The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) Board met Thursday morning to discuss childcare grant requests and housing and community development updates.
CHILDCARE GRANT REQUESTS
Community Development Director Taylor Wyum presented three childcare grant requests to the board. The first request was seeking $5,000 to help with flooring to cover existing cement areas, replacement of damaged fencing, and the purchase of updated supplies, educational materials, toys, and equipment. This childcare center previously received $3,000 from the grant fund in September 2025, when they took over the facility from its previous owner. The second request was made by a woman who runs a childcare center at her home and asked for $6,500 to replace an egress window installed on August 19 to continue operating her business. She previously received $2,500 in funding in August 2024 when she first opened her business. The third request was for $2,759.24 to replace two windows to allow occupancy of the facility’s bedrooms. The applicant hasn’t previously applied for any grant funding.
Wyum told the board that the Community Development Fund currently has $13,296.39, which would not be enough to fully fund each request. Board member Phil Schramm was concerned with approving all three requests and draining the childcare grant fund entirely. He proposed providing 50 percent grant funding for each project and 50 percent from CHEDA’s revolving loan fund, with an interest rate of no more than 4 percent and a term of 1 year per $1,000 loaned. The board agreed to Schramm’s idea and approved all three amended requests. Wyum will contact the childcare providers to confirm their interest in this 50/50 plan, but she appreciates the board’s ingenuity in helping these businesses while maintaining fiscal responsibility for the remaining fund balance. “We’re really fortunate to have these funds available and be able to help those providers out when they have things that they need to be able to make their business the best that they can, and so the board discussed a few different ways to use the funding that we have available to help out these providers,” said Wyum. “The board has decided to offer the applicants funding in a slightly lesser amount than they requested, and then let them know about our revolving loan program, so that’s what Ashley and I will do. We’ll reach out to those providers, let them know that the board would like to provide them some grant funds, and then give them an easy loan application process if they’d like support with the rest of those project costs.”
ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES
During her Economic Development and Community Development report, Wyum provided updates on several city projects. One major update came from the industrial park project, which received a $750,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The project has already received over $3.3 million in funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and will add road, curb, water, and sewer infrastructure to the current industrial park on the south side of Crookston. Houston Engineering continues to meet with Wyum and other city officials to receive updates on the planning stage, as the Minnesota Northern Railroad completes stage one of its railroad spur and track development at the industrial park. According to Wyum, the project remains on track to begin construction in 2027. “We’re really happy with the progress we’re making on the industrial park project,” she said. “The whole goal is to expand infrastructure out there and bring in more businesses to Crookston. And so, we’ve had our kickoff meeting with our engineering team, and they’re getting started on engineering design for the park. And we were recently awarded $750,000 from Minnesota DEED through their Business Development Public Infrastructure Program, so we’re really pleased with that. We’re really fortunate to be receiving that funding, and we’re looking forward to working with Deed on that contract and making this project happen.”
Wyum told the board that the current Active Transportation Plan demonstration on Barrette Street and Central Avenue will remain up until the winter weather season approaches. A survey about the demonstration has been sent to the Crookston community, and Wyum encourages everyone to participate. So far, she has heard many positive comments, along with some recommendations on improving future demonstrations. “We’ve heard a lot of positive feedback,” said Wyum. “We have heard some concerns, like you mentioned, about parking. So we’re really excited to receive all that feedback through our survey and take that into consideration as we look at doing either more temporary projects or more permanent projects in the future.”
You can fill out the survey by visiting https://www.crookston.mn.us/m/newsflash/home/detail/194.
HOUSING REPORT/HUD VISIT
During her report, Housing Director Theresa Tahran told the board that there is a 96 percent occupancy rate for Crookston public housing, which is about average. She mentioned that Oak Court Apartments will have five move-outs in August, which is higher than usual, but she is confident she can get the units cleaned and ready for new tenants. Tahran also mentioned that the new fee accountant, Urlaub and Company, is currently working on the 2025 audit, among other projects.
Tahran’s next discussion point was a recent visit from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) following the review of the 2024 audit. HUD met with Tahran, Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler, and other CHEDA representatives during their visit and were impressed with the Oak Court Apartment building, calling it one of the best public housing facilities in the state. As for financials, HUD suggested maintaining occupancy by raising the move-out notice from 30 to 60 days, updating waitlists frequently, and building at least 4 months of reserve funds. Tahran is confident it can meet HUD’s goals in a timely manner and move from troubled status to standard status. Tahran confirmed that HUD would send a letter of review ahead of the next CHEDA meeting.
The next CHEDA board meeting will take place on Thursday, September 24, at 7:00 a.m. at Valley Technology Park.
