The Crookston City Council met Monday evening in the council chambers at City Hall. On the consent agenda for the night was the approval of the minutes from the September 24 meeting, a resolution to approve bills and disbursements in the amount of $332,107.95, and the final item is the approval of the transfer of funds to Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority for Building Better Business, all of which were passed.
A public hearing was held for an update on the progress and performance of the DEED Small Cities Grant. Ken Buchanan, rehab specialist with the Northwest Minnesota Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment Authority provided the update. There were funds for seven total projects on the commercial side of the grant, and to date six of those projects have been awarded totaling $205,183. The application for the final project is, and there is $4,817 remaining in the DEED balance for that project. Total estimated balance available for that final project, including a loan from the cities revolving fund would be $23,960.
On the rental side of the grant, which has two categories multi-family and duplex rentals, things have been slower said Buchanan. One of the reasons for is that only projects without an existing City Deferred Grant or City Loan from previous grant programs are eligible. Currently, only one project has been initiated totaling $33,451. There are applications pending for eight multi-family units at $12,500 each, totaling $100,000 of the $179,049 dollars allotted in the grant. “This is the second time we’ve done a grant like this downtown and last time it was the total opposite with the rental dollars disappearing quickly and a sluggish start to the commercial dollars being spent,” said City Administrator Shannon Stassen, who added the market can sometimes change. “When we initially applied for this grant we had less than two percent vacancy, and since then we’ve added a lot of units to the city and that has softened the market a little bit.”
There is also $100,000 available in the rental duplex category. So far no one has applied for the rental duplex grant, but a letter has been sent to every residential rental landlord to apply if they do not have an active or deferred loan with the city or DEED funding from previous grants. Buchanan said he is optimistic the rental grants will be applied for, “things can change soon, there are a few buildings being sold and new owners are interested in these funds.” The DEED Small Cities grant runs through September 30, 2019.
The Council had the second reading and final passage of the amendment of City Code Chapter 11, entitled “Land Use Regulation” changing the zoning map.
We will have news on the Ways and Means Committee meeting on Wednesday.
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