You know what that pandmic did. >> All right. Good morning everyone and welcome to the June 1st uh Morehead Economic Development Authority meeting. Uh, we'll call the meeting to order. Amy, can we do roll call, please? >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members present
today include Anderson, Belco, Le Point, Moore, Chaeld, Soick, and White. >> Thank you. And do we have any agenda amendments today? >> There will be no agenda agenda amendments from us today.
>> Yep. Uh, looking to the board here. Do we have approval of the May 4th, 2026 meeting minutes? >> White moves to approve. >> Second more. >> Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? Same sign.
>> Okay, that is approved. Uh, looking to number four on the agenda, citizens to be heard. Um, Stacia, are you going to give a presentation for Greater MBA? Hi there everyone. Um, I'm Staca Sitesman, executive director of the
Greater MBA. I actually have come here with a little bit of a twist. I have a request for you guys. So, as you guys know, Center Avenue is going to be closing down even more and I've been working with Sean Severson and Laura over there. We're going to do an event
called Tour to Cones. It's just a simple way to highlight those businesses that'll be closed even further. So, the participants that are joining um they will have to come up with like a
gimmick, so a sale or an event. Every day of the closure will highlight a different business. A lot of them will be multiple times. So, what we're going to do is we're going to blast it on social media. And if you guys could, if I could burden you to share those when
the time comes, that would be great. The MBA is going to do what we're going to call MBA crawls to help people through those construction times, hoping that once we do it once, um, it'll become easier for them to go alone. Um, but yeah, we're kicking that off. We're
going to have an informational meeting on June 8th for the businesses that want to be a part of it. Um, the biggest thing we're going to do to kick it off is they're going to have to describe their Morehead why. Why do they want to stay in Morehead? And we're going to hopefully pull on those heartstrings a
little bit and get people down to Center Avenue, even in this construction time. And hopefully it'll be one of those things we can copy and paste as we go through First Avenue and then hopefully someday ETH because that needs to be worked on as well. So hopefully this is
an event we can um copy and work on and do for other businesses as construction continues. Um it's very much in trial stages, so there'll be bumps in the road and we know that. But it's just a good time for everybody to come together and
support each other. So does anybody have any questions? >> Go ahead. >> Uh SA, you mentioned it's on June 8th. Is this open to anyone or just the businesses located there? And then what time is that? >> Um, we're kind of doing just the businesses around there, but I mean,
we're not, you know, we're not going to card anybody or kick anybody out, but that's what the meeting is centered around. We're actually going to have Ian Carlson coming in, too, and give a little presentation about how to sustain during um construction and stuff. Laura was nice enough to set that up. Um, but
it's from 6:00 to 7:00 on June 8th. >> Okay. Thank you. Council member White. >> Mr. Chair. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. So, I wanted to make sure we're clear on this. So, it's not that the first night is that just for the businesses to sort of plan what you the the the crawl that you'll
be doing, right? Yeah. And just talk about like our expectation for the businesses. You know, they'll have to support each other. They'll have to plug other people's social media as well as we're going to kind of request that people have a positive attitude about the construction. this is not going to
be a platform for them to complain or talk about how hard it is even though it is. We all know that. Um but this is just going to be a positive part like hey let's um celebrate the fact that we're coming together and that this project is going to be really beautiful
when it's done. We're going to celebrate that. Um we're also going to have a mascot called Kevin the Cone. Um so that'll be super exciting. We can we'll have people taking pictures with them and stuff like that. So great. And so then um what will do you know yet what
the dates will be for if people want so it sounds like again that part is the planning part the date when you want people to actually go out and do the crawl for going to local. >> We will keep you posted because it depends on when the construction will start. >> Okay. Which I guess bidding is is still
going on right now. But um we'll keep you posted the best we can and you know I'll if I can if I can email you and keep you updated about like where we are but we just wanted at least those businesses to know what's happening so that they can possibly brainstorm a
little bit about what they would want to do for those celebrations. I know um the bookstore is really looking at maybe doing a couple of book signings and stuff like that. Luckily, I happen to know a local author um that wants to do one there. So, stuff like that.
>> Obviously, you you're not surprised that I love the idea. We were, you know, we talked about it at the last meeting and so I think if there's even other things that we can do, I know we've talked about this of like just the EDA where we the we've got folks here that are ambassadors in our community and can get
the word out. And so, and maybe one thing that we could add to it would be to have like a specific night where we say we're going to have the, you know, the economic development authority, uh, commissioners, we're all agreeing to go out on the crawl that night or city council, too, so that we get out there
and, um, we can promote it and really encourage people to be out there supporting our our businesses that are affected by it. So, if you, you know, want to add that in, I think I, you know, I'm sure people here would be really happy to get out there and have a specific some specific things where we just say we're going to, you know, we
want to do everything we can to lift up those businesses. >> That would be great. >> Great. Thanks. >> Any other members have questions for Stacia? I would add I think if uh I look to our council members too maybe this is something that gets brought up at our
next council meeting or Stacia or somebody from Greater MBA could present some some ideas as we get closer to it uh and have some more information. I think the broader we can get that out. Um I know obviously the the impacts of Leven Street has been great to a lot of businesses but I know there's a lot of
optimism um really for the the completion of that project. So hopeful to to continue to support those business and thank you for uh working with those folks to to see maybe have an opportunity to kind of get some exposure there as well. >> Yeah. And please if you have any other
ideas, I'm like I love hearing them. Can't always implement them, but I I love having discussions about it. So I can't I can't know what I don't know. >> All right. >> Thank you, Staca. >> Thank you so much. >> Moving on to item number five, uh
commissioners reports. Do any of the commissioners have any reports today? I will just maybe add one. I had the opportunity to uh go to Washington DC with Fargo Morehead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce a couple weeks ago on the DC flyin. Um there was about 30 individuals
on the on the trip. Uh it was great to uh get some good camaraderie about the issues that our region is is facing. Uh we obviously had the opportunity to meet with our delegation from Minnesota which I thought was uh very helpful. Um, but overall a good couple days in DC and just encourage folks that if you have
the opportunity to attend that in the future, it was a uh just a a wonderful time just to be with folks that have like mind and um and really wanting to see some issues be uh brought up within our community that we're facing and and hopefully having our our legislative delegation know what we're going through
and and seeing if we can get some opportunities through that. So that was just my update today for for the authority. Um hearing uh none other commissioner reports. to move on to item 6A which is presentations. Uh the first one we have Laura Karun with the Spark
Center. >> Good morning. Uh it's great to be here with all of you. So, the last few months have been an absolute whirlwind with the Spark Center. And since the building has been open, folks have been seemingly using every inch of that space, which is
really exciting. People love the booth spaces and the different seating options and the co-working space. Um, the focus rooms are used for all sorts of things like meetings and trainings and calls and test taking and recording podcasts. Um, and people just really can't believe that the beautiful meeting rooms are
free to reserve. So, it's been really fun to share those um those things with our community. The Spark Center programming also kicked off. So, I wanted to give you a snapshot of what we've been up to so far. Um back in March, we had our first photo shoot in
the new space. Um so, we had some local entrepreneurs come and participate and take some photos that we can use um on the library website and with Spark Center um programming and things like that. Uh we also had an influencer day and co-working preview. So we invited
small business owners from across the region to come and tour the space and to be the first to test out co-working in that space really even before the library was actually open. So we're creating some ambassadors that way. We had opening day on April 8th and it
seemed as soon as we opened people were flooding the space and just so excited to be there. Um, we also I was able to give Senator Tina Smith a tour of the Spark Center and introduce her to some of the Morehead entrepreneurs. Um, so she had an opportunity to talk with them
and kind of learn what that space means to them. So, it was fun to have um her to be able to be part of that um and to really see the impact already. also given many many tours of the space.
Um if anyone hasn't been there and wants a tour, wants to know more about the Spark Center, what we're doing there, please feel free to let me know. Um also, we held our first Spark School event in May. So Josh Soul from the SBDC
taught a class that was called Claiming and Maintaining Your Google Business Profile. So he came and did a really um thorough presentation on how to make sure that people can find your business on Google and it was really beneficial for our entrepreneurs that were there.
You'll see some f familiar faces in some of the photos. Um we had our first spark bites which is a lunch hour event. So at this one we had leaders from local organizations that support entrepreneurs in Morehead come and present on the resources that they offer. Um and then
they had a chance to get to know some of the local entrepreneurs that were in attendance. Um we had SBDC, we had Northakota Women's Business Center and Downtown Morehead, Inc. all representing that day. And it's been really awesome to collaborate with organizations all
throughout the process of planning this and now actually doing classes and programming and things in the Spark Center. Um Ian and Amy at the West Central Minnesota SPDC have been phenomenal partners. So thank you Amy. It's been really wonderful working with you and hosting classes and promoting
the space and all of those things. Um, and we're continuing to find more and more people coming out of the woodwork that want to partner with us. So, it's been really exciting um to be able to do that. Um, it's a major goal of the Spark Center really from the beginning, not to recreate the wheel, but to be that hub
for entrepreneurs to come and to work, to meet, connect, um, and access all of the plentiful resources that we already have here in this community. So, we're a resource, but also really want to get them connected to people that are able to serve them here.
Um, there's just more of our entrepreneurs at that that class. We also held our first entrepreneur happy hour um at I skipped past entrepreneur happy hour at the Starboard Lounge um back in May.
So, that was fun to get some more entrepreneurs to connect and to meet at a local business. Um the next one is coming up August 20th at Swing Barrel Brewing. So that can be part of that crawl that Stacia was talking about. And we were able to host our um entrepreneur
ecosystem partners meetup in that space. Uh that was led by John Mahachuk. Uh so he does a great job bringing folks together. But it was awesome to have all of these people who are helping entrepreneurs be in that space, be able to give them a tour and help them to
understand what we offer at the Spark Center and at the loop. Coming up in June, oops, we have a FastTrack entrepreneurship course. So, this is a course that is being hosted by the West CentraldC, the Neighborhood
Development Center, and Cultural Diversity Resources. So, this is a 12week immersive course that is kind of um business basics. So, it helps participants build confidence and clarity around the essentials of starting a business. This one is um a
course that is focused on um more of our underrepresented communities, bipok, new Americans. Um, so that is going to be a really great opportunity that is coming up June 2nd. That's the first night. So this week already if you know anybody that might be interested in that, that's
a really awesome opportunity. Uh, we also have another Spark bites coming up this month, June 10th. Christy Dower from the Northakota Women's Business Center will be teaching about different uh, business structures and how to know which one might be best for your business. And then a new event that I'm working on
with MState is called Wildly Possible. It's an entrepreneurship camp for teen girls with big ideas. So girls will come, they'll brainstorm, build concept, build concepts, create branding prototypes, meet with inspiring uh women founders, visit local womenowned
business, and pitch ideas alongside other creative girls in a really supportive environment. So that is coming up June 29th and 30th at the Spark Center. Registration is open now. So please feel free to share that with
any teen girls in your life. Also coming up in August, we'll be hosting a startup brew Morehead takeover day at the Spark Center featuring two Morehead entrepreneurs, still TBD. I'll let you know who those will be soon. And on the horizon, we've got some great
classes coming up with topics like AI, social media, LinkedIn, networking, and finance. So, the Spark Center is already creating that space for education and connection and offering um a platform to spread a word about Morehead small
businesses. One of those examples that um we started also in April, we began a small business feature in the FM Extra newspaper. So on the back page once a month you'll see highlighted one of our local entrepreneurs. So in April we had
um saw Janua State Farm Insurance Agency and in May we highlighted Bouquet Bar, a new mobile floral business. So we'll have those every month and those are fun to look out for. Um that is just kind of a highlight of all the different things that have been
going on so far just in the last month and a half since we really opened. Um, the best way to find out what's happening at the Spark Center is to follow us on Facebook or on LinkedIn or you can sign up for the newsletter or
you can check the Spark Center website. Any questions? >> Laura, is there any questions from the members? >> Council member White. >> Thank you, Laura. Actually, this is not so much a question, but I'm just going
to put this out there in the air. um a some conversations that it you know it's nice when you see these things building up and there's sort of lots of different things that people are doing and and finding ways to put them together. And so um one of the things I'm looking at Dan Molly we've had lots of
conversations of what will happen with this building some of the spaces in this building once um we move out into our newly renovated city hall. And um I just want to plant that seed of having those conversations that uh I was in a couple
of meetings last week. Um and we tal about all the great work that you're doing, they're starting to do there in the Spark Center as a way for people to learn stuff, but now looking at a place where we can apply them, where we can actually incubate. And so I would say
looking in this room like that might be some place where we could really work at doing that. you know, even if we've we've talked about that we've got the global market. If we were able to um use this room as a you know, test pl uh incubator for small for entrepreneurs
that, you know, um could have different themes. We could do global market. We could do other ones where people can actually try things out and then as they start to do that build up into having something bigger. But, you know, I think that um we've got, you know, in addition to the great space you have right now,
really thinking about what this might how this might tie into that to actually apply some of those things and even build on them more and get people a little further along uh into really um you know, developing those great new businesses that we want to see here in
downtown. >> Absolutely. I think you're right. this is just one kind of stepping off point for us and finding ways that we can create bigger support for entrepreneurs here in Morehead. Um is is awesome and very exciting.
>> Since Deb White said my name, does that mean I get to shoot my mouth off? >> It's like a horse, you know? You're just like trying to like hold back. So, but you Okay. So, yeah. Exactly. I mean, this is the thing about this space. So, the new city hall is being renovated. So there's going to be all sorts of
opportunities. This building is getting to be over 40 years old. So there'll be real opportunities also to work with the state possibly with legacy funds in terms of how we do this work. Um so and one of the things that I was thinking as you were making your presentation as well is like you know we're not just flipping the light switch on today. This
is actually um the result of a lot of progress and intent and actually planting seeds into the ground to see where they grow. Um see them grow into something beautiful as opposed to maybe maybe well not something noxious, right? So thank you to the economic development authority that actually believed in this
idea over three years ago. um actually believed in kind of the idea as part of our comprehensive plan when we were having conversations and walkshops of what this might be like. Changing the idea of what economic development is in Morehead from being something that maybe it was like primary sector recruitment to more like economic gardening where we
try to invest and grow on our own and find spaces like this where the ideas and the people that are are here feel the support of the community and really have roots built into this place. So this economic development authority was phen is phenomenally important to doing
this work and has made the investments and so I'm so happy we took the risk and the chances and that Laura is willing has been willing to stay with it. And I really wanted to mention I mean I'm going to steal um um the words that Lisa Bod um says you really have launched or
launched into every wave um when it's when it's come to this into this project. And some of that is this lady boss cohort that Laura and Danielle would have started in the early days that ended up um amounting to um over a thousand can I say thousands of women
>> 9,000 >> 9,000 women or whatever. So you can really feel that kind of that momentum and it's kind of a different way for our community. It's a different way of maybe seeing looking at what is possible and all of that even in the photographs and when you see you see this diversity that's really reflected in it into our
fabric in our community. you still talk about there's these terms like radically inclusive that has been part of informing the work and what we're doing here and it's really great to to see it and to see that activity. We're also talking with the library about how we can make this space open for people to
have meetings, use the Spark Center, use the walking loop, the play area and things like that. Kind of creatively using this space and then um as an extension out in the community how how these things can happen. So, if that's a real interest to the EDA, if that's a
direction you'd like us to kind of research and look into as staff, we stand ready to do that work. Um, we're going to be kicking off the budget here uh in um late June, July, and we can get going right away. >> City Manager Molly. And I'll maybe just close in saying thank you uh Laura. I
know it's been great to see uh this all come together. I applaud you for uh the inclusion of all the different groups that touch uh entrepreneurial development in our region. So, thank you for that. Thank you to a few of our members who I know were in the photos as well. So, thank you for being there. Um, and it's noticeable. I'm seeing it on
social media. Uh, seeing much more people asking questions about it. So, thank you for what you're doing. Looking forward to seeing what continues in that space as we progress. >> Absolutely. Thank you for your support. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on to 6B. We have uh experiences in placemaking. I know we
have Steve French here with uh Morhead Parks and Joe Bergam with Folkways. Joe. Steve, take it away. Hey everybody. >> Yeah, wonderful to be here. My name is Joe Bergam, co-founder and executive director of FKways. >> Uh Steve French, community engagement coordinator for the city of Morhead. >> Uh thanks for the opportunity today to
come and share a little bit about the placemaking um and experience marketing work that the EDA has been sorting for the last number of years. Um I wanted to kick off um a little bit of context and and Dan Molly and I did not coordinate this um but there is I think a lot to be
said about the efforts that the city has done around investing in quality of life. Um Folkway has had the opportunity to work on the Morehead comprehensive plan, the downtown Morehead plan um as a consultant. We also run the nonprofit in the Fargo Morehead area creating experiences to connect people. But at
the end of the day, this is really a conversation about quality of life. And we break that down into thinking about workforce recruitment as well as community well-being. Um, but put simply, it really is about creating places people want to live. Um, and I think that Morehead is doing that. And I think that the investments that have
been made, the strategies have been put in place, the things that this group are thinking about are really doing that. Um, having recently done a tour of both Richmond, Virginia and Chattanooga on city exchanges, it's been really interesting to look at much larger cities, but to see what they're thinking about in terms of quality of life. And
I'd say that the efforts here in Morehead along the riverfront revitalizing downtown um, compared to cities that are 10 times or 20 times the size. And so I know that it's a small community in a fast growing part of the state. But I think the efforts that are being made here definitely are a part of a greater scheme of economic
development, which is quality of life. wanted to touch on two of the plans that I think have really set the stage for this. So, the uh downtown Morehead plan, um really looking at what are the values and ideas that we want our downtown Morhead area to have, authenticity, vibrancy, equity, inclusion, resilience,
and connectivity. Um it's a wonderful document that I think paints a great picture about the potential vibrancy um that downtown Morehead has in the future. um as well as some of the open space work from the downtown master plan, Morehead master plan. You can see um all the great areas that have been
identified and as Steve and I talk, a lot of the things that this group has invested in, that parks is doing, that community members have come forth with ideas or activating these spaces that were part of that greater master planning vision. And then the onward Morehead, the comprehensive plan, there's a great section in here about
arts and culture and placemaking. Um and just want to call out I think that the efforts of this group in the city to really move this goal 6.4 forward which is investing in placemaking and creating places where people want to gather uh with the focus on downtown and the riverfront. So all this to be said there's been a bunch of great strategy
work where the ground has really been laid for how do we invest in quality of life in Morehead. Um and Steve and I are going to talk a little bit about what those initiatives have looked like. >> Thanks Joe. >> All right. We were told we had to make this fun. So I'm going to try to step back on this one. So, um, this way.
Okay. So, this one's pretty personal to me. So, you know, what 2020 is when we kind of kicked off this whole idea of kind of transferring some of traditional advertising dollars into more placemaking or experience kind of work, right? So, gosh, if you look at that bottom right corner, you can see the first thing we had set up in terms of
the Mary's tunnel. Like, I was just kind of playing around in a park, right? And so being able to fast forward to today, like one of the major highlights is not only have I had several requests to bring it back, but like the CBB even uh supported it with $12,000 to improve the infrastructure. And I am just like going through preparing for this just was so
inspired by how much like it's just kind of like from this side of it kind of wacky ideas, right? Like it was something that we didn't know. Maybe we'll see how it goes. We'll take the shot. We'll see what happens and just maybe we get something great out of it, right? But like being able to continue this thing that I was just like, "Oh, here's a wacky idea," you know? Um, I
like as just a community member, I love it and I just want to say thank you for the support that I've been able to continue to put this thing up every couple years, right? Um, another one I wanted to shout out and I think she would share this is Jillian Patri. Yeah, Patrice. Hold on. Patrice Delaney. Um,
this is still something you see in the park. Um, she submitted this, you know, once we kind of opened the the EDA placemaking dollars open for bid and yeah, you still see the bunny around every time. I haven't caught the other ones, but again, I just think another opportunity for a community member to get out, try something, see how it
works. And we're actually talking to her about some additional sculptures as we're working on some more, uh, partner programming. So, um, and then looking ahead, uh, again, like I I'm sure some of you have known, like Joe and I have worked together for a number of years, and so this is a pretty fun opportunity for us to be able to get up here
together and speak. But um Sunset on the River, I have heard many anecdotal comments from people that don't know that I'm a part of any of this that it's just an amazing experience and a program that we do. So I just uh thank you Dan for kind of setting the stage on planting seeds, you know, like just a really great opportunity for us to
continue to showcase the river, beautiful things that we're doing. And Joe, let's have you talk about sunset. Thank you. >> Thanks, Steve. It is really fun, I think, to be able to have uh these different projects where there's many people that I've interfaced with here in different capacities and Steve similarly where the Mary's tunnel was a community
project that Steve did um and now uh Steve is a proud staff member of city of Morehead working in the park side. So, you get these these weaves of people that are passionate about placemaking where it goes from being something you're doing on the side to saying, "Hey, how do I do this full-time?" Um I want to take a second and just talk a little bit about Folkways for those that
may not know. Um we're a local nonprofit here in the Fargo Morehead area. We're celebrating our 12th year in operations. Um, our mission is to create experiences where you belong. Uh, we're fighting the endemic of isolation and loneliness that is rampant in our country and thinking about how do we create moments for
people to come together in community in big ways and in small ways. Uh, we do that through events like the Red River Market, Night Bazaar, and Chris Kenomar. Um, proud to be the operating partner behind Sunset on the riverfront. We also do a college-based placemaking initiative called Campus FM. and then
log the mobile sauna as our mobile woodfired sauna that has spent many a frostful down here at Viking ship park uh creating warm moments for people. Uh sunset in the riverfront. This will be our third year in September. Uh this is a uniquely Morehead event that celebrates the relationship with the Red
River really on the doorsteps of downtown Morehead. Um through our work in the master planning process, we were doing site scouting and thinking about unique places in Morehead that maybe hadn't been seen as venues. And one of those spaces that has become incredibly special is the lawn in front of American
Crystal Sugar. Um there's just a beautiful riverfront vantage with a wonderful lawn, this almost small natural amphitheater that comes up to the W's edge and that's we've hosted Sunset the last two years. Um and this event has been made possible through placemaking funds through the city of Morehead. Uh we appealed three years ago
in the open call for response to a placemaking idea to how do we take something and make it unique for Morehead and have been proud to be that operating partner on the ground for this event. Uh this year we're scheduled for September 10th. We've been in August the last couple years. I'm intentionally moving it into September, working on
aligning it with greater Morhead days, as well as talking with our partners at Concordia, uh MSUMM, and MState to think about how do we greater and call engage college students when they're back in town. August is a high transition time and there's lots of things happening in life. Um but we think that first uh
second week of September is going to create for a unique space. Um if you haven't been to the event, um it's full of live music, local vendors, um uh kids activities, take and makes for adults and kids, and we also have um and fire pits, um and just creating a really
beautiful, uh sunset space. Um a little bit of highlight on the economic impact. So this year we have 47 vendors. That's up from 39 last year. Um and last year just vendors that were participating at the event gross close to uh about $11,000. And so that doesn't show the
ripple of people eating at Restica before or maybe going getting a drink after the event. That's strict economic dollars at the event. Um and then the other thing I'll say too is that we know these events build over time. Um working with small entrepreneurs, working with independent vendors, it takes time for
people to build a relationship with a space and with an event. And so admittedly, our first year we got rained out twice. And so didn't didn't happen the first year that we received the funding. We didn't have the weather to cooperate with us. The second year we made it happen. It was a beautiful
August night and it was 59 degrees and it was sweater weather and overcast. And last year was the second year in a row that we had the event and it hit. I mean it was just a beautiful summer evening on the riverfront. We had a great turnout. Um uh we had a wonderful group
from the um Morehead Inc. Board come and socialize. Council members were there. It was really I think a kind of a flagship moment to kind of see what does this look like this placemaking in action. Um, we're really excited for this fall. I don't want to curse us um by at all, but I'm hoping we'll see over a thousand visitors this year, which
would be a meaningful attendance for an event like this. Um, and just really grateful to be able to do this placemaking work. As I said, having seen other cities across the country um that are thinking about quality of life, it is incredibly unique and special that I think Morehead has been out in front saying, "Hey, we know we need to have special things happening in our
community and that's why people are going to choose to raise their kids or move back or start a business because they see the activation, the activity, and things like this are core to that. So, thanks very much. Uh we hope to see you in September at Sunset on the Riverfront,
>> Joe. And thank you, Steve. Are there any questions from the members? All right. Well, I'll just say thank you to you both. Uh Joe Folkways is obviously a true gem in our our region and the work that you and your whole team uh do does across the region is
really spectacular. So, thank you for being a part of Morhead. Steve, I know you're doing great work for the city now, too. But, uh having somebody with that mindset to be able to push the envelope is truly uh a good thing for the city as well. I think Dan would agree with that, too. So, thank you both for coming today.
>> Thank you. >> All right, moving on to business items. Uh 7A, we have branding uh for downtown and I think Lisa Bod is going to do that presentation. >> Thank you, Chair La Point and members of
the EDA. Um there's been a group that has been working on the downtown project for years and um one of the recent things we've done is we've hired um Jessica Thomasson to help
us kind of work through some of the big picture issues, the financial issues, pricing of land, um the what the district will be like afterwards. And one of the um important things is how we refer to the district.
For some of us, it's the old Morehead Center Mall. The st the sign stansion, which I'm always advocating to have taken down, still says another great place to shop. Um we um we've been calling it the downtown redevelopment
district, but it's time for it to have its own identity and a a growing identity with the momentum that has been um developed thus far and that we know um we have the potential to grow a lot further. So, the governmental affairs
team um has been tasked with um recommending to you a a um a name for the district as we brand the redevelopment. And um we've considered cities in our region. we've considered
other areas of the country and um I think what has been successful is um features and things about an area that is already in place and we played around a lot with the the um center because of
center avenue um the river um and the loop and um we took a look at some of the more recent um developments, business districts specifically that have been formed in
our region and one of them is the lights in West Fargo and another one um is the rail district in Dworth and um as we took a look at those what makes those successful um there's simplicity in the
name there's a connection there is um you know the the regional identity and one of the things that was remarkable able to me is um Ingred was gone um and someone did a story on the soft opening
of the library. Someone another reporter at the forum did a story and the line I remember seeing was the library is the first um building in the loop. And so that reporter who hadn't been, you know,
going through this process with us along with us like Ingred has um considered already thought of the district as the loop and um so so that was remarkable to me because it's happening naturally um
for people you know outside of the the group that has been um part of growing this vision the entire time. Um, Chicago has a loop district. Minneapolis has a north loop district. And one of the
things about Chicago's um that I thought was remarkable is that it is the uh second largest business district in the country outside of Manhattan. And so my thought was, well, wouldn't it be,
you know, funny if we had to say, do you mean the Minnesota loop district, the Morhead loop district, or the Chicago loop district? So if we get confused with them, it's not necessarily a bad problem to have. So with that, um, I will show you what Caleb came up with.
If I can get this. Whoops. There. So that is kind of the initial visual brand that we are suggesting for the downtown redevelopment district. Um proposed to
be named the loop district. Um that is taking the uh logo and and identity of the library community center, the loop, and putting it into a district that we would use for
branding electronically and signage. And we came up with some other fun ideas that we'll tuck away for maybe for buildings within the district that have a Minnesota flavor and um some other regionality, too. But um this is in its
simple form. This is what we were suggesting. And the area that is um that this branding would cover would be the area that is identified in the downtown master plan and that is shown on the
screen right now from 1 Avenue um past center. So it goes Yeah, that's the area from the river to 8th Street between 1 Avenue and I think I think that includes Does it go all the way to Maine or just
halfway that to the railroad tracks? >> Is that right, Dan? >> Yeah. Yeah. So, that that is the staff recommendation and um I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, but it's it's as simple as that.
>> You Lisa. Uh members, any questions for Lisa? All right. I know we have a suggested motion here in our packet uh that looks at a motion to name and brand the downtown center district as identified in the master plan as a loop district
for the purpose of marketing and communications. So uh would there be a motion from our members to move that forward? So motion chauffeelt >> first. There second. >> I'll second Anderson.
>> Second. Any discussion on motion? >> Okay, hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. Thanks, Lisa. >> Thank you. Um future actions and discussion issues that this group is also working on um and they will bring
forward to you sometime yet this year are um specific design guidelines. and then um the framework for a downtown development district to um kind of bring that cohesivity to the um to the area.
>> Great. Thank you, Lisa. We look forward to hearing more. >> If I could add too, >> please. >> Some people aren't crazy about the word districts. It's the same as a neighborhood. So, if people say neighborhood, that's just fine, too. >> Be free flowing, right, Dan? >> That's right. >> Thank you. All right. Uh moving on to
7B. Matt uh with the economic development report. Thank you, Chairperson Le Point. Uh lot of exciting things happening uh since we last met. Uh first up, um had a meeting uh with Essentia Health uh uh last week. Uh they're finalizing their application for the Renaissance zone um for their
reimagined healthc care space. Uh I can't tell you how exciting it was to see their pictures and I can't wait for you to see them. Um their reimagining of the building. Um it still stays kind of what it is, but with with new color schemes and how it looks, it really
pops. it will be really uh continue to be a showplace there um for our for our community. Um and the the reinvestment that is going to happen in this building um that hasn't been finalized, but it is tens of millions of dollars uh to bring healthc care um into downtown Morehead
and and they're they're renderings for the inside. They're they're maintaining the natural light that comes from that threetory uh uh open ceiling with the lights in there. It is going to be a great place that uh the people of Morehead will be very proud of it. So, I can't wait for them to bring that um to you in the uh in the very future uh for
you to see that. Um just touching on what Lisa Bod had talked about, we have been working with Jessica Thomasson and her coning uh strategy partners. Um we're really developing the whole um the district. So, we know that we have a tiff in there and we know that there's a financial obligation for the city to
make sure that we're able to uh use that uh increment financing to pay for the tiff, which is buying out the buildings, you know, knocking it down and all of that. um it's giving us a really overall look to say, okay, this is the goal that we need for the district to make sure that we financially support it. And then
we're really starting to dive in on a blockby-block look, meaning how much development needs to be on this space. And then we start talking about how much parking needs to be there. For anybody that's been at the loop, you know, obviously everybody say, "Well, how come there isn't a huge parking lot?" Well, because we're going to develop everything around you. But so we're
going to have parking, you know, tied to every block that comes into it. So, as you're building X and you're building Y, we know that we need X amount of parking space that's either going to be built into um an existing structure as they redevelop, or is there going to be parking structures for that the public is going to be part of in this tiff to
make sure that everybody has a place to park when they're coming in? Uh it's not going to be every building, but they're going to be strategically placed to make sure that we have parking for the people who live there, the people that work there, and the people that are going to come down for these great activations that uh you know, Joe and uh Steve are
going to help us with uh along the way that we want to make sure that when people come, there's a place to park. Um so it all kind of comes together and so it it's really going to help us as we as we talk to developers to make sure that we don't make a deal on one block that totally blows up the whole district and
will never catch up. So, we just want to make sure that we're always working towards that end goal. Uh, obviously, the big goal is that we will have more development than we need um to make sure that we have extra dollars in there to support even more growth within that downtown district. I think um and so
then moving on, uh Laura was already here with the Spark Center. I I've had the opportunity to attend a couple of things. I just want to call out uh uh Evan Balco, who I think has been at every event, um and more that I've been to. So, he's been he's been great. Um, it's great to see a member uh needing
the services and just talking about it. But, uh, she talked about optimizing your Google Google business profile. Uh, the Spark Bites, which was the meet local experts, uh, John Mahanchek, who was, uh, sitting here before, uh, led that and it was really just tying together all of the different services
that, uh, that a new business person might need when they're launching from building a business plan to finding out financing and all of the things that happen along the way. It's not day one stuff all the time for an entrepreneur, but I need this today and six months later I might need something else. But
so we know that the resources are there uh to take care of everybody. Um the other one and Evan wasn't there early enough. He was probably working instead of just coming to the happy hour, but he was at the Starboard lounge. Um it was just a really great event. Uh a few
people, but really a great chance for for other entrepreneurs who are starting businesses to talk to other people and share stories. And I think that's a really big part of this whole Spark Center piece is connecting people in the same stages of of business development to be able to ask questions and and feel
more comfortable. So really great events that were happening. Um also attended uh in the last month uh the the Fargo Morehead uh the Greater Fargo Morehead uh um economic development. We had a business development working group um that was led um by Ryan and it was
really um besides economic development people from the cities surrounding the area. We had colleges um that were there that were trying to develop works force a lot of the primary sector businesses um attended really talking about our area. How do we continue to attract not
only businesses to come here but how do we support those businesses with the right employees that they're needing to expand within it. So really just a great share group of of talking about our current state and uh again collaborating and learning from others what do we need
to do to make sure that we are a great place for people to come and work and live. Um from the celebrity side I got to sit next to Sean Brandenburgg on North Dakota today. Um they invited us out to talk about Morehead and we are always willing to talk about Morehead
for anybody who will listen. Um and so we were out there um really the big part was talking about Romkey Park uh Matson Field and the downtown redevelopment. Just really some of the great things that are happening um in Morehead. A lot of uh ribbon cutings that are coming along with 11 Street along the way. So
it was really great. On a side note, I was able to do um the Rompy Park uh pre-opening tour. Uh Council Member White was along with me there. It's a fantastic place, everybody. I can't wait for you to see it um when it opens up.
Uh June 4th is when the pool will open. The rest of the park will open up later as grass gets planted and growing. But it's just a fantastic space that I think everybody uh will be very proud of. I certainly am. Um the 11th Street underpass, we had our first uh in uherson coffee in uh construction public
meeting of the year. So just inviting the public in. We had a few citizens and a few business owners just wanting to hear the updates. Um they are still on track uh to be finished at the end of the year. Of course, we don't need uh any monsoon seasons coming to ruin it before we start putting uh concrete down
there, but it is moving forward. Uh Center Avenue, which is a really big uh piece of our our conversation, and Staca touched on it uh um about the businesses, you know, the construction is coming. Uh it is in is in bidding. Uh
it puts construction, you know, more towards the end of June, July, and August. And so we really want to be able to talk with the business owners about when is the exact timing, how are we going to support them um from it's it's going to require a lot of weird detours to get to people um just behind 8th
Street. And so we just want to really keep the communication open with Stacia talking with the business owners as well. We're just all going to partner up and and find ways to make sure that this works and we can support them. Uh 1 Avenue North um which is a construction project for 2829ish.
Uh it's going to be down the road, but that's going to be reconstruction from um 12 back out to um highway se or highway 10 just past Micah's mission. Um it's a complete redevelopment uh uh new sidewalks, everything that goes there.
We have actually had great participation from all of the businesses about what they need uh what they could use uh to make sure that we have the best project uh possible. So, it's going really well um with that uh before they start moving into the public um facing part of seeing
what the community sees of that project and and how that will move forward. Again, lots of time. Um just an update on the White Earth Casino. Um for those of you uh it was in the forum. Um they released their economic um impact statement uh for public review. Um and
currently um they are just moving into now their environmental impact report which is being conducted by more engineering locally. So um it's a long long process to to start doing all of these pieces. But um that's that's the
stage that they are at uh right now and uh that is concludes my report. >> Thank you Matt. Uh questions. Yes, Council Member White. >> Thank you. Uh, Matt, I was glad you mentioned the the stuff about the center
a construction. I I know a lot of us have gotten email recently from some concerned local business owners and um so I thought it was a good time to just you know touch on that a little bit and um was thinking about it a lot over the weekend of I've had the opportunity to
be on council since we first started a lot of these great projects and you know it's so exciting to see as we're getting closer to the finish line of doing you know seeing these great things in downtown underpasses all of But it was a a good reminder that sometimes, you
know, we focus on all the posit we we we're excited and we see all the great things that are coming. Um but reminding ourselves that that it also creates some real challenges and um for those that are have already invested in those areas that you know um having your road shut
down and having you know ongoing construction that um all of that makes things difficult. And so, um, I, you know, I just wanted to, uh, take this opportunity with our EDA to to, you know, I'm sure that we all feel like we want to do everything we can to support
those businesses that, uh, we don't want to just bring in new folks. We want to keep the ones that we have and and I'm glad to see things like that that MBA is, uh, is talking about doing. Um, but I think, uh, as a city, you know, we need to do everything that we can. And I
and I think one of our greatest assets is we have staff that are tremendous problem solvers and we didn't used to be like that in Morehead. We used to create a lot of obstacles and then we got great people like Dan Molly. And so um so I think the more we can talk about what we
can do to make these these things workable and Dan always says clear is kind and I am behind that 100% and I think also kind is kind and so being extra gracious at this time and remember that with while we have great things
coming we want to be extra supportive of the folks that are having um the challenges from this. Thanks. >> Thank you. If >> I could respond to that too. Um, yeah, that's an excellent point. Yeah, you you mentioned I mean they say economics development 101 is don't lose what you
have. So, there is that. And then the truth is is the um you know the the fire for what's possible in downtown Morhead really belongs with a lot of these businesses truly that hung in there through many years. And so now we're at a spot where we can you know there's all
this possibility for what creating a really great neighborhood looks like to support them. So a lot of these projects and what we're doing that without these places like the starboard mix, swing barrel, the bookstore, you know, that sort of thing. I mean to lose that would kind of be to lose the whole purpose. So
that um I like kind is kind that that's kind of good stuff, Deb. Um but the um so just so we know the the these these projects get really challenging too. Change is never easy. It never was going to be. No one ever expected it to be.
all of that kind of stuff. So, um, and what we run into is on these large public works projects, access can be very challenging. They last a long time. They're they're really hard. I mean, I'll think of like the folks at Swing Barrel. I remember when they opened, they had brought us cookies. Um, I think about two weeks before they open,
they're really excited and they opened and a week later was what like March 16th, co just nailed them, you know, and they have grinded through like nobody's business and stayed very positive and things like that. So you have our word that we're going to in fact we're meeting this afternoon. There's regular
meetings with the the the businesses. We have to keep doing that. Try to have these you know these these areas where whether it's signage and communication how you can get to a spot what's happening. We find a lot of times if folks just know what's going on two or three weeks before they happen as opposed to being surprised by it. That
can help ease a lot of things. Then the other thing that's really interesting here is that there there are opportunities for access say behind the businesses where we could make some improvements and things like that. Some of that land might be with the railroad. So then you have challenges trying to get those approvals and different things like that. So there's always stuff that
we I always feel like it's easier than it is I feel like when we get into it. But you have our word that we're going to do everything we can as a smart team to to to be there um before and through and after and really enjoy the space together.
And I'll say too, better ideas are always welcome. If there's something that maybe we hadn't thought of or people have suggestions or just ideas, please do share them. >> Thank you. I think that's all great. >> Anybody else have any comments? Yes, Council Member Moore. >> I just had a quick question. So, um,
Matt, you mentioned that there was the first Inerson coffee and construction public meeting on May 18th. I was wondering is that something that's going to be repeated monthly or bi-weekly or >> I believe it's monthly and so they they suspended it during the winter when
there wasn't a lot of projects. So, it'll come back on the calendar. Um, and it'll be reported through, um, I think I saw it on the Morehead. I got a notification for it from the Morehead uh, cuz I'm signed up for all the emails, >> e notifications, it'll be >> and there were two citizens there. So,
there it it can't be just my small circle that uh, that gets to see this. >> I'd like during our uh, council meetings and we can do reports. That's something that I would love to report on. So, if I had that date in advance, I'd be happy to share that at council. I'll make sure to send a a note to you when I see the next one.
>> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> You're welcome. >> Do we still have a business liaison zone for the construction events? >> Yes. Yeah. Yeah, we do. So, just for anybody here or at home. So, this is a Minnesota Department of Transportation
project. Um, Ames is the contractor and then Ames Constructed has a communications firms that's supposed to be serving as the business liaison. could certainly share that too. Maybe we'll share that information with the Economic Development Authority. Let's do that.
>> Good question. Anyone else? Okay. >> Oh, good. Yeah. So, see there's people here that actually do read the packet. >> There you go. Yeah. So, folks uh following along at at home or online. So, 8D the link to the MN DOT project
details and and updates. Um yes Amy I do recall that in that link there is the uh email uh correspondence for that business liaison group as well. So maybe just uh hitting on that really quick. So 8 uh again as just information update uh we have information on the spark center.
Thank you Laura for for being here uh providing an update on that. Uh the downtown Morehead Inc. uh or downtown Morehead vision sorry uh as well as building and housing updates and the 11th Street underpass. I didn't get a chance to talk to Amy and Matt though, but I was just thinking about it as some of the conversations we're bringing up
of of upcoming events. Uh I do have on my calendar, I don't know how many others do, but uh the Minnesota State Chamber is actually hosting uh the statewide uh policy tour stop in Morehead this Wednesday, June 3rd, from noon to 1:30 at RDO uh in the Macara uh
industrial park. So uh I believe there's a registration they do want to have folks pre-register uh online. You can find that at uh the Minnesota uh state chamber uh website. Uh I'd encourage folks to to try to attend and and hear from the latest from the Minnesota
Chamber on uh the the latest from the the legislative session. So um don't know how many people have that on their radar, but June 3rd, this Wednesday from noon to 1:30 at RDO and Macara. Um it really flagged my attention because um it's not until July, but July 16th is
when the FM um West Fargo Chamber is hosting the policy uh wrapup in 2026. Uh that location is to do to be determined. But if you can attend and and pre-register for that state chamber uh event this Wednesday, please um show your support. I think the more voices we
have at these things will be uh greatly appreciated. So any other closing comments uh from staff or from the members here? With that it is 12:40 and we are adjourned. Thank you.