UNAPPROVED MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD MEMBERS OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA) A regular meeting of the Board Members of the East Grand Forks Economic Development Authority was held at Noon on June 20, 2017, in the East Grand Forks City Hall Training Room, on the first floor in the South Wing, East Grand Forks, MN. 1. Roll Call: Meeting was called to order by President Justin Hecht at 12:01 pm. EDA Board present at roll, President Justin Hecht, Board Members Mike Pokrzywinski, Tim Riopelle, Josh Grinde, Ralph Messelt and George Wogaman. Absent: Daniel Black Staff present: Paul Gorte (EDD), Economic Development Director; Brenda Ault (EA), Executive Assistant Also Present: Mel Metz, IT Department (IT); Doris Cooper, Grand Forks Region Economic Development (RED) and Barry Wilfahrt, Grand Forks/East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce Director (CD). Roll Call: President Justin Hecht determined a quorum was present. 2. Approval of minutes of the May 16, 2017, Regular Meeting: A Motion was made by Board Member Wogaman, seconded by Board Member Pokrzywinski, to approve the minutes from the May 16, 2017, Regular Meeting. M/S/P- Wogaman, Pokrzywinski; 6-0, mc. 3. Bills and Communications: a. Review of Accounts Payable June 6, 2017 Board Member Grinde questioned the snow removable billing. EDD Gorte explained it was a billing from April that had just been received. Board Member Messelt questioned the negative amount for the WSN check amount. Board Member Pokrzywinski explained it was a refund from Workforce Safety. b. Approval of Accounts Payable for June 20, 2017 A Motion was made by Board Member Grinde, seconded by Board Member Messelt, to approve the June 20, 2017 bills. M/S/P- Grinde, Messelt; 6-0, mc. 4. Reports: a. Delinquencies Update: EDD Gorte reported that one loan had been delinquent, but had made payment and was no longer delinquent; he is continuing to have contact with them monthly. b. Financial Reports May: No questions
June 20, 2017 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA) (continued) 5. Unfinished Business: a. Marketing Plan/Strategic Plan; includes web page and social media; review of work to date; next steps, including Grow Minnesota visits Page 2 EDD Gorte informed the Board that a copy was included in the packet; changes were in bold or italics. He inquired whether it followed their thoughts and plans and if he should go forward with it. Board Member Pokrzywinski stated he had noticed an increase for marketing efforts and if EDD Gorte s budget would reflect that change. EDD Gorte stated his budget did reflect the change and he was also planning to include $10,000 for the Chamber s website plan. b. Director s Report: i. Cutting Edge Update: EDD Gorte informed the Board that the payment Mr. Swenson suggested did not cover the interest each month. He believes the payment should at least cover the interest and in addition, set up a balloon payment to cover all unpaid sums, principal and accrued interest. After they begin to start making principal and interest payments, the EDA would re-write the loan as a 10-year loan, instead of a 7-year loan. After discussion, it was decided that EDD Gorte contact Mr. Swenson to convey that to Mr. Swenson. ii. Grow Minnesota (State Chamber) EDD Gorte invited CD Wilfahrt to speak to the group, CD Wilfahrt stated that the question, What can we do Better? was the question to ask. Currently they are asking, Do you have what you need to grow your business? CD Wilfahrt and EDD Gorte will be talking with businesses, then sending the results to the state and they will return the data, so we can see how we compare with other cities in Minnesota, which would be very informative. iii. Economic Development 101-Economic Development Finance EDD Gorte reported to the Board that he had attended the conference; one of the items they covered was evaluating small business loans, to be sure the company is in position to accommodate the loan. He stated that start-up loans are often risky loans and perhaps the Board would like to direct people to other organizations for assistance and just help existing businesses. The Board agreed that was the direction they would like to take in the future. iv. Housing Institute EDD Gorte stated that this covers northwest Minnesota; if he attends this meeting, which is held either in Crookston, Warren or Red Lake Falls once a month, housing will pay for lodging and meal expenses if he attends 5 meetings or more. v. Website EDD Gorte stated that IT Mel Metz was present to talk to the Board about the work the two of them have been doing on the website. IT Metz stated that he is creating
June 20, 2017 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA) (continued) Page 3 additional drop downs and pages for the EDA programs. The residential and commercial information will be separated to speed up the search project for people seeking information about our area. Board Member Riopelle stated he hopes this project is being expedited quickly. 6. New Business: a. Multi-Jurisdictional Grand Forks website (Wilfahrt, Cooper) EDD Gorte introduced Doris Cooper, Grand Forks Region Economic Development, RED Cooper talked about the project objective; which is to seek to develop, fund and implement a sustainable recruitment and retention toolkit for the Grand Forks region employers to attract and retain skilled workforce to the greater Grand Forks region to fill in demand jobs. She stated that the project is led by a steering committee with decision making authority with guidance from an advisory committee of local human resources and business professionals. The steering committee is comprised of the Grand Forks Region EDC, UND, Chamber, City of Grand Forks, Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Grand Forks County; each of these members have committed to contribute $10,000 for two years to fund this project. The action plan they have developed is to create a platform of information distribution tools to include centralized website, develop messaging and a theme, deploy a social media campaign, build our coordination capacity and develop a regional workforce concierge program. One of the key pieces, the website has been worked on since January, with the above steering committee. EDD Gorte invited RED Cooper to attend the meeting in July to show the Board the website. After some discussion, the Board indicated that they would like to participate in the steering committee next year. b. MN Employment and Economic Development EDD Gorte stated that he had received some information on Friday from the DEED. The 2017 Legislature allocated an additional $3,000,000 to the Border City Enterprise Zones and Development Zones programs. The funds may be used for tax reductions as provided in Minnesota statues. He had added the item to the City Council agenda for this evening. The amendment needs to be signed by the Mayor and City Clerk and be accompanied by a resolution authorizing the amendment. East Grand Forks has a current credit balance of $40,458.47 plus the 2017 credit allocation of $429,320.44 for a total available balance of $469,868.91. c. Meeting Dates EDD Gorte stated that the City Attorney, Ron Galstad had court cases scheduled on the EDA meeting dates and asked if the Board would like to meet on alternate dates, so that CA Galstad could attend. He suggested July 25, August 8 and August 22 nd as alternate dates for the upcoming EDA meetings. Approved. 7. Adjournment:
June 20, 2017 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA) (continued) Motion to adjourn the meeting was made at 12:37 by Board Member Pokrzywinski, was seconded by Board Member Riopelle. M/S/P- Pokrzywinski, Riopelle; 6-0, mc. The next regular meeting is July 25, 2017 at Noon, in the East Grand Forks Training Room, First Floor in the South Wing, East Grand Forks City Hall, East Grand Forks, MN. Respectfully Submitted, Brenda Ault Executive Assistant Page 4
Account Number Vendor Description GL Date Check No Amount 7/5/2017 620-49-870-43300 US Bank Corporate Payment System Aloft Hotel: P.Gorte Lodging 6/8-6/9 07/05/2017 26996 202.99 620-49-870-44000 Liberty Business Systems Copier Overages 07/05/2017 26960 52.66 620-49-870-44300 Mike's Pizza Meeting 6/26/17 07/05/2017 26970 35.37 620-49-870-44300 US Bank Corporate Payment System Subway: 6/20 Meeting 07/05/2017 26996 93.52 620-49-870-44330 US Bank Corporate Payment System ICSC 3yr Membership P.Grote 5/31/2017 to 5/31/2020 07/05/2017 26996 270.00 Report Total: 654.54 630-00-000-11140 Joyce Aaker Security & Pet Deposit Refund: J.Aaker 07/05/2017 26909 277.84 630-00-000-16500 Widseth Smith Nolting & Associates Sunshine Terrace Reroof services thru 6/13/17 07/05/2017 27002 440.00 630-46-410-41510 League of MN Cities Work Comp - SS Bldg Mtce 07/05/2017 26959 246.50 630-46-410-43200 Midcontinent Communications Voice services 06/16-07/15 07/05/2017 26969 35.01 630-46-440-42000 Hardware Hank Misc Hardware 07/05/2017 26943 1.99 630-46-440-42000 Hardware Hank Paint 07/05/2017 26943 122.96 630-46-440-42000 Hardware Hank Misc Supplies 07/05/2017 26943 61.40 630-46-440-42000 Hardware Hank Trash Bags, 07/05/2017 26943 22.96 630-46-440-42000 Hardware Hank Misc Hardware 07/05/2017 26943 39.25 630-46-440-43190 Thur-O-Clean Janitorial Services for June 2017 07/05/2017 26993 622.50 630-46-440-43190 Thur-O-Clean Carpet Steam Cleaning 07/05/2017 26993 984.00 630-46-440-43800 Xcel Energy Natural Gas Services 5/15-6/14 07/05/2017 27003 425.24 630-46-440-44000 Flat Plains Services Inc Tree Fertilization 07/05/2017 26933 490.00 630-46-440-44000 Johnson Controls Water Heater Leaking Gas 07/05/2017 26953 1,069.00 Report Total: 4,838.65 7/18/2017 Account Number Vendor Description GL Date Check No Amount 620-49-870-44000 US Bank Equipment Finance Copier 06/30/2017 27088 71.96 Report Total: 71.96 630-46-410-43200 Allstream SUNSHINE Phone 06/30/2017 27015 10.41
630-46-440-42000 Hardware Hank Misc Supplies 07/18/2017 27044 5.78 630-46-440-42000 Northern Plumbing Supply Misc Hardware 06/30/2017 27066 15.75 630-46-440-42000 Northern Plumbing Supply Vacuum Breaker Cover & Screw Kit 06/30/2017 27066 58.80 630-46-440-43800 Water & Light Department 005041-000/Sunshine Utilities/ 06/30/2017 27091 4,630.28 630-46-440-43800 Water & Light Department 005041-065/Sunshine 207/ 06/30/2017 27091 46.27 630-46-440-43800 Water & Light Department 005041-095/Sunshine 306 06/30/2017 27091 24.58 630-46-440-43800 Water & Light Department 005041-096/Sunshine 305 06/30/2017 27091 28.46 630-46-440-43800 Water & Light Department 005041-099/Sunshine 302 06/30/2017 27091 34.95 630-46-440-43800 Water & Light Department 005041-100 /Sunshine 311 06/30/2017 27091 31.72 630-46-440-43800 Water & Light Department 005041-102/Sunshine 225 06/30/2017 27091 26.13 630-46-440-44000 Dakota TV & Appliance Community Room: Fridge Repair 06/30/2017 27028 102.75 630-46-440-44000 Dakota TV & Appliance Apt 220 Range 06/30/2017 27028 222.95 630-46-440-44000 Keith's Security World Cylinder Combo Change 06/30/2017 27050 40.00 630-46-440-44300 Verizon Wireless 9Cell#5814 S. Baune 07/18/2017 27090 50.74 630-46-440-44380 Dakota TV & Appliance Apt 311 Fridge 06/30/2017 27028 549.00 630-46-440-44380 Dakota TV & Appliance Apt 227 AC Unit 06/30/2017 27028 599.00 630-46-440-44380 Dakota TV & Appliance Fridge 06/30/2017 27028 569.00 Report Total: 7,046.57