The Crookston Way & Means Committee met on Monday night with their first topic being a letter from the Crookston Chamber of Commerce requesting to terminate a contract to provide administrative services to the Crookston Visitor’s Bureau (CVB).
Interim City Administrator Angel Weasner requested 30-60 days to review what the future options for the city would be. She also said the city’s hotels were putting together a presentation about what they’d like to see for the future of the CVB.
Councilman Tom Vedbraaten asked if the CVB needed to operate as a non-profit and how long that process would take. Weasner stated it would take six to nine months to earn non-profit status and Cory Dallager, manager at AmericInn, stated he believed he had a non-profit that would support the CVB until it achieved its own non-profit status. Councilman Jake Fee also asked if there were internal options for the city regarding the CVB and whether the current board should have a say moving things forward. Weasner said she would be at the next CVB meeting and would include internal solutions in her research. “We are looking at administrative services for the lodging tax is basically what it’s boiling down to,” said Weasner. “Currently, the chamber has been doing that, but with the letter of request from the Chamber to terminate those administrative services, we will be looking at alternatives for the lodging tax to be distributed.”
The committee also approved a COVID-19 preparedness plan to reopen City Hall to the public once the stay-at-home order is lifted. Weasner said she wanted the council to be aware of the policies the city was planning. “In compliance with the governor’s orders and all of the CDC guidelines, we are putting in a preparedness plan,” said Weasner. “So, we will be protecting all of the employees and citizens that come into city hall. We’re doing this in anticipation of being able to reopen at a future date at this point in time. I wanted the council to see the policies that we are doing and ensuring that they did not feel there was anything that was lacking.”
The committee also voted to extend the new construction incentive program, which abates two years of taxes for new homes. About five new homes are built each year in Crookston, with each home receiving about $5,000 in city, county, and school district tax abatement. The program will apply to any new construction excluding Nature View Estates Plat 5 and Barrette Street. “Any lot in the city, excluding Nature View Plot 5 and Barrette Street which had previously been built in prior years, all of those lots have been sold, but they applied for an incentive program that does have some hook-up for sewer and water fees waives, and garbage fees are waived for a certain amount of time,” said Weasner. “The biggest part of that program is the tax abatement program. So, after the home is fully valued by the Polk County assessor’s office, we supply you with two years of abatement on your taxes.”
The committee also approved supporting the University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships effort to secure a grant to regenerate underutilized properties in the cities of Crookston, Hallock, and Warren.
Weasner updated the committee that David Drown Associates didn’t believe the city needed to increase the salary range or benefits for the city administrator position, just simply make it known they were negotiable for the second posting scheduled for the end of May.
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