The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority met on Thursday morning at the Valley Tech Park in Crookston.
CHEDA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The board unanimously approved the restructuring of the Executive Director position. They amended the bylaws to make the Executive Director the City Administrator to make it like a department of the City, like Public Works, the Water Department, Park and Rec, etc. Taylor Wyum is the Community Director, and Theresa Tahran is the Director of Housing. “We had some turnover at Crookston Housing and the Development Authority and Taylor Wyum, when she was appointed community director of the city of Crookston, we thought it’d be a good opportunity at that time to maybe revise the bylaws for separation of duties there, split those two from housing to economic development,” said Interim City Administrator Daren Selzler. And part of that was changing the bylaws and then the kind of oversight just to kind of make it more streamlined, and each one of those would be a direct report back to the city administrator.”
CHEDA BOARD COMPOSITION
The CHEDA board discussed the board composition and requirements. State statute requires the inclusion of one public housing resident on the board, IF there is one interested in serving. They have John Thorpe interested in serving on the board. With the board full at eight members, one will have to step down. “This year, we’re lucky enough to have one of our public housing residents volunteer to be a member on our board. This is part of our bylaws that we have a seat for them if somebody would like to participate on the board and be a voting member,” said Taylor Wyum. “So we’re just working through the logistics of removing somebody from the board and then getting them onboarded.”
With the addition of Thorpe, someone currently on the board, who isn’t a city council member, would have to step down. The board was given the expiration dates for each member, and one of them will bring a resignation letter to the next meeting.
EICKHOF BOULEVARD LOTS
The board discussed the three lots CHEDA owns on Eickhof Boulevard. The discussion was if they should offer incentives for the lots to spur development on the lots. “We owned a few more previously, and then we were able to build single-family homes and sell those,” said Wyum. “We’re looking to kind of increase the speed of that process, increase some development in Crookston. So we’re exploring options to see if we can get those lots into the hands of people who are looking to build.”
The incentives are still being hammered out, but they will likely be the same or similar to those offered on the other Eickhof or Barrette Street lots several years ago.
USDA IRP LOAN APPLICATION
Wyum asked the board whether they would be interested in applying for the USDA IRP Loan program, which would allow CHEDA to obtain up to $1 million and act as the intermediary lender, enabling CHEDA to make low-interest loans up to $400,000. The board unanimously approved applying for the program to help any future projects in Crookston. “With that million dollars, we lend that to projects or businesses within the community who are looking to expand or start up, renovate,” said Wyum. “There are a number of eligible uses. And so we’re looking for funds that we can get back into the community and kind of spur some economic development.”
DAYCARE GRANT CHANGED TO A FORGIVABLE LOAN
In 2025, the CHEDA board received a request for a Childcare grant. The request was just shy of $7,000, which is a little higher than previous requests. The board decided to change it from a grant to a forgivable loan. “Our board decided to structure that instead of in grant form as a forgivable loan with a one-year term. So this is to open a childcare business in town,” said Wyum. “As long as they are open and operating for one year, the loan is forgiven.”
The daycare plans to open on April 7, 2026, and the one-year term will end in 2027. If the daycare is still open in one year, it won’t have to pay back the loan.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY SETTING MEETING
CHEDA board chair Josh Knaack requested that the board hold a strategic plan/priority-setting meeting to review existing programs and identify what they would like Wyum and Tahran to focus on. Everyone thought it would be good to have at least a couple of meetings to meet and go over everything.
