North St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Election of 2025 Officers for the North St Paul Economic Development Authority
Downtown Facade Improvement Grant Program
EDA Structure: Commission vs. Authority
City Development and Economic Initiatives
Votes (3)
Election of 2025 Officers
Dissent: None
Moved by Dave Briar [0:07:07] · Seconded by Nath [0:07:12]
Discussion revolved around the annual election of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, and Secretary. Chris read the duties and responsibilities from the bylaws. Concerns were raised about the absence of two voting members, leading to a proposal to table the election for a month to ensure full board participation. New members expressed a desire for more time to understand roles.
Downtown Facade Improvement Grant Program Discussion
Dissent: None
Moved by No formal motion to approve; consensus to review and approve next month. · Seconded by N/A
Brian provided updates on the Downtown Design Manual, recommending against updating the 20-year-old document and instead moving forward with the Facade Improvement Grant Program. He detailed program parameters: 50% match up to $20,000, minimum $10,000 project cost, $200,000 total program limit, and specific eligible improvements. A key point raised by a new member was the need for lean waivers, which Brian confirmed was already in the draft document. The need to update the document to explicitly include signage as an eligible improvement was noted. Final approval was deferred to the next month's meeting for new member review and document updates.
EDA Structure: Authority vs. Commission
Dissent: None
Moved by No formal motion; consensus to table the discussion. · Seconded by N/A
The core discussion centered on the differences between the EDA functioning as an Authority (with its own budget, advising Council but retaining funds) versus a Commission (purely advisory to Council, which has final say). Joe and Brian explained the historical context and the current understanding of the Authority's powers. New members expressed a need for more information, particularly on why other cities change structures and how it would benefit North St. Paul. One new member (Dave Briar) raised a 'devil's advocate' point about city council control over a potentially 'rogue' EDA. The group decided to table the discussion for next month to allow staff to gather more information on pros, cons, and benefits.
Notable Quotes (8)
So I will just read straight from the bylaws what each of these offices are: so president the president presides at all meetings of the authority and vice president fills in for that president if the president is absent...
My gut feeling says we take a it and we have a meeting next month since not everybody's here it'd be nice if everybody was here in order to put the people in the right seats that we want.
I think I'd like to table that part of updating that downtown design manual and probably just push off the whole project onto the Planning Commission... and probably just move forward with the grant program for the facade Improvement program.
it would be a match type Grant so the grants will pay 50% of of the total project for to a maximum of up to $20,000 Grant... owners would actually pay the bills upfront and then it would be a reimbursement after they turned in the receipts and shown that they have performed the work.
Do you collect lean waivers from the subcontractors or contractors to make sure that when the home when the uh business owner pays a bill it's in full and there are no mechanics leans that is one sidelines that is a great question and um it was not talked about I think it would be appropriate though.
I think the big transparency the difference is commission to authority authority you know um has a budget um Can advise City Council on how or where that money is spent uh but that at the end of the day um the council has the final vote on where that money is spent uh but it is still two separate buckets.
I would not want a rogue Eda making decisions outside of the scope of the city council and so my knee-jerk reacted first meeting have been on the seat for 20 minutes 15 minutes I would think we should be a commission recommending to the city council and let them make the final decision.
I just think that could be any number of things you have cities that uh councils that maybe don't necessarily see through the same lens as authorities so then they feel that there's an issue... but like I said historically and last time this was discussed they decided to move ahead with being an authority.
Ordinances & Resolutions (6)
Governing document detailing the annual election process and officer roles/duties.
Proposal from WSB related to potentially updating the Downtown Design Manual.
An outdated (20-year-old) manual that was considered for an update prior to the facade improvement program, ultimately tabled for the Planning Commission.
Mentioned as covering aspects that the outdated Downtown Design Manual might have addressed.
Detailed guidelines for the proposed grant program, including eligibility, funding, and requirements like lean waivers.
Issued for the Margaret Street Commons property, but received no official entries.