officials that I talked to gave me their cell phone numbers and told me to call them immediately if I ran into any problems with participants.  There were no incidents that I am aware of. 
• Ford Family Foundation project – project completed (see below)

Conferences/training:  [The Ford Institute Leadership Program]   This project is now officially complete.  I have forwarded the project budget to Annalisa, including the $3,200 (approximately) that we didn’t spend which should go directly into the SCAC general fund, so the books for the project are now officially closed.   We will have our “graduation ceremony” on Friday, September 20^th at the Sandy Public Library, and at that meeting we will discuss a possible Part II for our cohort….more to come.

Upcoming conferences include:

• ELGL Conference:  Friday, October 4^th – Portland, OR
• OEDA Conference:  Sunday, October 20 – Tuesday, October 22 – Hood River, OR

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):  Kelly O’Neill has recently undertaken a project that I championed some time ago.  He is currently notifying local property owners that still have signs displayed for businesses that have been out of business for some time now (examples: there are still monument/projecting signs for Curves, Christian Martial Arts, Sandy Meat Market and others around town).  I will be helping him to identify those signs for Kelly so he can properly notify the property owner to remove them.  More on this later….

Bunsenbrewers:  Aaron Hansen, a chemistry master from University of Minnesota, is looking to open a tap room in one of Mike Maiden’s buildings (the one with Platt Electric in it) by the end of the year.  This will be a good test to see if a commercial business like a tap room can make it in the I-1 zone.  This gentleman has, in my opinion, a great product and a fantastic business model.  He plans to brew beer in small batches to serve at this location, and will have hosted taps (presumably from other local brewers) to make up for what he can’t produce to start out with.  As he expands, he plans to increase his production accordingly, eventually selling only his own product.  However, like many new businesses, he doesn’t seem to be properly capitalized and failed to take into account things like SDCs in his initial budget.  Time will tell…

Verizon Wireless store:  This expansion project continues, with most of the build-out work now complete at the time this report has been written.  There is a grand opening/ribbon cutting scheduled for this store during the September First Friday (Sept. 6^th).

Ox & Marley:  Work on this corner space in Jack Paola’s building on Pioneer continues, with the goal being a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony during the September First Friday (Sept. 6^th).  While the owners (I have now met both of them) are both very vivacious and energetic, even they aren’t sure whether they’re going to meet their own deadline, but work continues.  There is some lovely artwork on the door now, and the interior has been markedly improved.  Definitely more to come….

The Buzz at Bakers:  Tiffany Baker completed moving her barber shop from its current location on Proctor to the old Dotty’s property in the Clackamas FCU complex in the Bi-Mart parking lot.  The new location has opened its doors (as of August 12) and is now fully operational.  The rent is a little bit higher and she is now in a triple-net situation, but Tiffany thinks the improved parking and visibility will mitigate the additional expense.  So far, so good….

Rainbow’s End Glass & Gifts/Royal Flesh Tattoo:  An update to last month’s report on these two businesses in the Sah building next to City Hall….apparently these businesses did not fail, but rather were asked to leave by Mrs. Sah because she did not approve of their businesses.  Neither business has complained to anyone at City Hall as far as I know.  It does appear (though I have not been able to confirm one way or the other) that Rainbow’s End was given some sort of financial consideration in return (final month free?).  Future occupancy plans are unknown at this time.

Public Information:

• Social media:  Facebook followers = 3,238 (+43) // Twitter followers: 131 (+6) // Quite a bit more activity this month, as there was quite a lot going on in town in July.  Biggest traffic generator was the announcement by the PD that the girl who was allegedly beaten up and had her bike stolen was in fact not a criminal investigation after all (21 likes, 31 comments, 38 shares).  Considering the fact that most posters were quite judgmental and eviscerated the girl (who was a minor), it might behoove us as an organization to be a bit more careful when making statements like this on a social media site.  The other active post this month was the announcement of Sandy Mountain Festival (39 likes, 4 comments, 38 shares).  Sadly, hardly anyone commented on the departure of Scott Lazenby, although the turnout at his farewell party made up for that (although I suspect that most of our Facebook posters have no idea what a city manager is or what they do,so….)
• Current copy of H2O bill newsletter – G:\Economic Development\PIO duties\Water bill newsletter\previous newsletters\2013\Aug 2013.pdf
• Current copy of the Sandy Business Insider –

ED Committee:  next meeting – August 6^th, 2013 – look for an update in the August 2013 ED report.

Project work: 

• destination hotel – I have had a few very short communications with Wendy, but nothing major happening on this project at the moment.  She brought an architect and a project manager with her to the last meeting at City Hall with Scott and myself to look at the properties and discuss strategies.  The question now is: Do they build with Johnson RV in place, or is there an opportunity to purchase that land from Brad Johnson and relocate that business to the other end of town?  They would prefer to do the latter, but Brad would need to be on board with that plan to move forward.  That discussion is happening now…
• SIFI fiber project – The company that purchased i3 America (SIFI – stands for Sewer Infrastructure Fiber Installation) has been negotiating with our IT team to produce a new contract that is amenable to both parties.  Two options were placed in front of the SandyNet Advisory Board at the last meeting, and the Board will be recommending that the Council adopt the new SIFI contract and move forward.  The other option (working with a local contractor to do a traditional build-out ourselves) would require so much debt and risk that the Board considered it a non-starter.  While the new SIFI contract isn’t to our advantage as much as the i3 contract was, the Board felt that a) the i3 contract probably wasn’t sustainable on i3’s end, and b) this new contract is still far superior to doing nothing.  Board recommendations will be presented to the City Council at the September 3^rd Council meeting.
• PPLIP – Nothing new to report here….a few prizes remain, but this project ultimately did not improve usage or awareness of this parking lot.  It has been a fairly good advertising medium for local businesses if nothing else…but we should really focus on the coming wayfinding program as a solution to this problem
• Hood to Coast [Aug.23^rd] – Waiting for this event to take place on Friday, August 23^rd.  I will be present and monitoring the staging area for part of race day to observe and possibly assist race officials and local businesses with any issues that might arise.  Will also be looking to determine how many coupons are returning to the 4 businesses participating in the coupon program.  An after-action report will be available in August’s monthly report. 
• Ford Family Foundation project – project completed (see below)

Conferences/training:  [The Ford Institute Leadership Program] This project came to fruition on the weekend of July 19 as the entire cohort (along with SCAC volunteers and a few others that came to help) did the build-out phase of the project.  The entire interior of the building was painted, the floor was polished and carpet steam-cleaned, and all of the fixtures were removed and placed outside under an aluminum framed tent we bought for them (this will be used in the future for covering the food box pickup area in their back parking lot to give the volunteers a little relief from the sun and/or rain).  Once everything was dry, we replaced the fixtures and cashier’s counter with brand new versions from Grand & Benedicts (a company that provides fixtures for many of the shops in the Pearl District), along with a few modern display cases.  We took the reconstituted shelving units donated by the Sandy Public Library and installed them along the walls of the store, installing custom bars between some of them to hang linens and fabrics.  Finally, we widened the entry to the “Little Shop of Treasures” by about a foot, making it easier to access this area as well as monitor it, and installed security mirrors around the store for theft deterrence (believe it or not, this is actually an issue at the SCAC).

In addition, because we raised more money that we had initially projected, we decided to buy them a few things they really needed.  We purchased a stackable washer and dryer unit to fit in a custom space in their pantry, which made sense because it fit perfectly, was already plumbed, and provided them the capacity to wash and dry donations there at the Center rather than have the volunteers take them home and wash them (which was SOP prior to this purchase).  We also purchased them a commercial grade freezer to replace their old, worn down, energy hog floor freezer – this will provide them a ton more freezer space and a ton more storage space (upright!), and do so for a much lower marginal cost to their electric bill.  This still left us with approximately $3,100 left over, which will be donated to the Action Center to do with as they wish once we close out the books.

This was a fantastic project all around.  Initially I was not enthusiastic about giving up my Saturdays (especially during college football season) to do leadership training, even if it was free.  However, I am glad that Dr. Lazenby “encouraged” me to take part in this program.  The training was superb, the networking opportunities were fantastic and quite helpful to me as a new Sandy resident, and the end result of our project was to spruce up yet another downtown entity, which in my book is as much of a direct impact on Sandy’s economic development as the City’s façade program.

If you would like to see us in action, check out the Highway to Hood’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HighwayToHood.  There are lots of good before and after pictures…

[OCCMA Summer Conference] I also attended the Oregon City/County Manager’s Association summer conference as Sandy’s lone attendee.  I found it quite amusing that the LO crowd sought me out for dinner on the first night there to grill me on what they could do to…um….how do I put this delicately?….”impress” Scott.  There is definitely a different culture in Lake Oswego than there is in Sandy, no doubt.  My advice to them was simple: Scott likes big ideas, thinking outside of the box, and using technology to solve problems.  It is not necessary to read his fiction books (they actually asked me which books of his they should read multiple times), become a cyclist or learn how to play guitar to relate to him.  Hopefully they are learning this now…

The conference itself was once again worth the money for the networking opportunities alone.  I got to know the city manager of Gresham quite well on this trip, and feel like I have another good source for advice should I need it down the road.  It was also nice to see MPA students and PSU Public Administration professors at this conference again, as succession planning is becoming more and more of a priority for cities as the baby boomers start retiring.  From the students I met this time around, it seems like the Local Govt. focus of the MPA program is getting stronger.  And we should definitely start thinking about potential graduation projects for some of these kids, as free graduate labor is something we have benefitted from in the past and should strive to do again in the future…

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):  Once again, we have multiple groups of potential investors currently looking at the viability of a brew pub here in Sandy.  The owner of OrganicSandy.com (Jennifer Davis) brought up the idea with me in a meeting recently – I put her in touch with Jeff Newberry at NW WaterWorks to look at his building as a possible location.  She decided that she would look at this possibility a few months later after she has her current business up and running smoothly.

Not a week later, I was contacted by a representative of an investment group based in Estacada that seems to be approaching the idea with a bit more enthusiasm (read: money).  Tracy knows some of the principals in this group, and assures me that they are quite serious about the idea.  I also put her in touch with Jeff, and introduced her to Ms. Davis to see if they were interested in joining forces.  Also made her aware that there is another possible location for such an endeavor (Wong’s King) if they were interested in checking that space out too.  This actually looks promising – I will be keeping a very close eye on this as it develops.

White Star Massage:   Sadly, this business recently closed up shop and moved to Gresham.  The building that they were located in is owned by the principal at Sandy Family Dentistry, and they tell me that business has been good enough that they are going to expand into the space that White Star was in over the next few months.  Whether or not this was the impetus for White Star’s move is unknown at this time.

The Sub Shop:  It appears for now that this business is no more.  Workers started clearing out the space this business was in to prepare for the Verizon Wireless store expansion at the first of the month.  The owner (Jill Eakin) was initially looking at the vacant property next to the DMV, but ultimately decided against reopening the store altogether – most likely because the cost to convert this space into a restaurant was simply too high for her to recover in an adequate amount of time.  Financing was available, and Julie Snell at CCB did talk to her about a loan, but we must assume at this time that the numbers just did not work favorably enough for Jill to convince her to pull the trigger.  We also understand that the closing of SHS campus during lunchtime severely impacted her business, and was probably the leading factor in the downfall of this business.

Paola property:  Jack and Mitch have filled their last remaining space in the Junker Building, and it sounds like a winner.  The name of the store going into this space is Ox and Marley – they are a retail “vintage home décor” shop selling mostly antiques with a few new items (soaps, candles, etc.).  They hope to expand into small furniture as the store grows.  The owner I talked to (DeeAnn Fisher) is an extremely high-energy personality, and certainly seems to have the right “drive” to help this store get off of the ground.   I have already talked to them as a SACC board member about a ribbon-cutting/grand opening, and they said they would like to do it during the September First Friday!  Definitely more to come….

[ps:  This is EXACTLY the kind of retail store we want to encourage in the downtown core, and will add to the growing antique/second-hand retail cluster in the area.  This store definitely seems to have a vision and a flair for marketing, if the window treatments and current visible merchandise are any indicator]

The Buzz at Bakers:  Tiffany Baker will be moving this barber shop from its current location to the old Dotty’s property in the Clackamas FCU complex in the Bi-Mart parking lot.  This is due to the coming expansion of the gun store, which will also be dislocating Lori Ryland’s studio on the other end.  No word quite yet on dates, but as soon as we know we will forward on that information.

Sandy Antiques & More:  I followed up with the Building Dept on this matter, and fortunately this situation seems to have been resolved.  The plumbing issues have been corrected and a permit was issued for this work.  The Clackamas County health inspector, who had originally threatened this business with large fines for operating without a license, has now inspected all of the work (including the new grease interceptor) and has confirmed that the operators have the proper food handling permits and other licensure.  However, I am sure that this has been a very expensive lesson to learn for this business operator, and a rather unpleasant one as well.  I have also been informed (admittedly through second hand information) that the owner(s) now believe the City to be the sole cause of all of these problems.  Sometimes you can’t win no matter what you do….

Rainbow’s End Glass & Gifts:  As I predicted, this shop went out of business this month due to (one can only assume) lack of customers.  Apparently Sandy can only support one “head shop” at a time, and Rip City Glass seems to be a much more professional retail operation (better location, better store interior, better lighting, better advertising, etc.)  This property will go up on the available commercial properties database shortly.  [ps: we need contact information for the Sahs…I would like to talk to them about how they are marketing their properties going forward.]

Public Information:

• Social media:  Facebook followers = 3,195 (+19) // Twitter followers: 125 (+3) // Again, not much activity this month, as our posts were mostly advertising events going on in town.  Biggest traffic generator was the announcement about the completion of the Tupper to Bruns urban trail (33 likes, 6 comments, 2 shares).  I will attempt to generate more activity on the FB page in June…
• Current copy of H2O bill newsletter – G:\Economic Development\PIO duties\Water bill newsletter\previous newsletters\2013\July 2013.pdf
• Current copy of the Sandy Business Insider – pending

ED Committee:  No meeting this month.  Next meeting: August 6th, 2013 – 6pm

We have four participants in the Hood to Coast local coupon project (DQ, Taco Time, Great Expressions, and TCBY), and coupons have been sent off to H2C for distribution.  This has the potential at least to bring a fair amount of money into the community on race day.  I am excited to see how many of these coupons actually come back to the participating businesses…

Project work: 

• destination hotel – Nothing new to report here…project is still in a holding pattern until we get more information.  Scott has transferred his file on this project to me, and I will maintain the lines of communication with Wendy going forward.
• i3 fiber project – Things are moving again, and rapidly.  We will be convening the SandyNet Advisory Board for a special meeting on July 8 to discuss recent developments.  The company that purchased i3America (Pickstock Group) is still interested in the project, and although they feel that the contract needs to be altered slightly, they remain committed to the original project.  Joe has also been pursuing our alternate “Plan B” to see if performing the work ourselves (with the help of contractors, of course) using more traditional methods of construction will be a better deal for the City.  Stay tuned…
• PPLIP – Nothing new to report here….a few prizes remain, but this project ultimately did not improve usage or awareness of this parking lot.  It has been a fairly good advertising medium for local businesses if nothing else…
• Tupper to Bruns urban trail project – On Saturday, June 21^st, members of the City’s staff that had previously worked on this project convened in the afternoon to finish what we started.  The trail is now complete for all intents and purposes; there will be some additional gravel compacting to take place later in the year, but for now we have done all we can do. For safety’s sake, the PW Dept installed a metal pole in the middle of the Tupper Road end of the trail to prohibit motorized vehicles from using the trail.  Look to Scott Lazenby’s last Weekend Update for pictures….or better yet, wander down to the trail head and check it out in person.
• Ford Family Foundation project – see below…

Conferences/training:  The Ford Institute Leadership Program that Beth Scarth, Monica Smith and I have been involved with is now waiting for the actual build-out portion of the project to get here.  Work is scheduled to begin on the weekend of July 20^th, with a continuation of work on the weekend of July 27^th if necessary.  I believe that if we receive enough volunteers to help with the actual physical labor (which we should), finishing up in one weekend will be pretty easy.  For complete information on the FILP Highway to Hood Cohort and our SCAC Remodel project, check out our project presentation at: http://www.myplacetolearn.com/uploads/users/files/H2H-SCACPresentation/index.html

I will also be attending the Oregon City/County Manager’s Association summer conference July 9^th – 12^th.  Was originally scheduled to share a room with the big boss, but with his impending departure to Lake All Ego, I will now be the City’s lone representative at this conference.  If there is anything I can address for anyone (staff or Council) while there, please let me know.  I will be available via e-mail while there, and can also be reached on my cell phone (503-475-8430) if necessary.