The Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) met Tuesday morning at Valley Technology Park. It was the first official meeting with the new board of officers in place.
The main agenda included a change to the Capital Fund five-year plan, an Epitome Energy Update, and a 2022 Budget discussion. Other various items were also discussed by the board. After a quick public hearing on the Capital Fund five-year plan revision, the agenda for the day was approved, as were the minutes from the last meeting on June 8.
CONSENT AGENDA
All consent agenda items were passed in one motion. The big items on the consent agenda included EDA Financials, Epitome Energy Financials, Valley Technology Park Financials, Building Occupancy, and Expanded Business Incubation, as well as CHEDA bills payable in the totaling amount of $485,596.12.
MAIN AGENDA
The Main Agenda began with a revision to CHEDA’s five-year plan. The capital funds are given annually to Public Housing Agencies for the development, financing, and modernization of public housing developments and for management improvements. To use the money, it needs to be a part of a five-year plan, however, the plan is usually revised on a yearly basis. All revisions are to be made at Oak Court. The changes made to the plan include the improvement of the following-
- Revisions to the smoke detectors
- Revisions to the air conditioners
- Fees and Costs – surveys environmental, audits, construction management, and A&E consultant services
- Hazardous Materials (fees and costs associated with hazardous materials)
- Attorney Fees & Cost (In case of eviction of tenant and need for an attorney)
- Circulating pumps for the boiler
- Exterminating services
CHEDA Interim Executive Director Amy Finch spoke more on the process of the proposed improvements. “The five-year plan revisions are all related to Oak Court,” said Finch. “A bond application will be submitted and if it is awarded, all those items can be a use of the money that is received.”
An Epitome Energy Update was also provided during the meeting. All of the standards have been met for the State of Minnesota and the application has been submitted to the MPCA (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency). The project is in a good spot and a meeting will be held later this afternoon to discuss upcoming dates for the timeline, and how to move forward with the project. (For the full story click here)
A Lime Loan Request was made to spread limestone outside of the area of Crookston. There is not enough land in the area for American Crystal Sugar Company to spread the amount of Lime they have. This request will allow the lime to spread to other markets including a potential area in Canada and Central Minnesota for farmers. This process of pelletizing the lime will also allow farmers to use their own equipment to spread the lime once it’s received.
CHEDA President Wayne Melby discussed the deal more in-depth. “What they were looking for was a gap loan in order to get the process up and running,” said Melbye. “The deal was $100,000 with a six-month deferral. They’ll set up payments after that for a loan with 4.25% interest. The end game is hopefully to have the product shipped out of Crookston with a full-time operation with about 20 full-time employees.”
A few other small items were addressed, including the approval of four Epitome Energy Invoices, as well as the authorization of grant money in the amount of $10,000 to fix a few doors at the Golden Link in Crookston. “The automated doors on the south end of the building have not been working properly,” said Melbye. “Ottertail Power Company approved a grant that was submitted to them for $10,000 so the Golden Link will get that money and be able to fix the doors so that’s great.”
The meeting ended with a 2022 CHEDA Budget discussion. There was nothing needed to approve, but Finch brought a few ideas for the 2022 budget and things to consider. “The CHEDA budget and City budget are going to coincide in various ways,” said Finch. “There are certain programs that currently exist at CHEDA such as the B3 grant program that makes sense to leave where it is in the budget, but I will work with CHEDA staff members to work on what makes sense to keep separate from the city, and what makes sense to combine with the city budget.”
The next CHEDA meeting was scheduled for September, however, after discussion from the board, there will now be a meeting held sometime in August at a date to be set at another time.
