The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) met on Tuesday at Valley Technology Park.
The meeting began with the board unanimously approving the election of officers/executive committee for 2024, which remains the same. The committee includes Board President Nick Nicholas, Vice President Tom Skjei, Treasurer Phil Schramm, Secretary Theresa Tahran, and Assistant Treasurer Annette Thompson.
EMPOWER CROOKSTON
The board was informed that CHEDA has moved forward with the Empower Crookston campaign. CHEDA is looking to apply for $22 million in federal funding. $11 million would be used for capital improvements for wards 1, 4, and 5. “What we’re looking to weatherization, we’re going to look at targeting what we have budgeted,” said Project Coordinator Kayla Hanson. “For a little over 700 homes, air source heat pumps, electric panel upgrades, also tap into a $4 million appliance fund.”
The other half of the funding ($11 million) would be used for a four-megawatt solar wind and or turbine battery system, which would help apply critical infrastructure. This funding essentially alleviates the cost of upgrading systems to create more efficient total energy usage. “We’re just excited as a rural community to be included,” said Hanson. “We are the only rural community being considered for the state’s Priority Climate Action Plan.” The state is seeking $300 million in federal funding for the Priority Climate Action Plan. CHEDA is required to enter their request into the state by March. From there, the state will determine which applications they will choose and the amount of funding for each. All Priority Climate Action Plan funding will be disbursed by October 2024.
WASHINGTON SCHOOL UPDATES
Economic Development Director Karie Kirschbaum, informed the board that the city will hold a meeting on Thursday regarding the possible purchase of the Washington School building. With daycare options in Crookston being limited for quite some time, board members and city representatives believe that the Washington School building may be a proper location for this need. “On Thursday, there will be a meeting between the school financial team and also members from the city to talk about the purchase of the school for the city to use for child care and maybe for other businesses as well, which are to be determined. We’re excited about that, hoping the community will come together, and we can do well for our taxpayers.”
“I LOVE CROOKSTON” EVENT
CHEDA staff members will be presenting the “I Love Crookston” event on Saturday, February 10, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Community members are encouraged to attend and enjoy free Happy Joe’s pizza during the event. “We’re going to be talking with the community; the Minnesota Design Center will be there,” said Kirschbaum. “We will answer any questions you may have about Empower Crookston, talking about weatherizing houses and what we want with that. But we will also talk about our river and discuss what we want Crookston to look like in 10 years.”
The consent agenda included the approval of minutes from the November 28 and December 28 meetings. It also had the approval of bills and disbursements from November and December in the amount of $353,521.08.
The next CHEDA meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 27, at 7:00 a.m. at Valley Technology Park.
