i could still say good morning yeah good morning everyone yep we can go all right good morning everyone um I will call the April 7th 2025 Morehead EDA meeting to session can we get a roll call Amy uh thank you Mr
chair members present today include Balco Kota Howell Moore Pollson Chafield Soick and White thank you um we have a new EDA member it's his first meeting chris Howell
chris do you want to give us a short background on yourself can you hear me there we go um like I said um about 20-y year Morhead resident um I currently work for I'm the market president for First Community Credit Union um we have five branches in the
Fargo Morehead area we just built a new one here in um Morehead and that's when Shelley approached me i've known Shelly for a long time our kids graduated from Morehead High together um but like I said I've been in business banking in the Fargo Morehead area for about 20
years um so this is economic development is obviously something that we work hand inand with so I'm excited to be on this board excellent thanks Chris welcome aboard to the board all right are there any amendments to
the agenda none at this time okay um next item of business would be approval of the March 3rd meeting minutes white moves to approve we have a motion and a second um all in
favor say I i i any opposed motion carries did you get the second right um citizens to be heard kim yes I think you're up on this one thank you very much Mr chair so we have over the
last several years heard from Sher Larson from the Morid Business Association each month on what's going on and all of the fun things in the um that we have going on in the community and with our MBA members um and Sherry
will be retiring the end of April welldeserved retirement and um so here today I would like to introduce and if you would just want to stand and come up to the podium our president of the mor business association is Brett
Ortley and we have board members Bill Bartholomew from Worth USA bill if you want to come up as well and Karsten Bradley from JBC Commercial if you would like to come up and
Sherry of course and then Staca I'll let you come up and then I'll let Brett introduce you and kind of give you a little I'm sure that this face is familiar to many of you who have uh who have been around the
chamber and Morehead Business Association events shannon Full actually accused me of poaching in all kidding aside but um Staca comes to us to the board of business association from the chamber
hi thank you Cam for the introduction um yeah I would just like to start off i feel weird having to look down to talk into this so I apologize for the eye contact um but uh thank Sher for years of service she's been with the Morhead Business Association for seven years and a very dedicated leader for the
association and all that she does for our community which is evident through her dedicated dedication of showing up to these meetings every month so uh like Kim said definitely a well-deserved uh retirement you're going to be missed and we are very excited to have Staca
stepping into those very large shoes to fill and you're going to get some great training i know that you'll do uh great for our association as a whole staca do you want to just give a couple minute bio sure thank you um so I actually come from Barnesville i've
lived there for about 19 years i started at the chamber three years ago and realized what an exciting community we have in this area uh met Sherry i've known Sherry through church but I got to realize what she actually does for the
specifically Morehead area and I just love the MBA and what they do and the personal side that they have with businesses is really where what's tugged at my heartstrings a lot so I plan to
try to fill her very big shoes and carry on her legacy with building relationships and helping this community grow do my thing all right I'll do my thing like they said I'm Sher Larson i'm the executive director for the Morehead
Business Association morehead Business Association's mission is to promote and support the growth and success of our members in the greater Morhead area we foster a thriving business community through networking opportunities advocacy events as well as providing the
resources business need to succeed on March 25th the MBA members had a chance to strike up some fun outside of the office rolling with the MBA uh we had a bowling social uh it was sponsored by the clean response flood and fire restoration at sunset lanes we had 23
teams that enjoyed the afternoon of networking team building and of course bowling also in March the MBA members as well as the board members and the match bywami real estate we presented a check to the Morehead K9 program let's talk business the MBA
members meet every Wednesday at the Morhead American Legion at noon and every week a MBA member shares their story because their story matters and presenting this week is Derek Le Point Downtown Morid Inc president and CEO the
MBA nonprofit connect we meet the third Thursday of the month at Village in roundt discussion of the nonprofit sharing support and materials for the greater good of our community on April 17th Sarah Flesburg with the Alzheimer's Foundation the executive director will
be sharing her story the MBA's second annual job fair sponsored by American Crystal Sugar will be taking place on April 16th from 10 to 2 at MSUM Christensen Alumni Center please register today we still have
openings and I invite you to engage grow and succeed with the MBA thank you very much thank you Sherry you're welcome are there any questions for Sherry
are there any Oh go ahead Deb i don't have a question i just want to take a minute to thank Sherry and I I know I I know if other people have things they want to say but you know Sherry has been um at the leadership of MBA since right
before I joined city council so she has been the voice of MBA and I'm one that frequently sort of spa sings the praises of MBA because of your deep connection to the community and you know so many great things that you do to not just promote our businesses but really build
community bring people together um and make Morehead an even greater place and so much of that is because of you Sherry so thank you so much for all that you've done for our community i appreciate that thanks Deb thank you Deb
um I'll just say I met Sherry quite a few years ago uh before even being on this board and it's been a wonderful experience i tried to buy her Lake Camper at one point it didn't quite work out but um overall I mean she is a wonderful asset to the community of
Morehead and honestly I I think it's a well-deserved retirement thank you sad to see you go um but I'm sure we'll see you around town just knowing how much you love this community so thank you very much Sher i appreciate that thanks Chad derek I'll close in just saying it too i
just I I see Sherry as such a a great mentor and and friend i've mentioned this to the group before sherry's my first phone call every morning so um sometimes talk to her before even my kids are up so um I I'm going to miss those those calls every morning although
I know we probably still will from time to time um but yes everybody said it um you're such a a wonderful leader and and role model to so many and a resource that so many of our businesses I think um uh certainly realized through some
trying times too with co and uh other kind of economic challenges that we're faced so you've been a strong leader we welcome Stacia and we know that uh uh we're going to have a great continued partnership as we continue to to really progress but a lot of this movement is uh due to your great efforts too Sherry
so thank you thank you Derek everybody have a great day thank you very much i am so proud to be a part of this association thank you [Applause]
all right are there any commissioner reports today hearing none uh presentations nothing on that one either okay business items uh Derek or Amy do you want to set these two up yep i can frame
this one Mr chair so uh 7A and then the the two items the two resolutions they can kind of go all together here under one motion just to kind of frame it up here but um more of some housekeeping items and for for Chris and for Evan as kind of newer members um what we have
here is uh kind of a city transfer the land uh that we've been using in the redevelopment area is being transferred into the the EDA's name um we've talked about this before as a group this is kind of just a procedural process of how we sell land and uh how we kind of util
utilize the EDA's authority to be able to do some things there especially as it relates to the tax increment financing district and then lastly as we looked for that transfer there's a permanent easement that would be in there uh as it relates to um essential services and utilities that go through the site so
Kat is actually here as the city attorney to uh give additional background or answer any questions that the EDA members may have but uh again more of a housekeeping item than anything else but Cat happy to share uh anything that you may have to add to this item as well
let's see sure thanks Derek i don't really have anything i think I guess the main thing I would just reiterate is you know as for the legal reason behind the transfer um like Derek mentioned the EDA has specific authorizations under state statute um with regard to carrying out
certain economic development activities so like you said kind of more of a housekeeping item but that's really the purpose for why the property is going to be transferred to the EDA from the city all right thank you are there any questions for Derek or uh Cat at this
time not we're looking for um a motion on item A1 and two so move Shafeld wait seconds somebody has to do it we have a first and a
second any other conversation hearing none all in favor signify by saying I i i any opposed all right motion carries and Derek we have um some updates on the annual certification of
the Emory housing affordable housing tiff yep i'm gonna let Amy take this one all right thanks Derek um as we move forward through our um different tax increment financing districts after completion of the district there is
followup that needs to happen each year and that's what this item is about um we are certifying that the tenants are eligible to be in the units that have been reserved for them and so each year we're provided by the property
management group of Emory Apartments um documentation that shows that those uh tenants are eligible for the spaces uh staff has reviewed that that staff being me and I'm providing and certifying that
that the um tenants are eligible to be in those units and that they meet the eligibility so with that I would just ask that um somebody provide a a resolution that would be in support of
authoriz or sending off a letter um saying that the tenants are eligible essentially continuing that reser uh tenant eligibility i'll make that motion second Chauffeelt person a
second all in favor signify by saying I i no discussion any discussion thank you i just wondered if we could just take this time since especially we have um some new commissioners to talk a little bit briefly about the housing tip since this was the first time that we used it
and it's an important tool for helping to add to our um nowhere near sufficient uh pool of affordable houses in Morehead thanks yes thank you me council member White i think um it's a really great point to just reflect to so this is the
project that we're referring to is the the Emory apartment so um kind of next to formerly uh Musketel Subaru now Corwin um this was a a green field site so as we would describe a a relatively um you know flat uh non-developed parcel
in our community um Enclave Development is the one that ultimately did the project as we were discussing options we are uh by statute limited on what we can provide for incentives uh from TIFF one's a redevelopment tiff that we see for our
downtown project the other in this particular case is a housing tiff with the housing tiff the state has uh certain requirements that uh look at uh affordability uh specifically incomes do not succeed exceed 60% of the areawide
medium family income uh so 40% of those units here in this project uh must be made available to those uh individuals uh families whose incomes uh meet those qualifications so we have 130 uh units in the space we have 52 of those units
that are made available for affordable uh units and it's a it's a great project i know our council uh well EDA and our council stood behind this before it was um uh completed uh our uh council was even able to give a uh some additional
term uh during that project as well as they faced uh a time where inflation of construction material was extremely high uh I think council member White you might have even led that charge in uh uh granting some additional term to allow for these affordable housing units to
occur and it's been a great project um I think it's even worth sharing too it uh it was one of their fastest leasing best performing projects in all of their of all of Enclav's portfolio so that shows that we are grossly
underbuilt in Morehead I think for a long time um and seeing this mix of diversity of market rate housing to affordable housing uh fills and has been a great example project for our community as well so thank you for shedding a little light on that as well Council Member White
thanks Deb thanks Derek all right any other conversation okay with that we have a first and a second to approve the annual certification for Emory Apartments um all in favor signify by
saying I i i i oppose same sign motion carries item 7 C derek um you handling the economic development report uh yeah Mr chair thank you so um some really exciting news I think to share with the group here today i think
some of you uh saw the email and uh some of the social media but uh thanks to a lot of great work by Amy Thorp uh the city of Morehead received another $1 million deed redevelopment grant um we uh uh we took the lion share of the funds again that went through across the
entire state of Minnesota uh but this is our our second million-dollar grant that we've received from this program which is really unheard of for um uh this program for this area to receive such funds uh this grant will help with the remaining demolition on the east side of
city hall uh that demol demolition is set to occur later this year um and actually we might see some progression of that happen here within the next few months um but we still have some businesses obviously uh Downtown Chiropractic and some of the salons that are in there too um a lot of that
formally won't go down until uh early 2026 uh we're extremely grateful for deed support i think it goes to show the due diligence that we've um really had in this project for several years now um I think when we submit an application
and certainly when Amy's going through the application process um there's not a lot of holes in it we're able to answer these questions effectively and um with certainty that we're moving forward in a strong way and that again goes to the collective whole of our EDA our council and members of the public as well that
have stood behind this project for for years to come so excited um that we're able to put these funds to great work and certainly helps with the overall project costs that we uh face here as well so kudos to Amy for doing great work on that uh we will anticipate just on the grant closeup and for our council
members we'll uh we have not received the grant agreement yet formally so we will be uh bringing that to council to formally accept that grant here in the next few weeks after we hear from deed so more to come on that um I mentioned uh construction season and demolition
happening here soon uh we anticipate actually this week uh that uh actually today crews are out there uh assessing uh the area and kind of staging up the area and we will see uh demolition starting to occur uh west of city hall
um just south of city hall as well uh within this week so uh that'll occur for probably a period of 6 weeks uh McGoff construction is the one that will be doing that work here over the next 6 weeks and for that second phase uh east of city hall as well um but excited to
see continued demo demolition work occur to make way for the infrastructure that's going in so we got uh Fifth Street that's going in uh so that will be a new street that goes uh from basically the Shields area up towards City Hall we'll see uh Red River Avenue
that will extend to uh the the west uh and then portions of Minnesota Avenue as well so it's uh an exciting time to be in that area um and a lot of action so we'll we'll be certainly uh using our social media challen uh channels to uh
make people aware of how to access the site um I know downtown Chiropractic and the existing businesses in the uh mall uh uh that uh message went out a couple weeks ago where you'll enter actually from Center Avenue on the new Sixth Street to get up to that small parking
lot area that's how you'll access those businesses um and we'll continue to kind of share any changes that may occur in the site through our social media channels um also want to acknowledge the move of Morehead Vision morehead Vision was a a longtime tenant in our uh
Morehead Center Mall uh earlier this month um uh we saw Morehead Vision move to their new space that's by the Azul Plaza in the Hornbachers down that way um they have been a a great business to Morehead and we we wish them uh and
support them uh and I know they're going to have extreme success down in their new space in South Morehead um I know there's a couple spaces within that space uh within their new building that are available for rent too so we are actively promoting that for them too and
um know that uh uh some great businesses will join them in their new endeavors in South Morehead so thank you to Morhead Vision and then lastly uh we continue to do uh additional due diligence in our uh design standards and some of the other
um unique kind of development opportunities within the site itself so if you are an interested developer or business continue to to look at our our Mora Morehead website our yes 56560 there are some exciting things with the library community center that happened
over the last couple weeks too so um just lots of action in a in a small site that's certainly seeing some big changes in our community as well um moving on from that we had uh March 4th and 5th the chamber hosted the Morehead Area Day
at the capital uh in St paul there was over 30 business and community leaders that attended that um certainly grateful to the legislators and department leads that were willing to to come and speak to our group um each year that that attendance has gotten bigger and bigger
so the the way the chambers had to navigate that and uh and and the willingness of having those individuals come and speak to us I think has been great uh I mentioned some key takeaways from this um the the sustainable aviation fuel project was a a hot topic
down there and uh uh extremely supported project on both sides of the aisle in in St paul so that was great to see i know our cities can still continue to push on flood protection uh and hopeful that there'll be some some funding available there uh paid family leave was a big
topic with our business leaders as that uh program continues to progress and has a start in in 2026 um we also had the opportunity to to speak uh in front of uh the governor this year and stress on a few different topics as well uh going
back to the sustainable aviation fuel project I think one that was um uh pretty critical too we had Senator Anne Rest who's a longtime legislator uh her comment to our group was this was the most important bill that she's had in 40 years as a legislator and we have an
opportunity to have that project here in Morehead so excited to to continue to progress on that continuing on the DG Fuels Sustainable Aviation Fuels project um just last week uh and talking with Mayor Shelley Carlson and members of the chamber I will be attending the
chamber's uh DC flyin in May um we've actually already reached out to DG Fuels um Mayor Carlson and myself are are going to be able to meet with DG Fuels in person they're based out of DC their site selectors based out of DC we thought this was a great opportunity to
um not only be in DC for other issues but certainly be able to touch base with this business in person and um see if there's any opportunities and um ways that we can assist them as they continue to get funding at the federal level and work with the state of Minnesota on their tax credits as well so exciting
times we'll see what happens on on that front uh I'm going to skip ahead a little bit here mention that um on March 25th the Minnesota DOT did host an open house in this room here for upcoming road construction projects um it was
well attended with business leaders and and interested community members uh we know there's going to be a lot of changes with the underpass and specifically around Main Avenue here within the next uh little while so please please please uh pay attention to
Minnesota DOT's releases um their news releases sign up for their email notifications um they have their uh uh business liaison that hotline number is is listed in our our packet here but I'll I'll say it again it's 2182928779
that is the hotline number to the business liaison for this project and we strongly encourage businesses to reach out uh get the information firsthand from uh the DOT and from that business leaison as things continue to change in that area last thing I'll mention here
is it's not in your packet but uh I thought it was relevant in in some of the news releases uh I did attend uh the Legion meeting here a couple weeks ago regarding the the White Earth um uh proposal on a casino hotel convention
center on the um east end of our community this is in Morehead's extr territorial growth area so it's not inside city limits right now i'll share briefly what I've shared with with that group at the Legion and you probably saw it in the papers as well is that at this
point in time really we've just been informed by the tribes that they have bought the land at a auction uh and they are starting their due diligence of what a project may look like but there's no ask in front of our group we are uh encouraging for more information and I
know the county and and mayor Carlson is asking the same thing that uh the group comes before our council and and shares those plans uh before anything happens but at this point in time there's a lot more to be heard than the rumors that are being spread around out there so I
just say stay tuned um certainly h able to answer any questions you may have but as mentioned we just don't have a lot of information at this point in time and we look forward for the the tribe to share more uh with the group as well so a lot there happy to answer any questions you may have
does anyone have questions for Derek kim uh no questions just comments um especially pertaining to the downtown redevelopment um one thing that the Morid Business Association does really well is communicate um communicate with
other members communicate within the MBA and and on our social media sites and I would encourage all of the ADA council members to share you know the whether it's the police department's updates or the city's updates share that on your
social media because we each have a different sphere of influence and I think it really makes a difference when we can share that information and and just get it out there because then the negativity seems to to drop just a little bit so thanks Derek it's a great
point and I know you know certainly through Facebook and other social media channels they've kind of changed their algorith algorithms a bit so it's harder to maybe see that information as regular so yeah the the more opportunities we have to share as individuals or from our prospective businesses I think the better off we are to get the right
information out to folks as well so thank you thanks Kim um anyone else all right on the topic of information item eight uh I'd encourage any Morehead resident or commissioner or anyone interested in any of these items to
check out the links um on our packet here we've got information to the 11th Street underpass the downtown Morehead Vision the community center and regional library and building and housing updates so a lot of information available to those who want it and this is where you
can find it all right if there's nothing else we will adjourn thank you all thanks everyone