The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) board met on Tuesday at Valley Technology Park.
STOREFRONT REVITALIZATION (BEAUTIFICATION GRANT) PROGRAM UPDATES
The meeting began with the board reviewing and receiving reports regarding the Storefront Revitalization Grant program. CHEDA Project Coordinator Kayla Hanson informed the board that many local businesses are still showing interest and turning in applications to help beautify and revitalize their respective storefronts and signage. “Interest has certainly ramped up,” said Hanson, “We were pretty quiet during the winter months, which was expected. Currently, we have 13 applicants since the project began last June, 11 of which have been approved, eight have been completed, and three are pending completion of work. I’ve received several other applications; two are waiting for approval.” CHEDA still has approximately $60,000 to disburse for the Storefront Revitalization Program and is encouraging businesses to continue applying.
The board reviewed the language and clauses in the Storefront Revitalization program. It made some changes in hopes that the agreements and terms would make the grant process more friendly to all businesses that apply. “A couple of revisions that we’ve made is that originally in the application, we had a two-year clause,” said Hanson, “This stated that if the business were to sell or cease operations, then this grant would need to be repaid. We have removed this two-year clause, and obviously, for those that will be applying, that two-year clause is no longer there.”
The board approved agreement changes for applicants who do not own the building the application is intended for; they can still apply for a signage project up to $1,500. If the application chooses to do other building improvements, they can apply for the total grant amount of $5,000. The final revision the board approved regards non-profit organizations that are applying for the grant. “We now can do an in-kind match instead of 25%,” said Hanson, “For all other applications, we will match 75% (the applicant 25%). We’ve gone over the in-kind match, which has been received well by our non-profit organizations that have expressed interest in applying.”
The meeting continued with the board approving the allocation of disbursing Small Cities Development Grant local income accumulation for future regional projects at a specific apartment complex (which has not been named). “The local income is income that has been paid back,” said EDA Director Karie Kirschbaum, “We’ve had a variety of these Small Cities Development grants in 2012 and 2016. Some of this money was paid back for unknown reasons, and it’s accumulated and is in our bank account. We’ve been working with City Hall to get those funds back out because it’s intended to be spent on the community.”
The funds that have been paid back regarding the SCDG have accumulated to approximately $130,000, which has been allocated for future roof renovations and ADA compliance check-ups at an apartment complex that has not been named.
The meeting ended with the board receiving information about the grant application status regarding another application submission from the EDA for SCDG funding. CHEDA has officially submitted another application to Minnesota for $1.2 million. The grant winners will be notified if they were selected by the middle of the summer, and funds will be disbursed in 2025.
The consent agenda included the approval of minutes from the March 26 and April 9 CHEDA meetings. It also included approving bills and disbursements in the amount of $233,610.12.
