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Crookston to get $2.7 million for the Highway 2 corridor project

The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) Board met Tuesday, June 24, at the Valley Technology Park.

Dale Stainbrook took the Oath of Office at the beginning of the meeting, as he was appointed as a City Council Member to the board. He joins Morgan Hibma as the second council member to be seated on the board, filling the space left vacant by Tim Menards’ resignation.

The board then approved the consent agenda and Crookston Housing & EDA Payables. Theresa Tahran then gave a brief update on housing. There was not much to report, but Tahran did make the board aware that there had been a fire at Oak Court, which gutted one apartment and did some smoke damage in the apartment directly across, the hallway, and the air conditioner in the unit above the fire needed to be replaced. The cause of the fire, Tahran says, was an electronic charger, and added that they are currently getting bids in place for the repairs.

Taylor Wyum did the EDA/Community Development Report for the meeting, as Development Director Karie Kirschbaum is on medical leave.  With not much new going on with the EDA, Wyum touched on the $2.7 M grant for the downtown corridor. “When the legislative session ended and they passed their budget, MnDOT provided a letter to the Senators and Representatives who worked together on that particular piece of legislation and stated that $2.7M would be allocated to Crookston’s Highway 2, Corridor Project.”

On the main agenda were some housekeeping items such as approving the signature authorization for HRA/HUD documents in Kirschbaum’s absence, a resolution to accept HUD Capital Funds Grant of $106,973 for public housing, and approving a Rehab Loan Request. Tahran explained that there is an entity asking for a $25,000 Rehab Loan to flip a house. The applicant plans to repay the loan within 3-6 months.

As part of the main agenda, Wyum asked if any board member(s) would like to be on the Hiring Committee for a Temporary Grant-Funded Contractor Position. Wendy Ault and Bill Tate showed interest in the job.
The last item on the main agenda was a 5-Year Economic Development Vision. Board Member Phil Schramm shared what he was looking for with the board, and it was decided that at a future meeting, possibly a special meeting, they would spend time looking into each of the board members’ vision for Crookston. “During our Finance Committee Meeting, Phil brought up that it would be nice for the CHEDA Board to look at a five-year vision, what they would like to see, in Crookston,” says Wyum. “It’s my understanding that it hasn’t been done in a while, so it sounds like we’ve got a new board since the last time it was done, so it would just be nice to get everybody on the same page and be able to set some priorities.” All action items on the main agenda were approved unanimously by the board.

The board talked over some informational points before adjourning. The next CHEDA meeting will be on Tuesday, July 29, at 7:00 a.m.

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