e e you're as seen now as I am she's out of town been called horse that's not a bad you ready all righty four o'clock get the Eda meeting to order we're going to do the Pledge of Allegiance I don't see it in there we always do it though let's do it do yep all right I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you very much roll call please president Mungi here vice president Matthews here member Furlong here Council representative Cole here and staff and ex officio members present today are EX itive director frandle and Eda secretary try thank you very much can I get a motion to adopt the agenda please so moved so moved council member Cole or what do we call you here whatever I am just don't call me late for dinner that's right no way representative let's Okay second second member Furlong all those in favor say I I thank you very much approval of the minutes just asked for the do we want to go through anything or just approve what we any questions anybody questions I had none okay I have either all right do we need don't moved council member furong or geez Louise member furong thank you w yeah I'll be coming shortly believe me second by second second council member Matthews yeah all those in favor say I I there's too many sorry Joe you got demoted man you're Council M all right yeah thank you very much all right meeting open to the public anybody on zoom zoom zoom zo on zoom zoom okay we'll work our way the items Eda dis budget and Staffing for our uh first up for Eda discussions and action items we have Mr Winnick here our finance director to discuss thank Dan welcome Dan so I guess I I call Eda president SL mayor I guess and Eda members thank you uh thank you very much for letting me be here tonight I know at the last Eda meeting there were a number of questions that were related to the budget and Staffing and so I've uh got some material here that uh was handed out to you and I'll kind of walk you through there kind of quickly and then uh open it up for any questions um that you may have um so you have a better understanding of uh the Eda Levy and and budget um so what was uh given to you um before the meeting um is the 2024 budget so it's our our format um it'll talk about uh description of the activities Department Services objectives and priorities um we'll give kind of a financial impact um on operating in capital um Eda has does not have any Capital requests and then on page 94 of 97 um that's there is the Personnel summary um and I think um the uh Community Development uh director last week answered the question very well um right now in the 2024 budget um there's a point uh one uh of an FTE U basically the allocation of the city manager time to the Eda the community development director is allocated at 50% um the administrative assistant is at 20% and the deputy clerk is at um .1% um the Community Development director's position at 0 five was established midyear of 2022 um by the former city manager um and there is an attachment of the actual document it was on April 5th of 2022 um and um adding that Community um development director's position and at that time [Music] um the former city manager um allocated um that the funding for that position would be 50% Eda 30% from the city and 20% from HRA um also recommended increasing um the city manager's time above the 10% um but we've held that at the 10% um which is in the the budget so that's how and then the rest of the percentages were there um prior to my arrival in 2021 so that's kind of how they were established um I know there was some discussion on if there was a different allocation to come so there was two kind of um schools of thought or discussions that took place um at your last Eda meeting one I think the Eda president SL mayor had brought up if this was a commission versus if it was the Eda Authority um so an EDC versus the Eda would you be charging um uh or allocating any staff time um because what the uh Eda president U mayor was referring to is that we do have some other commissions and there isn't staff that's allocated them the major difference between that is is is that the other um commissions um really don't have their own fund like the art culture doesn't have its own fund the Eda is is basically its own entity um and so there is based upon the leving authority that it has there is an Avenue to charge for services and really there should be um the charging of services and allocation of of time now whether these percentages are really correct um is something that we can look for in the future a piece that you have to have it um and keep in mind is that if you were to change the allocation the only place that really could go or or it to be redistributed to would be the general fund and the general fund is going to have a levy impact on on that so just for uh for your reference point a total of 135,000 is in the 2024 budget if you were to switch all of that allocation for all of the positions into the general fund um and and I know um the mayor and uh council member Cole know from our budget discussion that approximately $71,000 equates to a 1% Levy increase in um the general fund so you're you're you would be looking at almost a 2% Levy increase if you were to take out all of the staff allocation out of the Eda and put it into the general fund um so if it's something that you want to do my recommendation would be that you would do it over time um in other words start to reduce some of that allocation um and take a number of years to to do it so that the general fund could absorb some of that allocation again I don't believe it's appropriate to remove all of the allocation but um from from what I've picked up on some of the discussion at the Eda um I think you're you're thinking that the community development director at 50% is a little high um and I think there's a desire to to look at more of a um I'm going to say a consultant service to provide some um of those Services um for the Eda and helping attract and and retain um Economic Development and businesses within the city which you certainly can do um I can stop for a question uh here well that now compared to the to the um HRA when you look at that is it broke down the is it broke down the same way that's what I was trying to figure out what the difference between how the HRA and the Eva when it comes to breaking down with staff and everything else that was my uh there is a breakout of of staff for the HRA obviously um again based upon that the the memo the HRA I think the city manager is probably pretty close to 10% in the HRA the administrative assistance I believe is 20% and I believe there's 10% of the Deputy clerk so really the differentiation is the Community Development director's time and in the Eda it's at 50% and in the HRA it's 20% and again that was what was recommended um and approved by city council um on April 5th of 2022 um when the position was gra it out another bucket I was just trying to compare the difference between that the authority and what the what the actual committees do yeah far as that so there is Staff allocation to HRA also perfect y that was my question so that's something um for you to consider U moving um forward in the future if we want to start to drop down that allocation um as far as Levy is concerned right now um and we've been doing it the same amount since uh 2022 uh so 2022 3 and four are all the same and it's been um a levy of approximately $21,000 um we do budget um uh $2,000 in 2024 for interest income um and then you have expenditures uh budgeted at just underneath $200,000 um the biggest component of that is your personnel cost at approximately 135,000 and then you have uh contractual services at $54,000 and I will get back to that um contractual services in a second and then there's also transfers there's a transfer of $10,000 from the Eda that goes to the general fund um the HRA has a transfer of $20,000 that goes from the um HRA to the general fund was that 50% for the for the budget for the um was that including 50% of the time also I mean is it the reason why it's 50% coming out of the Eda was it supposed to be 50% of that position going towards Zeda are we talking about the Community Development yeah that's 50 that that 50% again was what was recommended and approved by city council when they established the community development director position I get that but was was it designed to be 50% of that person doing the Eda then because that's why it's 50% definitely I definitely think that yeah I mean that's what I'm looking at the time that's actually been put in and what we're what the be in charge for it yeah I mean definitely if you um look at the memo um that to me is clear that that was the intent that that community development director would be 50% allocated in addition to that the the um existing city manager at that time was anticipating that they would be spending more than 10% of their time on the Eda um and so there was a recommendation that even that percentage be increased so right now in your 2024 budget you do have approximately $49,000 that's in a general contract consulting services so you do right now have the budget um that's been approved to actually go out and hire um a consultant um and that's where in the past that there has been uh services that that have been purchased um so you do have some funds that are available today um in moving you know forward into 2024 when we start to get into the development of the 2025 budget um I will be coming back in in meeting with the Eda to see what are some of the changes that you want in your budget um in the past I've worked with uh the Eda president um um Robert um and so he would um give me his line item budget that he wanted and and making sure that we were in agreement with that before it was ever presented to the city council so we will be doing that later this year and then another piece for you to two two other pieces for you to be aware of is that one I know that there's another item um that's on tonight's agenda and I know that you talking about it in the past um at different uh Eda uh meetings and um that's relating to the possibility of pro providing some sort of either a loan or a grant for some infrastructural um improvements so what I've included in here is your balance sheet as of the end of uh last year which will show you that the Eda currently has uh 7 or $479,000 in cash um that's available um so there there is money available in the Eda um that would be a you know that that you certainly um could um fund um some sort of a grant or or Loan program if if you said yeah it's uh about the fifth to the last page it's after the budget yeah give you a chance to go there's just a one page F print yes comes off the encode system yes fine print does everybody see that no oh there we go here we go got it the words just right past the words y there I think that's yep that's exactly it yeah you're saying we can use part of that fund to fund some sort of yes vehicle to subsid not subsidize but to use for a facade program or something right to to yeah to supplement the the program yep so the Eda does have funding that's available um for that um the only requirement to utilize that would be that there would have to be some sort of action to appropriate um those funds um and put it into a budget um so that they could be spent for whatever um purposes that you decide on um and then I just kind of wanted to to let you know the last couple of pages and there's I think three um pages that are yes they are the fine print um and what that is is it's the market values um for PID 2024 um but just before that is the is Minnesota um State Statute uh 46917 which um limits the amount of Levy that uh the Eda can um Levy for and so it's 0.1 0.18 13% of the estimated market value so what I've done is if you take that um percentage and you multiply it um and I've highlighted it North St Paul's total estimated market value for payable 2024 which is 1 [Music] b476 m727 and 600 if you multiply that you could um for 2025 Levy up to 260 approximately $267,000 versus the 2011 that you're doing today um so that's another component that you can um look at obviously if you raise Levy um it does have an impact um you know on the taxpayers um but um it's information for you to be aware of as you're making your decisions um and as we start to look at uh the 2025 budget we've always done the maximum L before yeah uh we had we kind of stopped that in 22 so 22 3 and four have been held steady and then Market values obviously have gone crazy until this until what we're going to see in in Pay 25 um they finally flattened out but we've seen some significant increases in Market values has it been 2011 last several years yeah so there is the opportunity to Levy more money which gives you more money in your budget on an annual basis you do have some cash right now um you know that you could utilize uh for some programming um you do have uh the budget and the budget Authority right now um up to about 49,00 ,000 for Consulting Services um so you definitely could utilize that for I think your intention was maybe to um to hire a consultant um and I think um in the packet of information not my packet but the original packet for I think um there's a list of Po potential Economic Development Consultants um that Brandy put together I think there's nine of them and uh and obviously there may there may be other ones I'm not going to say that this is all inclusive um but there's some very familiar names um that are there that have done an excellent job in Economic Development not just here in this city but in in other cities around in the in the Twin Cities so there are there are many options for you so with that I'm kind of from what I got from the last meeting I think I've hit on the points but certainly want to give an opportunity for any of the members um if you have any other additional questions on the budget that I could help out with I certainly will I think the biggest question I had was how much was coming out of Eda for the community development person piece and how does that tie in with the edba because I think you know city manager it's kind of your department of how does that Community Development piece and Eda piece because they kind of work together so as you you know if we're going to go to some sort of consulting or whatever but I think the piece is Community Development and Ed piece I don't know if we do have a if we do go to a contract or not uh just depends on what kind of person get you know how well rounded exactly are with both departments and and my opinion is I think you just hit the nail on the head right there um I think your outgoing community development director um you know strength is in planning um isn't in the economic development realm um but it's kind of like the same thing in in uh some of the discussion that you had last week do you move to a you know do you keep it as an Eda Authority or Eda commission and part of it was your decision was why don't we staff oursel completely up um as far as members um and then maybe going forward you may change that um course same thing here um I think before you go out and hire a consultant let's see what um the talent pool shows um for the Community Development position that's you know that's open um and there may be somebody who comes out of it that has a lot of strength in the in the economic um realm and if that's the case um that may be your answer instead of a a consultant but um you always have the opportunity to supplement that because there are um you know I know in the past um the um Eda utilized uh the St Paul Port Authority um and they have a lot of strength um and a lot of expertise so you may end up wanting to supplement that from time to time too and that was the question is you know that's why I asked 50% of the time was you know how close was that we don't you don't do any when it's multiple there's no like job codes or anything like that people do as far as when you do time share anything like that not under her time sheet there are some departments that do that but that's not one of them so what I've talked about some other ones that those are two really opposite so it' be pretty hard to get somebody that could probably be on both ends of it so we should probably which is easier to get people in when we need it compared to the job so to me that would be you know is it easier to bring in these these great uh resources we have here in Focus you know on that as far as Community Development as that role I think it's going to be pretty tough to try to find one that can do do both very easily and I think TimeWise bandwidth wise I don't know what it was you know for her before to try to split the two was realistic or unrealistic yeah I mean she had strong planning background for sure but I don't think the Eda was as much on her radar previously but she picked it up well let's make it successful for the person that we're looking for we don't want to have them you know figure out the skill that we really need to focus on and then decide if it makes sense to have that one person do both or break it up and say you know do a little more Outsourcing when it comes to things we need on the Eda MH that make sense m is the Community Development I'm sure that's a very important part on your yes under your radar isn't it yes would it be easier for you to have that skill of the of the um leaning towards the Community Development or the Eda in my realm the community development but we'll see what kind of spring varience they bring under their belt as well but yeah that's what I think we have to have that realistic going into this indeed because we don't want to Short Change anybody ourselves or them AG make something that's not realistic all right thank you very much any questions anybody oh yeah you're not done good oh shoot actually I'm only kidding um yeah I I guess I'm looking to the historian of the group more for my questions than I am for you Dan but thank you um is it safe to assume I take the 134 knock 50% % off of that or half of that to get to 67 um would that be the 50% that it would represent um for community and is it rough math is it 50% of the salary is it 50% of the funding budgeted that's my budget question uh 50 50% is of the total cost of that position um okay of the position not of what we have budgeted right so it is um $84,000 okay thank you okay so because I mean I'll I'll I'll look to member furong in my tenure um on the Eda the Ed has always looked for has wanted and I believe had at one point in time full-time Eda person um that individual that that position went away um and the Eda has been championing champing to get someone back on board in a full-time in a full-time role um and during Co um five positions were eliminated within the city and in order to help gain the Community Development position the directorship back it was combined with money from the Eda to help fund a portion of that but back to your um original question Mr President mayor um yes it was the intent that 50% of that position's time be focused um Eda related um don't know if that was realistic or not to be honest with you um but at least it was a way to fund the position so it's of my opinion going forward I would like to hire an outside consultant and and not have um the community development director be solely responsible for bringing business into the city advertising for the city being the cheerleader for the city um but recognizing we still may have to fund a portion of that to make the overall budget balance um so you know that's that's that's my opinion I don't know of the 84,000 reflected what um you know there's nine names uh nine organizations here on the list that we can take a look at that um may offer all or portions of what we're looking for but I guess that's that's the overall impact is if we just if the if the Eda decides to go in a different direction that will then impact the the funding for personnel my assumptions that will impact the funding for personnel and what we have to do from a levy is that correct that's absolutely correct and that's where my my suggestion would be to ratchet it down over a few years um so maybe you know this year we we knock it down to 35% um and then you know get it down and maybe it's totally eliminated after 3 years or or whatever you know is decided but yeah that's how I would um plan to try to try to have it work out I thought you talking about the city manager's portion oh sorry Bri you're here I'm just talking out loud I think for finance questions I'm good thank you sir all right um if would you like me to stick around for your your next topic on facade Improvement program if you could be great you got an eye for it no I I think it's a it's a fantastic idea um that's um that you're having that discussion on to can I hold you up for one second I just want to finish up that item a as here because part of that was the um DJ budgeting thank you and then but the Staffing part of it so I just wanted to kind of finish that part off um so back on um April 11th the mayor and I met with Troy woods and we met with uh Peter giggle uh both good candidates um Troy's had experience in the city with uh working with Cub Scouts and boy scouts I guess his children were involved in that we had uh he's also a board member of The Independent School District 622 as far as involvement with the kind of the community uh Peter G leardi of course he's uh in business with a startup um with him and his brothers so they have that business experience that we've been looking for um have had a conversation with uh Brandon from Max um he is interested I'm going to set up a meeting with him to get together he just wants to talk about it um in more depth um also called um Stacy from uh sweedies candies um asked her about her interest in it they have well the sweedies they have the coffee shop in back there now they also have that Appliance business um but she has also expressed interest in that as well so two of them we've interviewed um more to come on the other two but uh I guess the question is do we are we just looking at getting uh three more people for a total of seven members or kind of what your direction may be seven was what we had before so yeah I have a couple other ones that because we reached out to I was going to go down to Samberg talk to them I haven't had a chance to get down there yet just to hit some of the other business businesses around too as well so I think we got a a good good start and we told them that we're we're gathering information so um I know we Brandon was able to to reach out so we're able to do that so I think uh I think we're in a good good position to get some good quality candidates yeah I think so too yeah so that's where we're left off anyway y any other questions with that right any more suggestions of people to talk to that you guys had in mind or do you want to have a time frame so we can say we need to get back because I know we discussed we told them we're still going through the process so we should probably set a date for when we can uh be to go to get going on this as far as that yeah we can set up uh interviews with those two people as well um and we can report back uh initially we were going to staying on month-to-month meetings until we get a full crew and then then potentially look at the quarterly meetings but uh so we can just report back at the next meeting so maybe by hopefully next month maybe we'll have a couple we'll be able to have our candidates together oh yeah y so let's have them the vote or the to go through for the next meeting then sounds good yep Eda function the same way as the rest of the commissions and the Committees that mayor appoints and picks interviews and picks the Eda is the Eda any different I guess is what I'm trying to ask that they're not to my understanding it commissions or um authorities okay I'm comfortable with it I just wanted to wanted to ask sure good question by next meeting we should have yep I agree all right has to go for the coun still has to go everything has to go for the council it would so the next so we have our council meeting and the first one here when is the May where's the second one in May 7th the first one so it's uh 7th and 21st 21st okay 7th where we at now okay so one month from okay all right time frame I'm just trying to think I'll be I don't I don't necessarily have to be but I might not be back yet after my hip replacement so get y jacked up you can just come to my house maybe swing on over should be walking the same day yeah I'm not playing with a full running yeah running there you go so we'll see how it feels but yeah the 21st so I just cuz we have to hit the to remind me to is so we get the candidates together we present them to the the um Council then they're voted on so what meeting do we want to have it there for that but you just go ahead we haven't been having the Eda meetings at the regular time no here um so our next one's this yeah what what's the next normal one um is that the first the second Tuesday second Tuesday in May May um next normal one is Tuesday May 14 next normal yeah so so if we kept that and we get busy on um bringing some people in and talking with them then we can make a recommendation here and then take it to the next council meeting correct that's what I was hoping to do and that's usually just put in the conent correct MH yeah yep so let's do that so we I we just want to plan to make sure people know we're doing perfect okay and that'll be four o'clock not 3 o' four o'cl four o00 the 14 four and the four four and the four okay does that work for you and that'll be my last meeting before I go um send you off I leave the next day you can wear your GE don't TP me don't TP me not that it matters but I'm traveling that week so I'm not going to be I won't be here either but that but you will be I will be so still have a problem sounds good all right all right so now moving on to the facade Improvement program we can briefly touch on this uh so we had the program Once Upon a Time um the facade Improvement program grant program was establish established to support uh and encourage small business to reinvest in the downtown business district uh the program back then I think we did matching grants to the small businesses there were two options here with the grant amounts there was ideas of just a mini grant that um would be potentially a forgiven type Grant or there would be a facade Improvement Grant to where there would be a match type program um I was talking with Dan earlier and we're thinking that more of a skin in the game um idea it might be a better idea moving forward for having people invest into their own improvements as well for us to do a type of a match program um and as we discussed before the target area was the downtown properties on 7th Avenue um couple of things that were cut out of it were if they were going to only do sign AG that we weren't going to be allowing that it would have to be part of a group of things that they were going to be make improvements on um what would you like to add to that Dan I think I think uh city manager uh Brian I think I think you you hit on uh good components to it um and then um I think you and I had discussed that uh you know that the grant payments would be made on a reimbursement basis um so there wouldn't be The Upfront um and then we kind of talked a little bit about um the whole application and the application process um and I think we're um city manager and myself were in agreement that there should be an application you may want to you know not just clear and color photos of the current building facade but if there's any renderings or anything of what it may look like after the project is complete um and then the processing component to it um we kind of had a discussion on this and and this is really up for for you to discuss so many of these items um that are here through the application which would be reviewed by City staff are really subjective um and the award of points um then therefore is subjective and which could be challenged by applicants and so it may be more beneficial to have the application the information and then schedule um applicants to come and present their ideas right in front of the Eda itself um and then the Eda would have you know up until their next meeting to actually approve or disapprove of the of whatever that plan was um and so uh that was kind of just our our thoughts onto to that component to it but it really would as far as the grant to not not have the is it so calleded the the two tiers the mini Grant with just I guess no matching requirement that it would all be required to have a a matching requirement and then you would set kind of I guess an upper dollar limit in into what the the Eda would be willing to match to to somebody else and again the city's uh or the eda's component wouldn't be given to um uh to the owner um until all the work and proof of invoices and payment has been shown to the city um so that was kind of our thoughts of what we kind of uh kind of looked at the program but and then there may be some um I guess you may see a different vision for some of the properties downtown and you may actually want to develop some I guess I'll call them standards um that you may want to see in the facades um but I think it's a great program thank you for your input it's kind of laid out I think what maybe next steps would be if you're in agreement with that I know this is still in draft form um you can sit down with Dan and uh kind of streamline this a little better um like you said the points program just doesn't work great subjective um you know lay out you know like them turning in receipts and showing that the invoice has been paid for you know things along that such more of the details and we could bring back a more streamlined draft if you will and then come back for final approval and then uh go from there sounds good does that work I think having skin the game is definitely the way to go yes absolutely are we looking an interest rate or anything that we're going to be charging them for well right now how it's looked at is it's not a loan it's a grant so it would just be it just has to be a matching Grant and again um you know first of all the work has to be in line with what the Eda um agrees to um and then it has to be to the Eda satisfaction upon completion and then there has to be proof of invoices and payment made um and then the city would would match up to a certain dollar amount I mean there actually has to be a grant agreement that would actually be um a established our attorney would have to help us out with that um but yeah I think that's a point we wouldn't have an interest rate it would be no payback well and that's just one of the ideas that's just one of the so I mean you could do just that to where you could make it a grant you could do a low interest type loan if you'd like um they're we do have options with it so okay well I know if it's a loan it'd be a nightmare for finance department to be dealing with collecting and that would it would be a little bit of a challenge but if that's if that was the direction that the Eda would desires then we would figure a way to make it happen but I'm not 100% positive but I know that there's like banks that will uh help with that end yes and we yeah yep there are yes there are okay and they would do all the paperwork they would do all the collection and all that representing the the city yeah they usually do it your yeah and they usually do it for a small nominal fee but yes there just an option would it be out ofine to have a set amount that if we did do it in a grant that then if they paid the grant back plus to set amount to the city I mean is that an option or is that certainly certainly is an that you could do yeah I mean you you could set it um you know you just have to it can't be too high of a it resulting in too high of an or interest if there you wouldn't call it NE necessarily an interest it would be a flat fee that they would end up paying you just wouldn't want it to be such a high amount that if you calculated it as an interest rate it would be 25% or something yeah um because there are rules against that but yeah you could do that just different options no a lot of yeah maybe should we look at other cities how they program it I know's got a a grant program or interest program and I think they they work with a bank and some people yeah they step back and allow the bank to do all the work Credit Union what have you um there different options we maybe set a dollar amount how much you want to take out of that $400,000 maybe set aside you know $200,000 for kind of a starter amount 100,000 and do you set aside a single maximum for borrower of 10,000 or you know if it's a grant we're going to have to have a Max camp on that I don't know we're not doing anything with the money right now anyways so I'm following why we need to set money aside right now I think that's we kind of set up the program want to keep some money in the account know how much but where's the money going right now though the money is in the account but it's not uh earmark to the facade program I'm just thinking do we set a limit for earmarking some of that money be a good idea we're not marking anything else at least we're not talking about any other topics where money's going out right now right right but you know to kind of give a little bit more information you know I think what um you know um Eda member Fong is is referring to is that we need to keep a certain amount of money just for cash flow purposes and usually what I use utilized on onto that is just like with the general fund um in the edas in the same boat so is the HRA because there a levy we we get our we get our first Levy dollars from the property taxes not until the end of June so you're approximately 6 months so if you take your budget which is $200,000 right now um You probably need to hold 50% of that to pay the bills um for half of the year um so there's 100,000 um that really is off the table um so that leaves uh a remainder but what what he U What U I think council member Fong is really trying to get it is that the program should only have we need to designate how much you're willing to put towards this program that it's not a limit Limitless pot um if it's um $200,000 or it could be the remainder the you know $379,000 um but so we know as an Eda right now just throwing out a number we know what businesses would would want to partake in this we don't don't know that we don't know well we didn't have an active program but I have had one business approach that I'm sure several businesses of businesses that would want to partake in this sure I would think that we would want to find get that information that's important yep we have a or we're just going through we we have a number right now of what 479 cash $479 in cash 100,000 from there because you don't run to go below that you need the cash float yourself through the first six months so 379 um are you know are you willing to give all 379 to this program if there was that much of a need that would be the question um or do you establish that um you know uh $200,000 towards this program again it can always be amended right um if the interest is that great um you certainly could amend that and churn that up to $300,000 if you if you so desire um or look to the Future years to to increase that dollar amount um again there's a lot of details that whether it's you know a loan payment whatever the case may be but um so um so if you were just looking at let's just say s a conversation if you were to say $250,000 and you were going to have a Max cap of the match Grant would be the the eda's contribution in a grant um would be $25,000 so it' be $50,000 per you know total project would have to be verified and and uh proof um you could do 10 um if there's a higher demand I mean that's something that you know the you know the Eda and the city for that matter can look at um cuz the city can um you know look at that look at that too um so there's other options that are open for you in the future but you can amend it so my thought is to get a number go out Max and a maximum that we're willing to give out for the program you know it could be the 200,000 whatever and then once we reach that point then we can decide if we want to increase it or you know do we stop it do we Max it at at $200,000 then we get a interest out there and see what people are interested in then we divide that up to see what we can do with that money you know maybe there only 20 you know 10 people interested or five whatever so then we can figure out how big the projects are but you know have a maximum but it gives us a a number that we're working towards I think another important part though as well is so you go out and you find out if there's interest well okay what's your parameters then I mean are you willing to give $500 and it's a $50,000 project then really I'm not concerned or not very interested in the program but if it is a larger number and it's a reasonable amount that they're willing to put into their business as well so it's just trying to have some kind of parameters when you're going out into approach some of the business owners to say is this something like this more in your wellhouse for doing some improvements on the building um I think we might be a little better off having some idea with what we're going to be offering a bit I mean I get the idea or if it's a grant too there's two different things be besides that yeah indeed and can we do mixture both we can do whatever you'd like to do whatever we decide they need more than a certain amount than it becomes a loan type of thing or Grant maybe let's look at other cities how they have other programs and that's a good idea of model something that they have it gives at least gives us an idea the demand for them and I think it's a good idea Y sound good you good to me I'm good ma'am okay as long as you're good I'm good all righty thank you very much Dan thank you I appreciate it appr thanks Dan for our next meeting we got to get a cover for your microphone don't we yeah I before every time you get it it's I was just thinking the same thing yeah I can just go nothing else I'll take my sock off and I'll put it over next time thanks all right item C is Eda project updates um have a list here I think it's worth kind of going over them since uh it's been a while uh item a on the list is 2579 7th Avenue that's a site between Sidewinders and Fallen Angel Tattoo Crossroad properties provided a listing agreement to Market this site city council voted that down the listing agreement and instead directed the staff to have the property appraised the property was appraised in December of 23 and the estimated market value is $110,000 uh no further action has been taken on this site I think the idea was if uh you know some business came in town was wanted to know what properties we had available we would make it available to them and then we're having control of the site correct I mean out of a value so perfect uh article 7even also the L development project uh construction is underway I think they're working on the third floor already it's going fast with those prefab walls yeah it's going good um and the plan to be completed and open for move in by fall of this year developer Jim Lal intends to rent the space on the northwest corner of 7th Avenue and Margaret the old OSI building uh which is Tracy Luther's building as a temporary leasing office um item C is Delaware Place plat uh 2329 17th Avenue Doug Anderson Anders spilt LLC entered into a contract for private development with the city to build 10 Town Homes uh units on this city-owned property that property now but at the Northeast intersection of 17th Avenue and Delaware Avenue preliminary plant and planned unit development application was submitted on March 26 of 24 for staff review the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed May 2nd on that on proposal on May 2nd and the city council is tenative scheduled to act on May 21st exciting item D marget Street comments across the street here from City Hall uh in late 23 staff engage surveyor to replat the development site to combine the development Lots separate them from the parking lot and establish the necessary utility easements the platting process was completed with the final plat approval by City Council on March 19th of this year the city-owned parcels were conveyed to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority at that time the property was appraised in an estimated market value of $230,000 there's a potential interest um I don't know if that's released or not but uh from another developer in town here uh item e the Taco Bell site formerly Oil Can Henry's uh the site plan was approved in the fall of 23 develop a Taco Bell at the site of the former Oil Can Henry's at 2371 mcnight Boulevard a billing permit has been applied for and will be issued once all the plan Improvement contingencies have been satisfied one remaining the recording of the easement agreement item s f is The Reflex medical and river of God site uh back in the fall of 23 staff reached out to dsgw Architects at eda's direction for proposal to repair of facility space analysis for River of God Church thought behind the activity is to understand the space needs for the church that the Eda May assist the church to potentially relocate so that reflex medical May expand to the east onto the church site Steph also had a meeting with pastor Dennis mcgreen of River of God Church seeking authorizations from their organization to move forward with the study if authorized by the Eda uh Pastor mcgreen has indicated that the congregation has decided not to move forward with the study at this time the congregation prefers to keep discussions internal to their organization at this time staff reached out last fall but was unsuccessful in connecting with Kevin Fuller with reflex medical to try to understand if there were alternatives to making the company's expansion needs uh no new updates since that time Pine Tree Center fire inspectors went out there went through the property about a year ago to make some minimum requirements where being addressed a fire sprinkler system and and annual tested and inspected properly property properly secured and exterior maintenance items the property owner was also given a list of items to be completed on the inside that have not been completed uh Missing ceiling tiles and other items that could be addressed with new tenant there's nothing at this time that would lead the Enforcement Officers to consider it a hazardous building or condemned uh item H which is part of that building The Pizza Factory um no official updates on the business however there is news that the business Facebook page that a potential sales in the works and they are looking for a site to relocate to did you have any further you want to add to that uh So Cal at petza factory he had open heart surgery here uh I believe April 1st and uh he is active actively looking to uh sell the sell the the business and he did have a potential person that I think is still in negotiations gotcha and relocation don't know how's he doing that's an option for him or not yeah depending on who buys who buys the business have you heard all he's doing uh heard heard it went well good doing good good good uh other priorities uh identify staff needs for Eda and explore options uh kind of what we went over earlier continue to develop uh the facade Improvement program after discussions today marketing strategy utilizing eda's promotional video prepared last Fall by open window Productions which is on our website it's also on our YouTube site so it is out there and potentially update to the downtown design manual uh this was adopted by the city council 2005 per resolution 05143 the manual list standards are guidelines for architectural lighting landscaping and signs downtown it has been suggested by the Eda that the design guidelines might be prohibitive to new development and invest and Investments downtown and that is it for that thank you very much so item D was just the 2024 Eda meetings as as discussed earlier uh we've been going month to month which we will keep with our regular schedule for next month on the second Tuesday of the month in May um May 14 May 14th 4M perfect all right any updates from staff kick us off um I I do have some questions uh listed in the packet there were nine um businesses that offered uh Eda um don't know exactly what in depth they are they offered um but as consultants I don't know if they were you know full on or or partial or whatever um we really just kind of brushed through that really didn't address it during today's meetings um is it the intent of the Eda to hang tight um until we are fully fully staffed for a lack of a better word at seven um and have um you know a new director in place or do we want to move forward and start to talk to some of these organ organizations and see um I mean the electronic copies to thread to each one of the organizations um or do we want to you know start to interview might be the the wrong word to use but have conversation I mean are we are we ready to move forward or we just want to do we want to sit on pause well last time we discussed we're talking about getting up to full staff and then working or full counsel or group and then digging in okay the only reason I bring it up is we as an organization haven't done anything to promote our city in probably six months sure and I'm very concerned that the longer we sit the further behind we're going to be so can we run a parallel path can I ask if uh so I mean we did the promotional video we do have it online in our YouTube what more are you thinking about when you say that we don't I want somebody out there finding people to go into article 7 I want somebody to develop that lot I need some banging on doors and attending franchise meetings talking with other developers um that's kind of there's a networking group out there we just don't have a body in it and that's where I'm thinking these people do and I think if I may suggest that uh you know behind the scenes here we can start Gathering some information especially off the known Commodities that we have actually worked with in the past um the Port Authority Baker Tilly and at least get some ideas and some directions on kind of what they do and at least bring that information back still be looking into it correct yes that's the main part yeah and that's a piece because that that's a parallel path in my world I agree yeah that's that's where my head was okay that's where I was because I know you were mentioning you were looking into that kind of yep perfect are are we not going down the path of looking to replace like having a new community development director we are for community development director but not for Eda probably okay is what we're or may have some Eda responsibilities or correct y but priority will be notel hours or correct what we disc there wasn't 50 yeah exactly there wasn't 50 yeah and by having a contract we would get that 100% working just for the Eva well I would think the resources that you guys have Brian and working with with past companies you're going to you're going to know a good fit um like time we start bringing it outside yeah third parties it's got to be the right right fit I think that's where we got to just trust and lean on on you guys and staff and these companies I would imagine you know once we're in their envelope per se then you know when they have those conversations bring up our name you know what do we have to offer they would know what property we have and you know we have to get that from Jim too he needs to specify because you know what you we just heard now they're talking all opening up so that's probably our clock's going to start ticking what does he have for space how big space does he say I got this much space I can divided this much or do you know how was he going to want a jockey with walls interior and things like that so we need to get something from him fairly soon to say okay what was it look like when we start reaching out to these businesses what spaces are you offering what different sizes and maybe indeed with those nine work live spaces on the bottom when he did say he has ability of removing walls and making bigger and you know we can get that information just want to make sure that he was you know like is there a maximum like we can only go two over because then we got a structure wall or you know something like that too just to kind of get what we can jockey for for space with indeed that was one okay um property pint Tre Center um we talked a little bit about The Pizza Factory um and it's public information that it's that he's looking to to sell or Andor has sold and Andor is relocating do we want to contact the owner of that building again we contacted him I think a year ago and a dollar amount was thrown out um do we want to start those conversations again to see what he looks he's going to lose his only tenant His Last Tenant I've tried I reached out two weeks ago left him a voicemail I I not hear back I will call again um I do have his number so okay are they up to date you said that I apologize I didn't no no I didn't yet I didn't are they up to date with everything they needed to do after the last inspection are they you're not responding to you are they responding to the city to continue down the path to make sure they're building safe and I will follow up I was over there he came up in a conversation today but I I will uh check back in with them as well we need to make sure that you know it's it's still even though it's three almost empty we still have to be able to make sure it's you know within our code I think we need to stay on that yep and they and they were and they have um they did get their sprinkler system up and going for where it needed to be um but yeah more conversations need to be have with him thank you and I guess I would just like to make sure we take more of proactive approach to what potentially may go in there as opposed to find out you know is he looking to sell isn't he looking to sell um and work you know very similar to what we did with a little building can we bring somebody else in to help him develop can we you know take the proactive approach to what that's going to look like as opposed to you know just hope yeah because we don't know if he's actively trying to sell it or if he's going to actively try to improve it we don't know his intentions and I think that's important as we move forward of what there's a sign out there is that for rent or is it for I can't I thought is it just a for rent sign though there was no for sale I can't remember when I drove by what what sign was out there was just rumor not secondhand stuff nothing from the horse's mouth that he might do something but I uh but I agree with Tim is you know it' be nice to know absolutely because then we as Eva can hopefully facilitate or even help with what goes what goes over there yeah hence that that all all those topics we just talked about goes back to some sort of finding that cheerleader right so I think that should really since we know 50% of the budget you know we're not going to go down that path we're going to focus on doing a Consulting path I think that should be that should really be our goal like next month let's I think Brian you guys and staff you guys are going to know you know maybe we interview two of these companies you know basically off the bat like what do we feel you know is a good fit well we can look into two to see if maybe a representative from each one of them could come here and talk to us sure awesome so they have the network it's all about networking yep for sure it is I agree with that I'm officially done thanks sir all anything Terry no staff updates you're quiet I'm good yeah I sit there you nothing from you no don't be afraid a surprise yeah I got mind is in Montana ready yeah anything for you sir no I just do all through yet oh thank you appreciate it yeah get off back to the golf course yeah that's the main thing thank you very much if nothing else you can get taller get taller will you be taller I hope so got six five HS put in you know you I don't know I don't know there's advantages anymore maybe go a little shorter kit getting easier in out the cars thanks all right well I appreciate it and if there's nothing else call for German so move so move Co second me member Matthews that's hard to say it is m Matthews maybe I just go back to Thomas or Thom was call Williams yeah Williams yes all those in favor say I I thank you all thank you appreciate it