10-29-2008 EDAMEDA Board of Directors
Meeting Minutes
12:00 PM Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
Members present in bold print:
RA-K-
Tim Ulrich Diane Gordon Steve Jansick Marc Vaillancourt
Casey Stotts Jim Haugen Mike McGraw
Staff
Miles Seppelt, EDA Director
Mike Solinger, EDA Assistant
I. Call to Order
Tim Ulrich called the meeting to order at 12:07 PM.
II. Approve Agenda
No action.
III. Review Meeting Minutes
A. October 1St Board of Directors
M /S /P: McGraw, Haugen to approve the October 1St EDA Board minutes as written.
Passed unanimously.
B. September 17th Finance Team
M /S /P: Jansick, Gordon to approve the Finance Team minutes of September 17th
meeting as written. Passed unanimously.
IV. Review September Financial Statements — Miles Seppelt, EDA Director
• As of September 30th, the EDA had $46,505 in cash available for operations.
• Rental income of $500 was received from the Wetherell Property.
• Improvements to Land line item shows a $871 expense for the Downtown Gateway.
• The Economic Development Loan Fund currently has $101,765in cash available. Loans
to Warrior Mfg. and Ashwill Industries are performing as required.
• The Downtown Revolving Loan Fund currently has $284,278 in cash available and holds
mortgages totaling $782,509.
• Total loan repayments and distributions to date are $80,558 and $176,404 respectively.
To date, grant payments total $31,335.
• The MIF Loan Fund has cash available of $43,106.
M /S /P: Haugen, Gordon to approve the EDA Financial Report as presented. Passed
unanimously.
V. Director's Report
A. Cenex Project
• A second round of soil samples have been collected to see if any further excavation
is needed.
• Once its determined that no more soil excavation needs to be done, the next step is
to put in monitoring wells on the property to further track site pollution.
B. Customer Elation Call Center BR & E Visits
• To date, Customer Elation has 20 employees and is ■ Nordic Components
planning to hire 15 more over the next month and ■ RHC Plating
hope to have 50 by year end. ■ Ohly
• The MIF Loan for Customer Elation is currently 98% . Dock Rite Inc.
paid out.
C. County EDA
• Staff presented the nominees for the County EDA exploratory committee.
• The next step is for the County Board to officially appoint the committee members.
D. Business Incubator
• The latest meeting with incubator staff members was very encouraging and we've
been able to resolve some key questions with the help of Dr. Allen.
• Ridgewater is in the process of renovating the East Campus Building. The timetable
to complete this renovation is uncertain at this point.
E. Downtown Gateway
■ Staff is in discussion with the Hutchinson Downtown Association on plans for next
summer continuation of the Downtown Gateway Project. A crushed gravel path and
an informational kiosk are the next steps as money comes in.
F. Stritesky Property Rent Paid
■ Rent received for 2008 is $14,952.81. The 2009 winning bid to rent the property is
237.35 per acre ($17,414.37).
G. Downtown Idea Exchange
■ Downtown Hutchinson is the cover story for a national publication called the
"Downtown Idea Exchange." A very nice article highlights the great contributions and
programs that are involved in making Hutchinson's Downtown very successful.
VI. Stritesky Property Rent Bid Results
• Staff has completed the annual advertising process to lease out the 77 -acre industrial
park property.
• Six bids were received with a high bid of $237.35 per acre from Randy Luthens.
M /S /P: Gordon, McGraw to accept Randy Luthens' bid of $237.25 per acre for the
industrial park property. Approved unanimously.
VII. Industrial Park Acquisition / Planning
Staff updated the board on the status of acquiring the Hackbarth land for future industrial park
space:
• A legal description of 70 acres "more or less" has been adopted for the property.
• The gift tax deduction to the City is a main condition of sale left to settle and this is in the
hands of Mr. Hackbarth's accountant and attorney.
VIII. EDA Levy & Budget
■ Staff reviewed the process for determining the amount of the proposed 2009 EDA tax
levy.
M /S /P: Jansick to request an EDA tax rate of 1.525% which would yield a tax levy
amount of $155,144.78 for 2009 operations. Passed unanimously.
■ Staff reviewed the proposed EDA 2009 budget. Most everything is the same as last year,
excepting the following:
• Wages increased to $83,834 to account for any adjustments.
• Operating supplies increased from $2,000 to $3,500
• Professional Services increased from $6,000 to $8,000
• Car Allowance — Travel increased from $1,500 to $2,500
• Dues & Subscriptions reduced from $5,000 to $1,000 (dropped CVN)
• Improvements to Land increased from $0 to $4,000 for the Downtown Gateway
project.
• Machinery & Equipment increased from $600 to $750.
■ Total revenues are budgeted to be $180,559 and expenditures are budgeted to be
$173,146 leaving a projected final balance of $7,413 for the year.
M /S /P: Haugen, McGraw to approve the proposed EDA 2009 Operating Budget. Passed
Unanimously.
IX. Consideration of 2009 Projects
The Board considered projects and priorities for 2009:
• Renewable Energy / Biosciences
• Complete Phase I development of Industrial Park
• Complete County EDA Project
• Continue Cenex Project
• Continue Business Incubator Project
• Continue Development of Downtown "Gateway"
• 15 BR &E Visits
• Develop new marketing materials: web -site / brochures
• Others?
President Ulrich suggested keeping our marketing emphasis on the web -site rather than on
printed materials, which tend to date rapidly.
Additional projects may be considered at future meetings.
X. Grant & Loan Applications
Storefront Revitalization Matching Grant
Zella's Restaurant — Jeff Haag
$5,000
M /S /P: McGraw, Gordon to approve the Storefront Revitalization Matching Grant in the
amount of $5,000. Passed Unanimously.
XI
XII
XIII
XIV.
Other Business
Jim Haugen brought up the topic of city SAC & WAC fees, particularly as they are
imposed on building revitalization projects downtown. The EDA Board discussed the
issue. Staff will do some research to see how other communities handle historic
renovation projects.
Chamber Update
Mr. Seppelt updated the Board on the current activities of the Chamber of Commerce
Set Next Meeting
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the November meeting of the Hutchinson EDA was moved
back to Wednesday, December 3,d
Adjourn
With no further business to attend to, the meeting adjourned at 1:10 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mike Solinger
EDA Assistant