City of Goodview Economic Development Authority Minutes March 9, 2016

The meeting was called to order by Ms. Ashley Czaplewski at 6:00 p.m.

Upon Roll Call: Ms. Ashley Czaplewski, Mr. Dennis Meyer, Ms. Alice Zimmer, and Mr. Charlie Andring were present. Mr. Dick Ledebuhr was absent.

City Staff Present: City Administrator Mr. Dan Matejka, and Ms. Jessica Ganrude of CEDA.

The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Mr. Andring moved and Ms. Zimmer seconded to approve the agenda for the meeting. All voted aye and the motion carried.

Ms. Czaplewski moved and Mr. Meyer seconded to approve the minutes of the January 6, 2016 EDA meeting. All voted aye and the motion carried.

Under New Business;

a) Ms. Ganrude gave an update on the two trail grants, both of which are sponsored by the DNR, she has been working on for the City to connect the LaCanne Park trail with 54th Avenue along Highway 61. She submitted the final application for the Recreational Trail Program (RTP) on February 29, 2016. This grant is awarded in June, and distributed in November of this year. The other grant is the Local Trails Connection Program, which is due at the end of March. Mr. Matejka informed the Board members that the estimated cost of the project is just over $91,000, including a small contingency amount and engineering.

Ms. Ganrude also spoke about trying to put as much EDA pertinent information as possible on the City’s website. These would include such things as; EDA agendas and minutes, and contact information with short bio and photo of each EDA member. Other items that could be included once completed would be; an available land inventory, a business directory, and the various forms and documents to be used by any prospective applicant.

Ms. Ganrude inquired about what the EDA plans to do with the levy dollars earmarked for the EDA the City will receive in 2016. The general thoughts of the Board pointed towards the creation of a Revolving Loan Fund. Ms. Ganrude pointed out it might be in the best interest of the City to have a plan and/or policy in place for such a fund. After a short discussion, it was decided Ms. Ganrude should put together a draft of a plan/policy based on what other CEDA cities are doing, and bring this document to the May 4, 2016 EDA meeting for discussion purposes. b) Ms. Lisa Herr, the Executive Director of the 7 Rivers Alliance Group, briefly went through a handout she provided showcasing different events the organization has either already completed or will be conducting in the future. This included summarizing the 2015 Business Response and Economic Development Survey. She also mentioned that her organization has reached an agreement with Southeast Technical College allowing the organization to be housed there one day a week to help serve Winona County. Ms. Herr invited the Board to contact her with suggestions or ideas for projects that would be of interest to the City of Goodview. After Ms. Herr left, a short discussion took place where it was decided the City will stick with its decision not to renew its membership with the 7 Rivers Alliance Group. It was discussed if there is a seminar of interest to the City; we could hopefully just plan to attend at a non-member rate.

c) Mr. Meyer moved and Mr. Andring seconded a motion for the City to complete the application from SE MN Together showing the City’s interest in possibly being chosen to participate in the Economic & Community Design offering being coordinated by the University of MN SE Regional Sustainable Development Partnership. All voted aye and the motion carried. Mr. Matejka was directed to complete the application.

Under Old Business;

a) Ms. Ganrude asked for feedback on the most recent draft of the City brochure. Ms. Zimmer offered a few corrections and suggestions about word choice and punctuation. It was suggested that Ms. Ganrude email a corrected version to all the EDA members for final approval, and once that was completed they could go to print. Ms. Ganrude reviewed a printing proposal from West End Printing. Ms. Czaplewski moved and Ms. Zimmer seconded to have 100 copies printed at West End Printing once the final draft was approved. All voted aye and the motion carried.

b) Discussion took place on where to possibly distribute the brochures. Some suggestions were; the Winona Tourist Information Center on Huff Street, the Winona County Historical Society, any business with a lobby/reception area, the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce, and all the Realtor offices. Mr. Matejka suggested he put together a list of potential sites, and then distribute the list to the EDA members by email for review.

There was no Other Business.

Mr. Andring moved and Mr. Meyer seconded to adjourn. All voted aye and the motion carried.

Adjournment at 7:02 p.m.

NOTE: The next regular meeting of the Goodview Economic Development Authority will be on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. at Goodview City Hall.