[Music] commissioner leges present commissioner husnik here commissioner LGE here I'll note for the record commissioner grindall and commissioner Hoy are absent mayor Bane here president B I would like to invite everyone to rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance IED Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all all right um members of the Eda we have an agenda before you I will entertain a motion to approve or any changes I move will you approve the agenda second we have a motion in a second all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose and motion carries our next item this evening is election of officers this is a continuation from an item that we had postponed from a previous agenda and um Abby you just want to walk us through the officers that are um that were being asked to place tonight just kind of tee this up for us sure uh as I noted in the staff report you have a governing resolution uh that makes up the identifies the positions of president vice president secretary treasur assistant Treasurer um it does note in there the Eda shall elect the El a president SE treasur and secretary every year um however it's been your P past practice to annually elect a few things to note the president and the vice president cannot be the same the secretary treasure and assistant treasur may be held by the same commissioner which makes that a little awkward but those are the words in your governing resolution and the offices of the secretary and assistant treasure need not be held by a commissioner meaning that you could appoint your staff to do those so I included the bylaws in your packet uh you should elect all five positions to serve their term to January 31st of 2025 or a little delayed in this term um staff's recommendation is the Eda move to elect all five positions with at least the secretary position being held by City staff um I didn't note in my staff report but it would also be appropriate to appoint City staff as the assistant treasur um because we do I I predominantly do um help manage your finances than good thank you Abby um just quick note with recommendation for City staff to be secretary and assistant Treasurer I know you had or with that recommendation be a member of City staff um did you have an individual in mind oh I would recommend myself why not I would stuck in that I don't think I can actually make the motion and um I was so just a point of just a point of note as I was reading through these I was a little surprised that the treasurer position was not a city staff member um is that would that be customary if we I mean I know we're not rewriting these today I do think that we should revisit it I do think after revising all of our governing resolution and our bylaws there's some conflict between them even um I think that is definitely appropriate to re I don't know what the statutory requirements are um but yes I think that it's something that we should take a look at here um also something else that stood out as I was reviewing these um so since that not being the case um we there are areas there are areas where there are um I I I think By Design not necessarily direct alignment between the Eda and the city C there are areas where there are um from purely from a structure standpoint there are there are work streams that are allowed for within the Eda um that may or may not intersect with what with city council um and so and that's a a structural thing based off of the the structure of our Eda um we've tried to manage that in a very like what's good for the city is good for the city and and a very cohesive doing joint workshops and doing a lot to make sure that we have consensus and some um um common Vision common strategy between the Eda and the city council but that's not required in structure and so I just want to say so my P so personally because we have um tried to have anything that's Financial kind of land at the top level at Council just to make sure that everything is in alignment with what we're doing from a budgeting standpoint what we're doing with our Levy standpoint um structurally we don't have to have the treasurer be a city council member but I think that makes sense again just with from my perspective of wanting alignment between the Eda and Council um I think having that Treasurer role be a city council member um is not at all required but I think would just make sense but I'm wide open for feedback on that um because it is just an it's it's an i it's a it's a role that is allowed for um or required within our Eda but just again want wanting that alignment and wanting that financial responsibility to ultimately make sure that we've got everything kind of coming together within the city I think that makes sense for that to be a city council member but again I'm wide open feedback and feedback on any of these positions those are just a couple of things that stood out to me as I was reviewing the packet that Mak sense to me makees sense any other I'm Indi points indiffer okay um with with that um I'll you can just open it up for nominations um I'm happy to entertain nominations or further discussion whatever is the whatever is the preference of the Eda tonight considered the president at this time since you're the chair person then of the Ed that fit your profile me my so I think currently I am the President of yes yes yes would you accept oh sure happy happy to continue in this role for sure yes I'd like to make a motion to elect mayor Bane as the president of the Eda for this a second well maybe just two seconds motion and motion and a second any discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and motion carries um go ahead service thank you uh thoughts on Vice thoughts on vice president and um Treasurer I my my I think my preference would be um that we put these two together um both vice president and treasure together and Abby tell me that's not anything in Conflict right uh I don't believe so I think the only conflict would be a president vice president but I think the um treasur and vice president could be the same okay I would like to see those together and I would like to nominate um council member member husnik um for that role I would I would second that motion if he'd accept that both of those I'll accept yes thank you motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I I abstain oppose one abstention thank you for your service thank you Sam we have okay so we have um filled the roles of president vice president and Treasurer we have um secretary and assistant Treasurer are the two positions that are open is that correct and assistant Treasurer and oh I'm sorry secretary and assistant Treasurer are open I would um nominate Abby for those positions I would second that motion is there a second he didn't give me an option you're supposed to abstain just think it would happen if you weren't here that's right that's right I would happily serve this Commission in that way all right we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose and motion carries thank you for your service thank you Abby okay um our next item this evening is to approve our um minutes from our regular meeting of April 8th 2024 is is there a is there a motion or any changes to those minutes I make a motion that we approve the minutes from the uh see April 8th which one were we at here March 11th 2024 uh April April 8th yeah April 8th yep we have a motion for the April 8th minutes I'll second that and we have a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose and motion car motion carries our next item this evening is consideration of our 2020 um an update on our 2024 budget and consideration for our 2025 budget and Abby thank you um as I noted in a staff memo to the Eda activities for the Eda are funded out of a city fund 212 this is separate from the city's general fund means revenues coming are for an Eda specific Levy that if not spent by the Eda stay within the Eda fund so in other words if you don't spend all your money this year it kind of rolls over and you kind of put it in your savings account um that being said if you spend more than your money we're going to take that's going to come out of your savings account so at the end of 2023 your fund balance was $263,800 the Ed's budget for 2024 was 164 164,00 47,000 um year-to-date expenses were about 28% used um that's pretty common those program funds that $50,000 that's sitting in the program fund category we haven't spent any of that money this year that's uh pretty much reserved for that commercial incentive Improvement program as a reminder that's that exterior facade program that the city expanded last year um the non the The forgivable Loan program we couldn't call it a grant anymore so uh the city council's requested the eda's budget for 2025 staff did draft a proposed uh expenditures for 2025 that would total 23,9 189 um other than wages staff's not recommending any increase in funding the uh for operations contracted Services planning program management um the increase has to do with uh proposal of a plan planning manager to the Community Development Department so that would be a position underneath my position um that would help manage current planning activities uh help with some economic development functions as well as some of the airport functions the position we uh my position is funded 50% from the Eda 50% from the general fund this position would be 75% focused on planning zoning 25% Economic Development Fund um so I have the breakout oops guess you didn't see that anyways um my breakout is on that page two or of my staff report page 11 of the packet which shows that we would be holding our operations contracted Services planning program funds um it does represent a 24% increase um staff recommends the Eda review the proposed expenditures for 2025 and a favorable move to submit the eda's proposed budget to the city council and requesting a 24% 24 to 7% Eda Levy increased to accommodate the proposed expenses thank you Abbie members of the Eda comments questions we're just beginning our budget cycle so now is a great time to just do a completeness check talk about you know is both what's been proposed and also um items that you would like to see that maybe aren't proposed um just good opportunity for some general discussion any thoughts I have one and I know it's never popular with the public however um I've I've long advocated that board member wages be much higher than they are and I'm not going to vote against the um proposal tonight um because I understand that this happens in a in a different time set set by city council but I have long advoc IND at that those in our community that might be a single parent um that have to incur daycare expenses or those types of things are less likely to participate on our boards and commissions as a result of relatively low wages and so I would urge that the council look at our comparative cities when they set those things in the future um I personally am happy to serve at the wages that I have but um I think that having a diversity of opinion is strong on all boards and commissions and I think that our wages prohibit some in our community from doing that it's a good perspective and a conversation point we haven't had for a while so thank you for bringing that up thoughts on either that additional item or any other items you would see on on the budget proposal I've just got a quick question where would um like funding we talked about getting a booth for shows you know for um like Chris say to go to and in Eda the is that in somewhere in here like the like is it the purchase of the booth or is it more of like the registration both um I would have to look I think that we did anticipate doing some marketing and development for Headwaters 123 in 2025 um so it could be a part of those um uh it could be a part of what I've la lumped as planning dollars for TW the 22,500 but it would likely be an operations line item um I have not looked at what the actual expense would be for a city Booth uh to know exactly how much that cost would be but I do believe we could shift our planning Dollars around some to be able to accommodate that I just just looking under uh the 2025 draft expenditures so it's not in any category it's not in any category um I'd have to go back I don't recall necessarily us um indicating that that was necessarily as much of a priority next year Abby can you um we have 22,500 listed on 2025 for Professional Services yep can you remind me what what is that sure so this year those funds are going for the shoreline study we looked at and then also for a match that we might need for the Southwest area study um next year in 2025 we are looking at the um local affordable housing program if we end up moving forward with some program parameters we might need some Consulting funds to help us with that as well as the headwaters 123 so we do have kind of some consensus building some RF P some of that potential marketing um but those dollars were really used to help uh hire Consultants to help kind of do some of that long range work typically okay is there any balance left to pay the um outfit that was doing the downtown plan yes we've already we already have already paid them for any services rendered to date nothing aot nope nothing more would carry into 2025 unless the future kind of that downtown we talk about the sheline study and maybe moving forward with some improvements in that area the downtown boat launch um if there's further planning needs there that might come up as part of 20 late 24 early 25 operations but so right now um we don't have any anticipated needs for the downt town area what would that come under on here underneath that planning if it was planning studies true development we'd be looking at potentially if it's an Eda project uh potentially using the reserves but certainly seeking outside funding assistance if there was a capital project and then just a reminder um make sure I have this straight so um the new position that's proposed it would be um 50% Eda and 50% general fund no my position is 50% Eda 50% general fund the new position would be 25% Eda 25% airport fund and 50% general fund okay Council any other points of feedback I um what what makes me um I I I feel like I feel like the Eda could use some I don't know Workshop session or next step session just to revisit downtown plan where we are with the shoreline study and just to do a gut check on what our next projects are related to the downtown plan um before we get too far into budget finalization I'm not sure we have anything that's like burning right now that's top of mind which is why we're sitting here not having this conversation but also I would hate for us to get later into the year or early next year and somebody wants to revisit that list and we don't have anything budgeted and so I think just it's but you know we we the shoreline study kind of we received those those results we have those results but we haven't really identified our next item and so having some more conversation around what that might be and then just G having consensus on timing of what that either is or is not I think would just be helpful before we get too far into budget because again um in if anything were to come up it would have to fit in what's already budgeted and I just want to I think we would all benefit from just being certain of what that more near-term strategy might look like sure um I will happily prepare something for the July meeting um that will be after staff is being asked and the Eda is being asked to submit your the budgets um a couple things I will just note um so a lot of the work that Eda has done to date has been the planning right you've been planning for Downtown Development and in that downtown plan you kind of call for well then let's do XYZ Capital things so one project that staff is looking into at the direction of the council is some of the beautification and Landscaping along Broadway and the roundabout with Lake Avenue so that is a direct it's a project that's directly coming out of the downtown plan but it's kind of spinning from the Eda now into that construction world so we're really looking at the Eda kind of teeing these up for then the city to kind of maybe help fund um the actual work being done um additionally by that time of our next meeting or shortly right around our next meeting we'll be meeting with the DNR to talk about the downtown launch so that'll also be a good time that we can kind of start to look are there further study is needed to be able to evaluate what are our options or what do we want to keep doing moving forward there happily put all that in um something in the July packet to kind of say okay here's your downtown plan let's review it here's some of the things we have done here's some things other groups are doing right because the Eda isn't the only body that's kind of taking taking that and keeping it moving forward but yes I certainly can provide that any other requests or items that would be helpful to see all right thank you Abby um and if there's no further discussion on this we can move on to our next agenda item which is to uh consider the local affordable housing aid and a discussion on that topic can I just ask one point of clarification uh president Bay members of the commission generally is the Commission in support of this or would you like further information at that next meeting about potential alterations to the budget yep that's generally supportive or I'd like a little more information but I'm just one and I I think um Abby if we can I think July 8th would be kind of our drop dead date to get stuff together so I think there's still time for one more meeting if you want to not make a motion on this tonight but we just so you're kind of teed up for our budget process we will need that um recommendation from e at your next meeting thank you and so we're holding we're we're okay not to take action tonight you you are unless this commission is ready to take action tonight I I just specific to the downtown plan yeah okay is there anything else we want more information on before we would take any action not not hear not hearing anything and so and back to you know with some with some information I think what's what ab's looking for is just a little indication of Are We favorable um with the you know pending this conversation around the downtown um or are there other points of concern anybody have some opinions you're willing to express I think we're favorable I favorable but would just like a little more information on that just to tighten it up yeah I'm comfortable with supporting it tonight if if desired but I'm perfectly okay with more information coming if it helps other Commissioners get to that point I am um I'm comfortable suppor I'm comfortable supporting tonight the I I I do think though we should have at least the the conversation and kind of the gut check on where we are with downtown just again because we are providing providing the funding for those project projects and so um I I think this kind of my completeness check is this is what's in the budget complete and that would I think give some confirmation of that um commissioner or um member Hoy we were just talking about the 2024 budget and wanted to give you an opportunity if you had anything from your packet review that you wanted to mention um we are leaning on not taking action tonight and in and um in our November or in our I'm sorry July meeting getting some information about um kind of just where we are with the downtown plan and talking about what may happen next with the downtown plan because we don't have a lot of specific um new project dollars budgeted in 2024 and um I had suggested we take that action just to do a gut check and just make sure that there's nothing out there in the near term that we wanted to fund um so it's kind of kind of where we are so far any other points of feedback we were just getting ready to transition to our next topic and so don't want to move on if you have some other feedback you'd like that's fine okay okay with that um we can move to um discussion on the local affordable housing aid thank you um president Bane members of the Commission in 2023 the state of Minnesota created a framework to provide uh new sales tax revenue local affordable housing aid to Forest Lake and assist many local governments but specifically Forest Lake will be receiving um a considerable amount of money for affordable housing um in perpetuity as long as this ta tax exists preliminary estimates for the fiscal year 2024 which will receive our first dispersement next month so it comes in two dispersements a year is a little over 210,000 but as you see in the staff report by 2027 it's anticipated that could be up close to $350,000 these are per year dollars that would come um that we have three years to spend the money after it has been dispersed to the city or if not to transfer it to a local Housing Trust Fund if we don't use it or transfer it we have to return it to the state of Minnesota so as we prepare to receive our first semiannual payment in July um I'm bringing this before the Eda and subsequently we'll go before the Planning Commission uh prior to talking with the city council but what are our thoughts in using those funds um we will need to develop some parameters uh around the use of those funds who's going to disperse those funds how do they review requests um and so this is just a one is kind of provided as an FYI but two to see what is maybe some of the eda's preliminary thoughts on the use of these affordable housing dollars so I do note the different types of Aid are the the what the aid may be used for one is uh emergency rental assistance so there are some income restrictions really the use is to provide direct assistance for emergency rental housing some considerations this is these types of uh funding requests usually go through County or other nonprofit programs it's not as common for municipal jurisdictions or local governments to have programs of this nature another uh use for funds would be new construction or redevelop again income restrictions um the income restrictions you see here for both of these were and the next one where you see the 80% area median income but the priority is for those that are less than 50% of the area median income that new construction Redevelopment would be to partner with or provide direct support for Developers for construction acquisition financing these are for buildings for four more units there are some requirements for ADA Compliant units and sensory accessible units um those requirements are also applicable for rental Rehabilitation those can be for multif family loans grants for Rehab energy and water rebates um both of these uh or that program may be an opportunity to assist in the rehabilitation of Aging rental stock within the community that has been identified I think um if maybe not in some of our plans but in many of um conversations I've had with other members of the community some of you some of our housing our rental housing is becoming a little more aged and then Rehabilitation of owner occupied housing this is loans or grants for rehabilitation exterior improvements energy and water rebates so this one is interesting in that it would fund um for it would provide funding for up to 115% of the area median income and that's an area above the 80% that has very low if not no funding sources currently so in other words there there's little to no funding programs for that above 80% Ami certainly not above over the 100% Ami and staff does see this as an opportunity for residents who would traditionally exceed income um uh program existing income requirements I note in the comprehensive plan we have a few different goals one is to improve and maintain existing housing units and we would consider activities aimed at Rehabilitation or acquisition of properties for maintenance purposes and increase availability of new affordable housing that would be where this uh City's HRA or the Eda to be active in supporting new affordable housing opportunities and development program part of the reason that this is coming before you is by state law an Eda may be an HRA we're still looking through some of our um documents to see if we've actually taken on that official designation we may have to take some action for the Eda to become the HRA these are things that we'll keep looking at as we further expand but also the housing implementation plan of the comprehensive plan indicates that we would maintain existing housing units develop new affordable housing units and preserve existing affordable housing units so all of the program funds really go to help support all of our housing goals um so staff is bringing this to the count or the Eda tonight um to just mention that the funding that's out there allows for us to disperse the funds but it doesn't allow us to use the funds for program Administration so in other words we get money yay but we don't get money to help with staffing needs or program development anything of that nature so staff does have some concern as we look at how we use these funds that we're not necessarily creating programs that's just adding to the the work already demanding workload in our community we don't currently have any housing assistance programs administered by the um so that being said um staff is necessarily uh is uh asking or mentioning that that there is Merit in creating a Housing Trust Fund as a place to put the funds a dedicated spot that we hold them until we develop some parameters for which the city would like to disperse the funding the Eda should re review the material um and just discuss whether or not there's any sort of priority areas the city should focus on as it explores the use of local affordable housing just going back to that table again of saying rental assistance um new construction or Redevelopment then Rehabilitation of rentals Rehabilitation of owner occupied certainly can move forward with exploring all of these options and bringing something back but wanted to know if there was any kind of first blush gut check on the Eda of areas we should really hone in a more on and Abby have we closed the door on partnering with the county do we know for sure so initially when this came out you know the county staff runs these programs and there was a lot of talk about cities creating Partnerships with them to do that that was before the state took away our administrative funding we have not the county um early on had said that they're more than welcome or we're more than welcome to give the funding to them and they would disperse it within uh the community on our behalf um at this time if there isn't um we we don't have confirmation from the county that they have the Staffing to do that if there's no funding for administration we're going to continue to explore that partnership as well as any other partnership possible that we could utilize these fund utilize These funds in the in a way that doesn't impact our overall operations our general fund our your operating fund those sorts of things yeah comments mland yes Abby do you know what the Ami is here um I would have to look it uh it's really um I I I I have documentation I was going to include it in here um rough gas no what makes it kind of tricky is that we'll have the Ami from like 2018 2019 right before we adopted the 2040 comprehensive plan um but that Ami has increased pretty substantially in the Metro region since that time and I've had trouble trying to find the estimated or what we consider our current Ami for Forest Lake or if it is just a Metro Ami so to short answer no I don't have that information for you but I am looking into it and then I I know that this is a new legislative uh piece that came on board are you aware if there was a pilot prior to this legislation with any other city or county that had these options I am not um there are other cities and counties administer housing funds affordable housing funds um have wellestablished programs in place so anything that we would potentially create we'd be using probably some of the same requirements or parameters um I think one of the things that we're really wanting to do staff's really wanting to do is let's create a safe space for the money and we have 3 years let's keep learning more about the the program funds they use and what partners are out there that can help us use these funds locally in our community but that doesn't necessarily put a a significant um strain or a burden on the existing Staffing Resources I um I I would encourage us to find have that partnership um I'm a little if you just think about having to start these programs from SC from scratch and from the beginning and just looking at even just the underwriting that would be required to get to um confirm income restrictions um you're getting to a level of administration and a level of underwriting that we just don't do in this type of area we're very Adept in building and you know reviewing plans but we're talking about a a human Ser a a level a Human Service that we just typically don't provide and so we don't have any of that foundation on collecting that type of information and then Translating that information into a decision um so so us starting from scratch is certainly an option but also seems rather inefficient if we have other communities that are find themselves in the same place and so if there are networks or um I I think about you know joint boards or um any any sort of a um a group of cities that might come together to have common administration of these funds so that the funds can be individually invested in each Community just seems to make a lot of sense since if that if that continues to be the state's position that there that the funds themselves cannot be used for any sort of administration um I just I I love that we have the access to the funds and we can certainly have a lot of conversation about what they should be used for um but any of that is going to require I think a fair amount of just Foundation Building that if we don't have to build that foundation and if we can partner with somebody um that can do that that I think is I would agree that sounds like an entire department right a lot of stress on the staff yeah we it's like an Department with three people in it I mean believe the CDA will be asking the Washington County Board to increase their Levy to cover the Staffing for this that last year the they could use was it up to 10% for administration so it's only been since this legislative session that they made that change that you couldn't use it for administration so that's why last year there was a lot of Talk Amongst some of the cities in the county of of you know getting together anou of understanding of how our money would be used if we gave it to the county and I think they're just trying to figure out um if there's support there at the Washington County Board to fund those through the a County uh tax levy and then we could explore that partnership I think we'll continue to I mean as the time goes on in your work plan you've seen this is in your work plan because you'll likely have a role the state says you can be an H um I think if I remember right it might even be a year before we kind of have a little bit more parameters in place or Partnerships that we've explored I think tonight I just was kind of curious more than anything um the comp plan and our housing goals say that we're going to preserve affordable housing and we're going to buy or help fund new affordable housing um we don't have necessarily housing goals related to rental assistance would you like us to continue to look for options um for partners in rental assistance or focus on that Rehabilitation and the new construction exclusively to meet those goals I'm sorry was this something that you could accept a decline we are just going to get it and if we don't use it we give it back in three years okay what I so you give it back to the state understand so sorry but so I think there's an important distinction here about why we should really push for a partnership with the county is if we don't use it in three years it goes to the state but if nothing else shouldn't we have a partnership so it goes to the county and it stays within Washington County rather than going back to the state and being spent anywhere else at least that keeps it Regional if if nothing else that's something to think of as we we go through this discussion what I I don't get is the state is giving us this money and they're not allowing any of it to be used for administration but there's got to be a lot of administration and rules regulations there's got to be a change in the city budget then to allow for that and you're you're getting 209 in and what are you going to pay out 75,000 to have a full-time administrator for this it just it diminishes what you're getting we see what I'm saying yes and that's where um I don't staff has not been of the opinion that we would be asking the city council for funding for a new position to administer the funds as Christina had mentioned um as of last year 10% of the housing fund so you think 210,000 that was would have only been 20,000 that could have been used for administration that still probably wouldn't have been enough to support a program what I'm saying is um that I think that there's Merit in continuing to explore options for Partnerships that we could give our funds to another agency or nonprofit that could help us achieve our goals but not actually require us to administer the programs or use our existing or future Staffing to use those funds so you're looking for something already in existence excuse the simple questions yeah just trying to grab hold of this so some entity might be out there that's administrating this type of funds already and it's okay with the state that Forest Lake puts their funds in their care and they make the decisions about who enforc like gets that money well what it would be is the determination of of funding it would be some agreement so let's just say you're a nonprofit partner or the county you have a program that already has parameters if we agree that's where we'd want to put our funding um we would have an agreement with that organization that potentially we may weigh in on those applications but if those applicants meet the city's parameters if we''ve said we want to only fund provide 50% of any project 1 million or greater you know some you name it um then essentially the agreement that we have can be as specific as that or it can be just as specific as we give it to you and you have to put it back into our community okay so we can come up with guidelines for the city of course like can we hand it over to this entity to administer we could we could yes we could I think right now it's what are all the cods what are the agencies and organizations and programs out there that we may want to invest in that could do this on our behalf and then they will charge the city to administer this but those funds cannot come out of this 209 is that correct they may we don't know at this time so some nonprofit organizations um may be using their own budget dollars for dispersement to an applicant whereas if they can use our dollars to disperse and then take those dispersement dollars and use those for their Staffing that might help offset their budgetary constraints but I don't know right now exactly any of that because we really haven't started to explore this whatsoever more than anything right now I think the one thing that I'm bringing this to the plan the Ed the Planning Commission and the council is this money is going to come in we would like to have a safe place to put it we put it in the Housing Trust Fund the state has said you've substantially spent it and then I think we take some time to really explore what are those potential Partners what are those potential programs what are the pros and cons what are the budgetary potential impacts to the city um to really start to look at how do we use those funds not a 24 thing and quite likely probably not even a 25 thing I wouldn't imagine thank you it sounds to me though that even if they go to another entity that we're going to be really involved with it and have a certain amount of responsibility on how they are distributed is that a true statement or I mean we have responsibility in how those funds would be distributed because ultimately they're funding to us so either way there's going to be some administrative cost no matter what there might be some certainly at the onset of development of agreements with these entities right I don't think the city is just gonna hand over exploration I think any dollars before we would um really know that those dollars were meeting the intent of the program goals going to the the needs of our community so yes there might be some administrative costs but not necessarily in administering the program but setting up uh the use of the funds for Success again I think depends on what group it goes to right if it's as simple as you give it to Washington County for programs they already run and you have an agreement that says we just want you to use Forest Lakes dollars in Forest Lake there's probably not a lot of ongoing Administration I'm not sure what other you know groups and nonprofits ab's thinking of those might require more if it's not something that they're they're used to working with as funds Washington County's getting their own set of funds to do this so they're going to know all the program requirements they're just would potentially be getting more money from the city but again the biggest question there is is the county going to be willing to take on our extra role without the funding for Staffing so as to the question kind of on Abby you said the whats right so what what would we be interested of there's I think four four categories that are allowed for I'd be interested in feedback of prioritization of those four categories um thoughts of ass assuming we're able to solve for the administrat the administration and we've kind of leapt over that herdle I I get that that's a big hurdle but if that is the case um what would we some preferences or what would be thoughts as to those priorities anyone have any thoughts I have some yeah so if if we can somehow figure out how to avoid administrative costs and I suspect that the easiest way is with the county I would personally trust them first um and then I would lean towards potential nonprofit Partners if you can't get past the administrative cost my my next thought really is send the money back to the state and because the amount of money here when you break it down isn't going to it's not a big impact the amount of work that our staff would have to put in I don't know that the the benefit to our community is truly gained on that um you know how many affordable houses can you create with $200,000 in a year is extremely minimal when we look at how other governments have created affordable housing um that's in a lot of communities not even one residential facility one unit um and remember you don't have to spend the money all in one year so you could take three five years and then you could have a substantial amount to put towards yes a new development yeah and so I was going to say the the the next step for me is I'm very okay with creating the the trust fund and putting the money in there should a developer or or something come along over time that comes to fruition if we can't get past that administrative cost um but I'd be very hesitant on pushing staff or other budgets to realign to really meet this goal I personally think it's a really ill thought out um way to do affordable housing from the state legislature and I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the future um when when legislative swings happen that that this got pulled out or when um budget constraints happen um that even the party that put it in place pulls it out themselves and so I would very much caution any future spending of money that's allocated yet not received and in that fund I have to I have to Echo member less' concerns I mean especially so I just have to say it right like this is literally the week of the um verdict on the um feeding our future trial right and so I'm just nervous that anytime you've got grant money that isn't associated with strong Administration you just is opening up for a whole host of bad things to happen and so we need to have strong administration of whatever is going to happen it's just unfortunate that that's not funded that's not paid for um as it relates specifically to the program areas one thing that does stand out at me is Rehabilitation of owner occupied programs seems like it's an area that may slip through the cracks um there are other areas in our community that do Emer ly rental assistance we have some things already in place around promotion of new construction or Redevelopment I always think a lot of our affordable housing is actually most affordable housing is actually sitting in our older community the older um neighborhoods and there isn't anything to help with that bathroom remodel or new windows or new some of the things that make those homes um more habitable and extend their life and um so and also if that's the category that has the higher Ami and it's kind of that bubble that doesn't get other assistance um as long again as we're able to have strong Administration that is an area where there's probably a fair amount of unmet need and you could do those projects and smaller increments that you actually see some real benefit I'd hate to give money back and to just not have it come somewhere within our community but again the Administration has to be strong so to solell for that other thoughts around those priorities or feedback on this thought on you know Rehabilitation of owner occupied you know any kind of remodeling project it would e up a lot of money in a hurry it does and so far how far how thin can you make this and in the meantime you had a bunch of costs involved it's going to be a tough uh decision it's going to take a lot more talk about it no question about it that was going to be my comment if you got 200,000 and remod for a bathroom or updating you're talking 20,000 you're doing 10 houses a year how are you going to pick 10 people you're going to have hundreds of applicants and you're only to use 10 is that fair I it's that is a fair statement that is it'd be interesting to see like are other communities doing a lottery system or like what how do you because the demand is going to very much outpace what is available and going to throw a comment about the rental assistance rents and Forest Lake are the highest point they've ever been and the problem is the people in those rentals are potential first-time home buyers but they've spent so much money on their rent they don't qualify to move up so they're stuck in this Loop and I'm not you know maybe that isn't the best choice but it certainly would help a lot of people because rents are I can't believe what rents are had you know husband and wife or a couple whatever whatever it is one salary goes strictly to rent and those are our our next firsttime home buyers right and then seven or eight years later they move up again to the next bracket but we don't have that because they don't have any money but so this is great I appreciate the dialogue and the comments um I think as I keep moving forward as we keep moving forward as we talk with the county um I'll bring this back even though on your work plan it I think we kind of kicked it out maybe even another year before that next dispersement the idea would be in within this next year we'll keep having these conversations and trying to kind of hone in on um figuring out what kind of partners are out there to help us potentially use these funds um I'm not afraid of letting those funds sit and I'm also not afraid of sending them back because we don't have the resources to use them do I want that to occur no I would really love that we utilize these dollars to meet some of the unmet needs in in the community um but this is the first step it's just starting the dialogue and so I appreciate it I'll share your comments um with both the Planning Commission and the council and I'll keep you posted it might be you know maybe even it's one of those things that kind of quarterly we revisit what we've what staff has been doing in that time period to kind of keep that conversation going and what we're learning and stuff so any other thoughts or points of feedback all right um let's move on to our next agenda item which is uh consideration of the 2024 work plan um I just 2024 work plan yeah it's just an update was more provided as an FYI in your packet we developed the uh work plan it was March so it was a little late in the kind of first quarter when we adopted the work plan but Commissioners requested just reviewing this of kind of putting it on quarterly that at the end of each quarter I'll bring it back before you to kind of give you an update of where we're at on certain things so uh draft business subsidy policy we've had that draft for a while um the Eda and city council did make recommend making minor amendments our City attorney though has said that we do need to do a little bit more to strengthen the policy so we've been in discussions with the city attorney but no Amendments have been made on that uh the Southwest area study the grant scope of work is being refined with the city engineer I should have something more for you at your next meeting on the submitt of that Grant and then the shoreline study was released to the city council uh the council accepted its findings um and then we do have set up I mentioned a meeting with the DNR to talk about that study to talk about the two primary options keeping it in place or moving it um if the launch is kept in place uh will need some work and so that's kind of the start of the conversations with the DNR about their favorability to helping fund something about a launch in downtown Forest Lake in the relatively near future um I did mention the additional items housing was an agenda Topic at your meeting uh Headwaters 123 was not an agenda topic item but I did have just an FYI that we did receive a request for um request for information from deed for a potential development site uh or business looking to relocate somewhere within Minnesota and they're looking for people that bit communities that have public land so these are common we get them every other month or so a lot of times the headwaters 123 site is not eligible it's just for some reason or another um they want too much land area or they want too little land area um this uh it was Project Maxwell was um looking to secure land for a new manufacturing facility like uh mediate medium or moderate industrial 100 15 to 135 jobs they were only looking for 10 to 25 acres which kind of fit well with that ghost planning we had talked about but isn't necessarily something we're actively marketing um in the end staff did not submit for project Maxwell because we learned that Conexus would not be able to provide the electrical electrical capacity that project Maxwell needed um in the time that they wanted to ramp up their production that being said um I did reach out to our um the vice president of relations and their new government relations coordinator Conexus government relations coordinator who um is setting up a meeting with myself and chrisen with the county in Great River Energy to start talking about the ramp up capacity at Headwaters 123 so several of the rfis that have gone out we just have not been eligible to submit on because the electrical capacity though there is quite a bit there is not what a lot of the higher users so even like a data center needs for the site so I wanted to at least just let you know that we're continuing those conversations on Headwaters 123 but as much as we're trying to Market it in certain Arenas that might bring us more jobs or help provide more tax base um one of the biggest limitations is the power capacity at the moment is is one of the things that struck me about that site that I thought we had marketed was dual power was there back was there also power available at that site with Excel or is that a maybe an aspirational item that isn't near-term available I think that there is um and that's where're pulling Great River Energy into the conversation as well I think um can help us start those conversations um it's a great thing to remind me to try to get Exile energy into the room to see understanding is that there it's nearby right for both of them yeah that's but that was I infrastructure there is not quite there if that makes sense yeah so we're marketing it as a data center but we don't have enough power for the data center to aren't we trying to sell that that is true kind of a problem it is it's kind of a surprise I thought we were led to believe especially talking with Chris that we were ready to go that's what I I can't help but also question if the data center of five years ago's Electric needs might have been less than the data center of today um I'll put that on as something that we can talk about in the next month or so after I've met with these electrical providers um it could be that I just didn't have the right data right in front of me but in talking with Conexus they have said they wouldn't be able to provide the needs for the site it's their R time to do to provide it I don't have that information either last year this time it was like 18 months before we 18 to 24 months before we could ramp up wow that's a lot so in talking with Chris he thinks that having these conversations with our electrical providers now saying we're turning down rfis might start um increasing the interest to increase the capacity earlier than or uh proactively as opposed to reactively was there water requirements reduced something was reduced and then I was talking to Chris uh several months ago um and we talked about if a data center comes in the water for cooling is you have to ramp up for that but he said no things have changed so is that that's something maybe you should inquire about so we're prepared knowing Supply them with enough water sure um yep I uh we weren't My Hope was through this the second half of this year to gain more information as much information as I can about Headwaters 123 um we've had conversations about are we we're marketing for a data center is that the best thing I get inquiries pretty consistently from other developers who have interest that doesn't align with that or doesn't align with the nonr itial um Workforce opportunity um tax based opportunities and so um we have it on the work plan as noted that we would start kind of doing some more consensus building between the Eda and the council in the first half of 2025 but my goal is to kind of keep pulling all that information and data together and as I get it I can bring more to you um I will say that since I've been on board and really taken a much more active role in the eda's operations and helping Market Headwaters 123 um there are some some constraints that I think just haven't been shared with the Eda and the Council of whether or not that is being fairly marketed or or advertised as it you know well I'm just I mean when I first got on the board we were talking about how this was a data center now if I'm a company that requires a data company and I realize that I can't build my building I can but I can't have power for two years change what we're selling it as yeah I'd be very interested this you know the eda's done a lot of I I think we've tried to have like identify the barriers remove the barriers what's the barrier and so this hasn't come up as a barrier and not to say that it doesn't exist but if it is let certainly um identify what our options are and you know I I can appreciate sometimes those data center sites in particular are it is a long term it's a long project right so from the time of initial RFI to an actual proposal to actually you know dirt sometimes is a you know a couple years of window and so if that is what everyone's been operating under is that it's a it's available yes it's not you know available for six months and if we're talking about the same thing that's one thing but if we're really missing on some basic Foundation of utility availability yeah we need to know that and need to Pivot accordingly if that's what we need to do or again whatever that right answer is so the last um Sant RFI that we responded on and were selected as project pepper um that was 2017 so most of the data that we've kind of got on site specific is 6 years old now granted we've done like the ex excipio study since then but a lot of that did talk about that ramp up capacity um I think the there's a lot that's changed in the market in terms of supply and demand in terms of getting a generator you know all of that kind of stuff um that has affected uh the current conditions of it so I'll continue to pull together information um I'm not going to we probably won't have a lot of time this year to focus a ton on Headwaters 123 but I certainly can bring some stuff back to you in the next few months just um updating you on where we're currently sitting and those opportunities and constraints category in this 2024 climate the other issue with that piece of property is that there's a a Interceptor line going right down in the middle of it and we have received word from the mech Council that it would cost there's like 15 to 20 million to move right so that's not an option so we may be having to look at something different than a data center in there so that they can use smaller partials parcels and because I believe they can build a street over it if I'm not mistaken on that there's a certain width you know and the thing is really deep too but um that really has been part of the problem there too and I think we need to talk about that so it's not just just data centers but we need to explore some other options there oh thank you for the update and that's all I have for updates at the moment okay and that was also on our agenda under City updates any other City updates we should talk should talk about not that I have at the moment no okay any questions for Abby all right we can move on um do we have anything from Christopher Washington County uh we don't okay nette for the chamber well hello thank you uh president Bane and Commissioners um we've been busy uh I can appreciate your conversation about bylaws we're in the midst of updating and uh ours as well so I know what what that process entails and so we also were talking about treasur roles and all that so uh so I I hear you on that um we did just a few weeks ago well probably a month ago now hosted our legislative update breakfast and so we had invited uh so for our chamber we actually serve Three Counties and so we had invited our Senators and House Representatives um across all three and so that was a great success uh Jenny I think you've been uh pro pro those kinds of things in the past and so uh we had a good turnout and um we're happy to deepen those relationships with those folks that serve us uh in St Paul along with that we have also been uh hosting some significant kinds of uh ribbon cutting some of our visits so whether it's uh the grand opening of the American Legion the groundbreaking for midco and then just last week um the truck Line's big grand opening uh project as well uh so those have been those have been fun and and uh some high higher profile kinds of things for the chamber and then coming fourth we have our annual golf event which comes up in July and so that's well on its way way and right alongside of that is the second annual Street uh Lake Fest Street dance that'll be in the parking lot over at Mard so the both of those are well on their way um one thing that is new this year we uh I'm working with chrisen and also uh the folks at um Force Lake High School career launch program and we will be uh hosting a co- business and teacher Summit um right at the end of the summer right before school starts and so uh so we've been doing more and more with u Mike and Molly at career launch so those are the things that are um High highest on our our list as far as the area and gladly answer any questions if you have them very good thank you nette any questions for nette all right any other items to come up this evening not hearing any I will entertain a motion to adjourn so moved have a we have a motion and a second all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose and we're adjourned thank you everyone [Music]