The Crookston Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) presented board members and department heads’ requests for proposals regarding the Agriculture Innovation Campus (AIC) Parcel.
The city of Crookston owns 100 acres on this property, with 10 acres being sold and owned by the AIC. The remaining 90 acres of the property is what is known as Industrial Park, and those 90 acres are what the requests for proposals were catered to.
One proposal was the request to conduct an environmental study, and the other proposal was the operation of engineering a study to install a potential railroad spur. A railroad spur is a sub-track that diverges from the main track to provide access to an industrial or commercial area. “There is one there now that used to serve Simplot,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds, “There is some thought that it is not sufficient enough to serve development, should development go there.”
After a review of the two proposals, there was a discussion between CHEDA board members and department heads about potentially submitting a grant application, and the grant would’ve required a 50/50 match from the city. “This would have involved a significant amount of money, and the city’s contributions could have been reduced by other grants if they were applied for and gotten,” said Reynolds, “But potentially, the city would’ve had a significant financial contribution.”
The cost of these proposals was not released to the public, however, the contributions from the city in regard to these proposals seemed to be too great. After further discussion from board members, it was determined that these studies were not in the city’s “needs” or interests at this time due to the priorities of Crookston at this point, which include infrastructure, analysis, maintenance, and child care improvements.
“With the analysis of the grant and the potential impact on the financial situation it could have on the city,” said Reynolds, “And with the other priorities we have of childcare, evaluation and potentially fixing streets, wastewater, etc, this was not as high of a priority as those projects.”
Reynolds went on to explain how these proposals could have been considered a priority if there were businesses looking to come to Crookston, specifically to fill the vacant 90 acres located at Industrial Park. With no business looking to move into the vacated location, this will not be viewed as a priority by the city as of now.
