i pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands One nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all Roll call please
President Monkey here Vice President Matthews here Member Nath here Member Bramshire here Member Galardi is absent Member Goggra is absent Council representative McKenzie here and staff
and exopysio members present today are executive director Frannle and EDA secretary Churnney Thank you very much Motion adopt agenda please I'll make the motion So move I'll second
Mckenzie All those in favor say I I I Thank you very much All right We're going to open the meeting up to the public Anybody here to step up to the mic minutes first
I apologize Let's do that first Okay Approval of the minutes please Uh item A approval of March 11th 2025 meeting minutes Looking for a motion I'll make that motion Member Nap I'll second
All in favor say I I Thank you Thank you Now it's open public open to the public for any discussion Jason Norby resident and council member uh 2736 6th Avenue East North St Paul Minnesota Thank you for allowing me this
time to speak Um primarily I just wanted to say thank you for so much for taking the time to serve um your guidance and leadership um are are very valuable and I know the personal um constraints upon you to take time out of your busy schedule It can be a lot and I just want
to say thank you very much um for taking the time Um I don't know if there's any truth to this or not but in reviewing the meetings I get the impression that
sometimes you are all searching for home runs and although I appreciate home runs I don't think that needs to be every swing of the bat Um if you're only searching for home runs I can understand the thought process of going to quarterly but I would suggest that um
pursuing singles is is a a wise and worthwhile endeavor as well Um so I would um encourage you to still meet monthly Um and I took half hour and I wrote down I don't know uh eight or nine
items that I believe could be singles for the EDA Thank you for allowing me this time Thank you sir Mr Cole you coming up sure Come on up You're the next contestant Just telling her curtain three
I've never done this before Tim Cole 2570 Shaun's Way North St All right Where's that i am here as a resident for the first time ever Uh I do want to noted that you do have a council quorum present Um just FYI with the two of them
and and so I don't know if that's we always had to make sure we announced it or not So just so everybody knows Um part of the agenda topic tonight I believe is I can't remember how it was worded but it was basically the decision to go EDA versus EDC Um is that kind of
where where we left off last month okay So just since Joe you're the longest living member currently sitting up there of of the EDA uh I want to take a step back and bring a little history to that decision before it's made Um for starters as an EDA nothing has nothing
needs to change Um it's currently not broken and the EDA has done a phenomenal job working with city council keeping council aware of decisions that are being made actions that are being taken and bringing them into the loop to buy
in on um or to to bring them along with the vote and the decisions for um as previously said home runs Um but to take a step back and to look a little bit at history of what the EDA has done under the EDA that wouldn't be allowed to be done under an EDC Um if you want to go
back um mine only my history only goes back as far as the anchor block site The EDA was involved in the anchor block site in doing a lot of the um soil studies land usage retail studies um and
spent EDA funds not involving city council to be able to get this land developed and ready for potential developers Uh the EDA was involved in meetings with um M&I Homes Quicktrip and
the storage building before any of that information was ever brought and shared to council Again representing uh showing a courtesy to the council's time um and seeing what can be done in collaboration prior to So EDA did approve funds that
were spent out of the EDA budget which is um every year on on our taxes as residents that were paid for Um the EDA was I would like to state that the in my opinion the the two last big home runs that have been hit wouldn't have been
done without the EDA Um whether you look at the Sentinel building or you look at most recently the article 7 EDA worked and developed a partnership in article 7 with the port authority uh contracted hired and paid for them to bring them in
to help find a developer to develop that entire section of land The funding was paid for out of the EDA Once that was done all that information was brought to council for council's approval as to what that was going to look like going forward
But it it creates roadblocks if it becomes an EDC and you have to wait for every other week for a council meeting for some of these decisions to be made During the Sentinel building I believe they were having uh meetings every other week if not even more more frequently to
get going Um the EDA was instrumental in uh helping build helping bring a restaurant to the Sentinel development The loan the if I'm not mistaken the loan that was given um to help that development was EDA funded not city funded The city was brought along for
all the things But if you take the authority out of the EDA you take away their their power or the city's power um to be able to be a lot more nimble and and bring it to an EDC is going to is going to to to make us uncompetitive
It's going to make the city uncompetitive from a timing standpoint So with that that's all I've got to say It's not broken No need to change it Thank you Thank you Appreciate it So that is part of the discussion um of whether or not to keep the EDA as an
authority or to create a recommendation commission that would then report back to the council that would um then make these the final decision Um like turn it over to you mayor I do you have any more information you would like to add to it
the only what we were looking at and I did have this I don't had time to look at it yet is because part of the the EDA is an authority then you know it's the six-year terms and it's you know have to go through with the treasurers and stuff like that So that's part of the vote as far as what to look at between the two
and what is the most um works the work the best for for everybody as far as being able to you know do the meetings be able to like like was said we um the terms are longer than than even the council terms So
they're six-year terms and they have to have a treasury and have the people in place So I know we had a hard time where I was asked to be president last time because we didn't have anything So uh as far as anybody else that so that's where I was looking at Is it to make sense to
have the council that does it for like Oakdale Maplewood and everybody else where it's a council thing and then the commission is the one that does you know brings brings things to them or is it to go with the full authority so it was at that time as you can see on this list
um I don't know you guys probably didn't get one did you you want to I'll give you the big You got one so you guys could take a peek there So we had a an issue when it was the car condo back in the time where um there was some things that happened during that and we had a
group that resigned because of the way it went down So we lost three members during that meeting as well during uh that So it was one of those times where it was looking at is it do we want to continue the way we are do we want to go to an EDC so I just wanted to be able to
talk bring up the both from you I asked staff to be able to explain the both between the two and the advantages and the disadvantages of both So just kind of get on the same page to make sure we're starting off We have some new members on of course So a good time to go over it
Yeah I was wondering if you guys had any as newer members any questions that I do So I what Tim said makes sense So what are the what are the negatives of it being I see that I hear the positives of the EDA what are the negatives of an
EDA what if if it's not broken why change it well it is broken We have to fix it It broke because a lot of people resigned So that's where we were at with it before you guys got there When Well it broke because uh uh the the former
EDA was not happy with um the development across the street we were looking at there was a car condo and he kind of um do had an agreement with somebody and wanted it to go through and some feelings were hurt and it was kind of they were on their own and that's
when you know Tim was on there with me and we kind of took a step back as far as to try to check things out and it got to be a little heated between the the council during that time and uh the EDA Am I stating that correctly am I allowed
please do I didn't know Yeah I mean there was Why don't you come up to the microphone so that way we have people i was brand I was brand new when all this went down so I wanted to make sure that I'm I'm on the right page Tim Cole 2570 shot Um yeah there were um there
were hurt feelings Um there was uh one or two who strongly believed that that was the right decision Um and again going back to the point where I you know I said that the EDA has always played very fair with the city They the EDA brought forward um the
recommendation from the EDA to council and council didn't necessarily decide agree that that was the development that they wanted to have across the street from city hall So there were some hurt feelings in that decision Um which did result in one or two resignations
basically at that given time Um and it was stated that if the EDA doesn't have the authority to make the decisions what good is an EDA so they were upset because they felt they were usurped by having council agree on that And I use
that as the example of where the EDA and city council work very well together that the EDA did make sure the council was involved because the EDA has the authority to do it without council approval So that's why you've there's two two a council member and the and the
mayor sitting up here to make sure that that balance remains So even as an authority even though the authority has the the ability to make a decision independent of the council by virtue of having council members here we
we solve that issue Help helps provide guidance guidance so that the EDA can't be a rogue organization given that there's city council people on it So I come from a banking perspective and
I know about development or I'm connected to redevelopment and development of sites What you talked about is you know what the EDA brought which is soil studies environmental uh the ability to uh negotiate things behind the scenes that
don't uh burden the city council Those are big factors especially if somebody's trying to redevelop a site We're getting into the spring you got to move dirt Those things are meaningful That nimleness of an EDA just coming at
it on the development side All right Yeah Thank you And I didn't I didn't read what council member Norby put up but there's things like that that can that we could you know that the EDA could be working on now too from you know from that nimleness standpoint
Thanks for your input Appreciate it I feel like Ron I'm going to go back to the road I'll call you back up when we think of something But that's the reason I wanted it in front of this new council was to discuss this to make sure everybody was in the same position going forward Um it works either direction Um part part of
it with me with myself too is I always like when there's budgets that people are elected I don't you know this is a six-year term just done by a mayor A mayor is you know um they suggested to the council but you know there's not a lot of checks and balance So I just want to
make sure everybody's comfortable with that Does that make sense it does If if I'm you know I think of the city council they're elected members We're not correct So at the end of the day the buck stops with you or the council members the elected officials Yep They
have $200,000 in their kitty that they can go through And so if I'm on the city council side I think no I want control over the EDA That's my knee-jerk reaction not knowing much Mhm But I do think about the ability of the EDA to do
a lot or some version of it to be able to do these studies so that when you have a developer coming in some of that stuff could be funded by the call it the economic development organization ahead of the city council
just to make the city more nimble Okay And that's where I thought the commission also could do that and then bring it up to that and then they log in and out What happens is with Maplewood and you know um Oakdale you know they just like we do with the HR you know they they log in as EDA we take we take
recommendations from planning commission and everybody else So it's one of those things where as a group but if it's authority then of course it's it's the we have to have the treasurer and we have to have everybody else and that kind of accountability towards that because there's tax dollars involved by
a group with an authority There's that as far as it has to be down to the for the as this level When it's when it comes to the council it's just rolled in So you what we do for for HA is we log out there as a council meeting We log in as HR We pay the bills that got to be
paid We log out and we're done So sometimes when it comes to bills and things like that where everybody has to get said we still don't even have a quorum here We're missing two again So we have to be able to get there be able to do the pay the bills be able to do all this stuff with the treasurer and everything else That's the that's the
big difference in my mind and that's why I want to discuss with this because I want every I want opinions because it's a good group And if I could add I mean as pros and cons
um one con can be uh having a full board at times Um and with a council chances are you're going to have a council full counsel more often than not That's not to say it is with every commission But one of the pros is we've got people like
you We've got people like you that are business owners that are bankers that know this stuff Um and maybe there's times that you know better than some members on council know for some of these things So I mean you can you can weigh it all out but it's truly just to
have a discussion to have just saying um what do you feel is most appropriate But I think that's where the commission comes in because with planning we have architects We have two architects on the planning commission and they they give us their their results as far as what needs to be done and their passing and
stuff So then it passes on to us But we're not making we make the decisions by the information they give us and that's the same But I'm open to either one if we're if we can get you know a president elected and a vice president and a treasurer elected I mean that's
where there's one sheet was here nominations sheet we need to do for that because six year terms everybody everybody knew that from before because I know we had to change that cuz we hadn't I just we changed you're still finishing a year so you can decide after that but right now um when we first
started looking into this um we sent the information out and found out that we weren't within term so we need to be six years for like I said that's longer than the mayor and longer than the uh commissioner are three four is the council mayor six is the EDA
So yeah we were doing it wrong We were updating the bylaws and then as a contract updating that send it to the attorney and the attorney made that correction and so yeah so that's where we're at So please I guess what I'm
thinking is I I'm just new on all this This is kind of a new new uh venture for me but we've got some expertise folks here guys here that know the banking know the business know the business
owners and how they operate within our city of North St Paul I think the authority would be a better fit being I'm still a council person but I've got a lot to learn from all
these guys of what's going to happen and I kind of like the authority end of it better Then we can take it back to our council Yeah we'd still be sitting here the same way It just be either way Ei way we're
the same group right and there's a lot for me to learn This is all new to me So and I'm willing to learn all as much as I can take in you know but uh with uh Andrew here with all the uh knowledge of the construction and the banking end of
it That's where we're going to learn a lot I guess uh my biggest concern is that the the city remain uh as competitive as possible attracting other businesses Um I don't know yet what the uh you know there's always unintended consequences
to every decision Um I would uh I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with the vote today before I could kind of dig in a little bit deeper But uh as a business owner and a longtime former resident I uh I want to do everything we
can to to bring business and um residents down to our little city and keep everybody happy whether whether we move in the direction of a commission or authority Um I'm hearing the same same thing over
and over again It's all about the people that are in the seats whether it's city council or EDA I don't think it it has to do more with who's elected who's voted on the
authority the people in the seats that have the right mindset have the right vision that want to be involved and and see what's you know the best outcome for the city is
um whether it's commission authority I don't yes there is an impact there but there's more of an impact on the people that are involved and and that we can't make a decision on we don't know we we do not know things are going to
change over time so uh that's the most important thing in my opinion and I don't know how you I really honestly you guys I don't know how you make a decision on that because the the butts in the seats are going to be different every every couple years Well if that's the butts in the seats for three years
or six years that's kind of the kind of where it's at So the question is Andrew are you going to be here for six years i mean I mean you know I mean when it comes to you know just understand because that's what we have to do to follow the state statute right so we got to get up to everybody rotating with
six-year terms And that's why I just wanted to talk out loud about it because I don't want all of a sudden people get locked in and go well you know maybe they didn't know because this change happened recently this year So or the land of last year I think we found out I can't remember
whenever we started to look into it So I would propose or suggest I mean since this was put off or tabled from the last committee that we we do go ahead with a vote It's unfortunate we are missing two members but um we seem to be locked um until we make
a decision move forward Are we okay with moving forward with a vote one way or the other is everybody okay mr the hands is I I okay with doing an authority i'm fine
I'm I'm fine with moving forward and and doing a vote Yeah no problem As long as you say your address again All right Where do you live yeah Can you get that out there again you're going to have some pizzas delivered tonight Tim
Cole 2570 Sean's way Um just down the street That's right Um the only other thing that I want to bring up from historian standpoint and John you were you were involved and you were around Um this conversation has come up a couple times the last the last two years Really hasn't come up prior to
the last couple years Um but this was brought to council Um and Joe you were around for this whether we were going to completely dissolve the EDA and let council take over the position as is uh mayor has represented a couple of the
other cities currently that's their structure And I believe the vote went down 4 to one to not have the responsibility fall on council because they've got enough things to do that they appreciated the EDA and the efforts that they put forth That was the only
other that was the last topic I think that that we talked about So it's in front of you again I think we discussed uh last meeting uh the council has the right to just do what they want right they could make a call on this right it should I mean it
doesn't necessarily need to fall upon us Am I right well you can it can get things going You know there's a budget that the that the EDA can do that 200,000 right isn't that something that a little over yep Yep 200,000 where that's your guys's review It's it's the
preview of the EDA So we can we can spend that however we want Authority You could actually go out and borrow money if you wanted to Power of an authority Yeah there's a lot of power
If you're commission you lose that You let's talk about the borrowing money So as an authority we can go out and borrow money from whom a banking industry or bankers A and and that would be something that we would go and we'd
borrow money to redevelop a site like acquire a site bulldoze an a vacant building Is that as an authority you could and so now I'm now I'm going to have I'm going to be the devil's advocate again If I'm sitting on the city council do I
want an EDA to have that much leverage because it impacts the city if I'm a city council member I would want some control over that so that we're working together But
I think that would I think would it come to the point where the EDA would come to the cops and say this is where we're looking to possibly remove a building or things like that Would it go up to a vote for us to vote yes go ahead and we
could proceed with that project Is that what we're looking at i don't want to go too far down the legal road and misspeak but um it is my understanding as an authority you could do that on your own independent of the council The authority or the EDA has
just always been very open and communicative with council So they are kept in the no Could you have city council could we again I'm just I'm new to this So could we keep it as an EDA but then have the
city two city council members or chairs be exeicio positions within the EDA so regardless of who sits on the city council there are two spots on the EDA that it's filled as an exeicio
position by the city council member So the EDA could never really act independent of the city council Yes Uh I guess where the discrepancy could come in is you might have a majority vote here but you might not
have that same majority vote as a council So you might be able to have a you know if you have six full members you could have a majority vote here to have move forward with the project but theoretically you could have a council like we just don't know we care for that
project But um we're getting into legal stuff here so I don't want to misspeak That is my understanding of it And I'm just trying to make sure that no one can operate independent of the other I I like the the They are voting members on the EDA
Yes So they do have an opinion not as a full council but as two council members Correct And are they appointed by the How do they get on is it an exofficial position where they're automatically put on to the EDA correct Yeah Mayor and one council member So you guys will always
have that spot Two out of the seven Correct Two out of the seven Okay So you don't have majority vote but you do have representation Got it Okay I'm going to ask another question The monies that we get the EDA where do
they where does that come from i'm talking about borrowing the money Where does that come from letting part of the taxes Is it percent uh I believe it is Yeah I can't remember But two points up A little over Yeah
Yeah It's part of the levy H Yeah We didn't take the max this year That was 207,000 I believe is what it was Yeah So then the EDA has that but as a commission that goes away correct
and that would go back into the general fun No it still goes to the EDA but the EDA is the council Correct They just log in and do the recommendation No difference in the HA Both of those two have or authorities They both have levies But it's their
it's it's their money Who's there the council's money We don't have to decide So you want to do you know soil testing all of that That's as set up right now we can vote
and say "Hey we want to move forward Let's spend that money We don't have to go to council and get approval." When I look at how North St Paul has changed in the last few years and again I'm an outsider I just
moved in here a year and a half ago It has been remarkable how the city of North St Paul I kind of equated it's like the northeast Minneapolis on the east side Young families are coming in I love going to Max Diner I love seeing the young families there The apartment
buildings on both sides I mean there's a lot happening and I think that is from the EDA I'm not They had a big hand in the redevelopment of of North St Paul The EDA's done a lot over the last 20 years and I've been in the city for 10
The EDA's done a lot over 18 to 20 years in downtown North St to get things moving So then I go back to Tim Cole saying if it's not broken why why change it right that's kind of
where I'm coming out on this That's why I think I like the authority better because if there's something that we need to do here and if it's something that's not going to affect my standpoint as a council
person that if it's the thing that we can do to assist our city in becoming a better helper for getting business to come in here I I think that's the only way we can do this to make it
better to help generate more revenue in this city We had Robert Dub was the chair for a long time and he was in the building construction So he brought a lot to that So as far as what we were looking at that he's the one of the first one he
was on 12 years I think by the time he ran through because they had to do things So there is some on there So I wanted to just bring it up to have everybody understand that it's a it's it's six years and you have to and and we're accountable when it comes because
there's a budget and has to have a treasurer and everybody else as far as that So if if we have that and we're willing to go forward with that I'm fine with that But it uh there's just that accountability that needs to be done by the time frame with the state and the all the other things with the EDA
Correct EDA And so there's a part of me that goes throw it up to the city council so that I don't have that accountability But with the EDA there there needs to be I would assume an audit of some kind on the on the financials We go through audit every year and it goes through all of it Yep I
just we just finished it up a couple about a month ago maybe Had to go through couple weeks Had to go through and sit down with the auditors and go over everything Yeah Yep Correct From a treasurer standpoint I mean the city's The city's been doing
that part of it for years for years right correct I mean there hasn't been a as far as I know could be wrong there hasn't been an appointed treasurer of where do you live
address please Where is it 25 Tim Cole 25 Yes there there was a treasurer but all he did was read the notes that were provided by finance director So there wasn't a
treasure So there was there correct Okay In name only Got it And they worked with the community development director who worked with the finance Okay Thanks for clarifying Do that as a city representative for the ED Perfect Thanks
Brian Should we let's vote on it All in favor of keeping the EDA the way it is right now We show hands or what are we say I Raise your hands It would be I I
All right we got her DDA We just got to election Wonderful And that is I appreciate that I appreciate you guys listening because I didn't want to spring anything because it's one of those things where for an authority we really have to discuss and make sure we're on the same page So thanks for all your input and I I am new to this so
it's new but I do see the history of what EDA has accomplished and I am just in awe of what North St Paul has accomplished in the last few years Great Amen That's good All right All right So next up will be the election of officers again Um
fortunately we are down two members Um I'm going to turn this over to Chris who can go over the responsibilities of the positions and then we can vote on who we'd like to be in those positions Oh one other thing I'm sorry Yeah Is he
mentioned monthly are we going to discuss are we going to stay quarterly monthly are we is that something that it is not something that is on the agenda um would you like to bring that up for a vote next time or if people can think about it i mean we
can look through the list of stuff that you know that you talked about I know there's some things we talked about as staff and you and I so we're going to look into Okay Thanks Okay All right Per the bylaws of the North St Paul Economic Development Authority The
authority shall annually elect the offices of president vice president treasurer assistant treasurer and secretary The offices of secretary and assistant treasurer need not be held by an authority member And now I will go through just a
little bit about each of those offices The president shall preside at all meetings of the authority The vice president shall preside at any meeting of the authority in the absence of the president and may exercise all powers and perform all responsibilities
of the president if the president cannot exercise or perform the same due to absence or other inability The treasurer office the treasurer shall receive and be responsible for authority money is
responsible for the acts of the assistant treasurer shall disperse authority money by check only keep an account of all authority receipts and the nature purpose and authority of all dispersements and shall file the authorities's financial statement with
its secretary at least once a year as set by the authority The assistant treasurer The assistant treasurer shall have all powers and duties of the treasurer if the treasurer is absent or disabled And finally the secretary shall keep the
minutes of all meetings of the authority and shall maintain or cause to be maintained all records of the authority The secretary shall also have such additional duties and responsibilities as the authority may from time to time and by resolution prescribe
So at this time staff recommend the EDA conduct the annual election of the offices of president vice president treasurer assistant treasurer and secretary All right Does anybody have an issue with the assistant treasurer and the
secretary be Chris from staff no No No Would you mind three and three Uh you accept Thank you very much Oh congrats Appreciate We'd asked for president but it says you
can't be there It says All right Haven't done this before We do need to open this up Um as if anybody has a suggestion for putting any members forward for those positions you're certainly welcome to put that out Otherwise we need to have that
conversation and you guys need to make that decision and vote on it That could be including that Um I don't think that would be appropriate to vote them in Um so we're limited
So we got three uh three spots to fill with five people How much longer do you have 26 But I do have to say one of the council members Cassidy was not too happy with
me being the president Yeah She brought that up at one of our our meetings So I where that goes But then again now that I'm on the the board here
that I can reassure her that it will be done you know Mr Was not was not an official I was not I was a representative
Not an authority Correct Okay Well I think I think Andrew would be a great president since he's going to be with us for a year A year Seven years Because that's 1 plus six
I I'm thinking me I'm thinking member I'm thinking member Yeah Thank you I tried It's It's not to say that you guys can't vote Uh I don't care if it's the mayor or council member to be in one of those
positions Uh I think part of the issue before was there was an understanding that that person thought the person elected themselves to be in that position So it's not an issue if that's what you guys vote on and that's what somebody accepts is to have one of those
positions So I'm fine I mean I like John's position as president since he is the mayor and it's and I I'm fine with that We're still an EDA I don't see the issues with that
Question Yeah Where do you go don't say Sean's way We already got one guy on there Thank you Um I just wanted to ask a point of clarification be on something I don't understand If um the honorable mayor John Mangi does happen to elect a president would this be for a
four or a six-year term was the only clarification I was hoping for um because I don't understand Thank you so much I think it goes just by the name So the next mayor would take up because it's always the mayor and a council member Correct Yeah it is I don't think it goes
by name It just goes by position I would have to agree with that So a year and a half a year won't be here unless you run again You wouldn't be six year six years You'd be after four years and the next person would jump on you ran again Right
Yeah There was no terms for you then at that time right no my my term ended when my council would that's a good question I don't I'll second that from Andrew I don't see any
issues in changing Mayor Monkey and the president Yeah I'm with you One of the things that I can say is I'm still new to all this and if I were to happen to get that
seat which I really not interested in is I'm it's there's so much learning at the one end of the council to learning at the EDA end which he's been experienced with for the last couple years now and he's more versed and able
to get in and find out more information than I would because I'm still trying to get myself used to come in the building and seeing people meeting people Okay
Mr President are you willing to keep the position it doesn't cause an issue I'm finding it Yeah So the issue was people felt that he was handed the So let's vote on it and let's eliminate We voted the last time We did vote the
last time Exactly But let's let's be very specific and let's vote again I'll make the motion I'll second Okay All in favor councilman member Ma member Matthews all those in favor say I I I Thank you Wonderful Vice President are
you still willing to be at the helm for that or you bet Okay Anybody have throw their hat in the ring for vice president all right Can I get a motion for I can't get me on Council member or council sorry So hard to get these two right
Anybody want a motion brett Okay Second Nath All those in favor for Matthews for vice president say I I I Thank you Treasurer Sounds like uh just got to stay awake
Andrew He does the notes Brandon will you do it bud what does this entail staying awake Yeah staying away Do that Yeah Um we're fortunate to have Chris So part of the treasur is you'll get the notes and be able to be a part
of that But yes be taken care of Basically that's city staff takes care of it Does that work for you i can do it Okay For treasure for I'll make a motion Matthews Second Nath All those in favor say I I I All right Thank you Chris for
everything And thank you Now here we go Thanks for all your input out there Appreciate it That's right Yeah All right Now we got some exciting stuff Here we go So we are looking at uh I'm
going to go over the facade improvement program again and then we can vote to accept it and officially make it a program and then we can start advertising that out to our businesses So the purpose of this was to recognize an important role uh that a vibrant
downtown plays for the city And what this money would allow is which we've set aside $200,000 for the program Um this becomes a 50% match for um anybody applying for it and then we're having a minimum of a
$5,000 um request So that would be $10,000 for a total request half of it being covered by the EDA Um it goes over in here what is available for it uh that it's a matching grant and that
um they would have to do the project which would have to be uh if it comes as a standard project um that we've already covered in here of one of the things that is acceptable to pay for we will take care of it on the community level
Um if it becomes something out of the ordinary we can bring it back to um you guys for an approval and a vote and approval and we can call together a special meeting for that So they're not waiting for a duration of time until uh the next meeting Um we've already had one
business has already shown interest in it Uh I hope you don't feel I jumped the gun but I was at the uh business association meeting today and said that this was something that we were talking about discussing and hopefully approving today And do keep their eye on the website for u this program to move
forward Awesome Um so we went over all of the items of that this would be accepting of uh the grant dollars Uh for example restoration of exterior finishes and materials uh masonry repairs tuck pointing exterior
painting or reciting uh removal of architectural uh inappropriate or incompatible exterior finishes and materials repair replace windows and doors uh must be architecturally appropriate uh signs if it's an integral
part of the overall facade improvement Um contracted labor related to any of the above improvements including design work for improvements that are to be completed Uh that is not part of if the business owner themselves does the work
though it does not cover that labor Um and like I said other improvements similar in or in nature of the above uh grant funds will be used to pay for the materials Um it does go over the things that it's
not for Um so again it's for the facade the front of the building So it's not for any kind of work on the side or the back or rooftop units things of the such or parking areas The eligible properties are on 7th
Avenue and from it says uh on Margaret Street from Highway 36 South to 6th Street Well Sixth Street if you actually drew that line through more or less stops where 7th Avenue starts Um then it says how do I receive
the grants until you uh once you are approved then they will hire their contractor to do the work They will pay for the work and then come back with um the invoices Uh after it's all said and done uh we the city will
look at the uh project pre and post and make sure that the work has been done appropriately and everything's been approved and inspected So um to submit the application uh there few few steps just a written description of the project including drawings before and after photos of the building and
other supporting materials that accurately represent scope and intent of the project's improvements A contractor's bid that meets the following guidelines Um matching grants may only be used for eligible costs as identified in the document If qualified to do so
you may perform the work yourself However grant funds can only be used to compensate for materials not for labor or purchase or of rental tools or equipment Uh sweat equity labor includes that of a friend relative or anyone with financial interest in the business or
property Um evidence that the contractor is bonded and or insured And the EDA reserves the right to request a second bid uh from the applicant So the community development like I said will review the select grant projects
um get a secured and signed copy of the application and participant agreement and then complete the project and submit the documentation and then we will uh bring that back to you for approval on reimbursement of the project So I think
it would be a good project I think once upon a time they did have this It was a while back but uh I think this would be good for the business owners downtown to be able to have access to these funds I agree There's been a lot of construction and a lot of stuff that's happened So I'm glad that we can take people that
have you know been able to uh you know go through the hard times of roads closed and everything else and be able to get help with a little refreshing It's be really good I'm excited for this Indeed Yeah So I like this program I I think it's needed One question as to who
can apply for a matching grant Would it be excessive to require that the businesses applying um are not in any violation of state and federal rules and regulations per their
industry and it's a that's a question and I I don't know how you monitor that but so um an example like what the taxes aren't paid they're in default Okay of uh their payroll taxes or their
business in good standing almost Correct And I don't know how you check that But if you're in litigation with the IRS because you haven't paid your pay your employee taxes your payroll taxes Is this somebody that we want to give money
to to improve their the building and it's and it's more of a question Sure Yeah Well I would if I don't mind uh that may be a slippery slope for us to get into those kind of weeds and ask for that kind of personal information if we aren't aware of it I
mean we do have building officials through Rum River that will inspect any job and and do the due diligence that we do as a city for any kind of construction projects And I see where you're coming from I think it it may be difficult I mean I don't even know how you would dive into some of those things
like getting IRS information or people to ask for it But um fair enough And I was just throw that has crossed my mind So okay I just didn't know if even that at their business just having business in good standing just general
yes type of thing and that's kind of self we're doing well We want to get this I mean there are some federal grants that you know they look into do you have workers comp do you have you know these other things but I just don't feel that's who we are Okay Fair enough
Okay All right Now for the facades and that is this going to be including like a fresh paint job on buildings that are more stuckcoish or are you going to require
like a brick like Gary Insurance has got and next door he's got the uh the molded brick in the front now those are things that I'd like to see or to base their city on on how to develop and put the
front together I don't want the people to pay a lot of money but if they can decorate it to make it a fresh paint or clean out the brick and just make it a facade you know like we
have shells with the uh old name in the plate glass and that just clean all that stuff up and whether or not he put awnings or anything like that That's part of the facade but just cleaning up everything and cleaning the brick that's the biggest
thing And people just don't take care of the fronts But if they clean up the fronts people are going to notice how much cleaner our city is What is your question are are they going
to allow any contractor to come through or would you condense it down to get a couple contractors to come in and maybe give these business owners a better price that would do more of the work
being they're already here in their city i don't know that that would be the path to go where that we're given that option up to the business owner themselves Um because I don't know how many businesses we're actually going to have jump on board to do that to have one contractor
think that they would do everything that might come forward whether or not it's a sign or an awning or tuck pointing I just don't know that you'd have the catchall contractor necessarily Yeah I think the business owners are going to want the autonomy of of finding
their own contractor and they still have to fall within the planning commission Exactly You want something on the front mission going to say you can or can't So yeah and the EDA has a right I see here to get a request a second bid So we have a check and balance some degree They're
bonded and insured So Yeah Okay Any discussion not can I get a motion to for the improvement facade program i'll move Second Second Nath All those
in favor say I I I All right Thank you very much Great Uh we are going to move on to updates Um I will take care of the staff updates I do want to discuss I brought this up in a previous meeting about CEDA which
is community and economic development associates Uh we actually have our member out here that initially made the contact with this company Um so what CEDA is is um they provide rural communities counties and organizations
with support to plan for implement and celebrate projects that keep them moving in the future Uh C's flexible structure allows rural municipalities and organizations to be proactive about economic development by providing a dedicated professional um to serve as an
economic development staff member on location if so requested Uh contract for the amount of staff time and accommodate uh accommodates budgets collaborative development of yearly work plan to align and meet goals and assure accountability
with standard 30-day out clause included every contract So we did have a representative from CEDA come out uh they were contacted last November We actually didn't get the report until I think a month ago or so approximately
month and a half Um but they they were willing to come out it was at no cost and they give us a first impression of our city um to see where we could make improvements or how we are serving our constituents well and these are items that could help with uh businesses in
our downtown Um some of the information or a good amount of the information is uh comes from census data information coming from Ramsey County Um but they do try to make uh suggestions about how can you improve your downtown how can you
improve uh people finding your downtown wayfinding signs Um you know they look at your website to see if you have good explanations of what services that you have what you offer um and they look at it to see where they could make improvements for it So I can go over
what was found um with the report that they turned in And if this sounds like something that uh of interest to you at the end I will go over what they can do for rates what they cost and if it is something that we are looking to look uh
more deeply into we can bring that um representative back out and maybe at the next meeting and they can discuss more in depth with you Um so the introduction was a purpose of the first uh report is to provide the city of North St Paul with information on assets and
opportunities as observed uh by the person who came out to look at our city Um the report does not constitute a proposed work plan and may include items that the city has previously discussed or declined to move forward with The report should uh instead be viewed as
firsthand observations and suggestions ascertained and conveyed by visitors through a community development lens Um so the it kind of goes over I won't go into all the details of community
demographics of how our city is made up Uh it goes on to talk about population location of where we're at Um you know what we have for transportation here You know we have our DNR trail It goes right through the middle of our town We have Highway 36 Highway 120 Uh we have good
bus access um in town All positive things uh talks about median household income and home values uh workers earnings um and the percentage of those earnings um in different categories in
our city uh which we do have a lower income city in comparison with a lot of other cities uh gives us the top 10 jobs by industry sector Largest of them being educational services retail trade uh and
manufacturing Talks about the inflow and outflow of our city So we have uh according to the last count about 349 people that live in this town and work in this town Otherwise we have uh close to 5,000 people that travel to our town
to work And then we have a little over 6,000 people that live in our town that travel outside of our town to go to their jobs It does talk about our online uh presence and they have we have pretty good feedback from that as far as
talking about city parks um what we have for resources uh you know city forms bill pay things like that through the city park rentals Um we also have good user friendly navigation which was one of the key
things that they look for Um and online presence for social media Uh Facebook is our biggest one but we also have Instagram Twitter and LinkedIn that is used Um they do talk about the signage around town
Um we have good signs that kind of promote our city You know we have our logo on a lot of our um street signs Um you know we have good uh signs for our parks you know where they're at how they're located One of the downsides of
us being in a metro city is you don't know if unless you're familiar with a town when you're leaving one city and going to another city Um so they did say that that there was room for improvement on something like that Um does talk about housing cost of
housing in town um said about there's a 97% occupancy rate in North St Paul of which 7 or 67% of them are owner occupied Um some pretty good stats with some of this stuff Like I said a lot of
that comes from the census but uh good information We have 4,87 housing units here Um the median value of owner occupied housing units is about $286,000 [Music]
Um city also experienced a moderate level of geographic mobility with uh 12.3% of residents having moved in in the past year It's also worth noting that 43% of the residents report moving to the community between the years 2010 and
2017 does talk about the education that we have in town uh being that we have the school district here 622 but also some of the private schools we have here whether that's St pets or North Metro Flex Academy across the street here Uh talks about our downtown Um you
know recently improved upon some of the other businesses that we have down there services that the city offers like uh the emergency services um healthcare utilities library here in the city
uh does talk about our recreation um you know the availability of parks what we have at our parks um some of the uh activities that we have uh throughout the city through the year Um does have community promotions which uh they said that our city is good at
promoting at least on our website Um we have good internal marketing um and uh the external marketing they had good things to say about that as well Um in conclusion they said the development there is some construction going on in the community However it is
limited by the proximity to neighboring communities and that we are built up to our borders for the most part Um recreation the city offers a wonderful blend of recreation activities for citizens of all ages Uh two lakes located within the city are a tremendous asset Uh community engagement It's clear
that the city of North St Paul takes pride in keeping citizens informed uh residents have a multitude of resources um in which to access information The conclusion is uh clearly that North St Paul um is home to residents who are dedicated to their community and
activity create opportunities for its growth There are many recreational activities to enjoy and the close proximity to Minneapolis St Paul Metro creates opportunities to attract visitors and new residents alike So they did have good things to say Um like I
said we can go further if if this sounds appealing to you to bring them in Um we can talk about rates Um so we can go down as little as one day every other week or twice a month Um and that cost
is about $16,000 a year to contract that And you can go all the way up to having somebody here five days a week And I will say these were well this is two in 2025 staffing rates So uh having somebody here as a full-time person is $110,000 a year So there's a wide
variety of what you may want and what they can do for us and what they can offer and um maybe offer other opportunities that we can you know attract more businesses and keep the businesses retainage of what we have So that is the extent of the report and
be great to hear your kind of feedback on that if it's something that we might be interested in spending some money on and having them go and talk to us more and potentially look at a contract with them Um that would be next steps Thank you
So right now as far as development spots we have official now that we got appraisals and everything else is the one across the street Margaret Commons is what we're referring it to as and then the other one between Sidewinders and the tattoo place Those are empty ready to go type of uh locations right
now Right That's correct And I would like to add that uh at the end of last year we put out an RFP for the property across the way It was out there for a couple more than a couple of months Um we had no official submitts Um we did talk to a local contractor that has done
work here in the city before Uh he's expressed that interest rates are pretty high Unfortunately we've seen them increase again Um uh contract costs are still pretty high He's actually very interested in maybe someday developing here but uh he's waiting for the market to settle down a little bit Um
thank you That's good Good to know So that's and that lot over there is a little strange It has the we kept at one building up there That's how we're going to get the tiff if if there's tiff involved because you have to take something down So that's ready for that And there's an alley that goes through
for the big sewer that's about six feet in diameter And then you got uh poles back there too So it's a very long very narrow lot It was four or five lots before something like that Or six Yeah even six Yeah Yeah So we did get that planted as one So we had it ready
appraised and we had it out there but right now we haven't gotten anything as far as that So that's the two lowhanging fruit things we have in town right now Correct Otherwise it's redevelopment And I did talk to um Lo's um Andy so her
and I had a conversation They're um they're still open There was something that said they weren't open but they're they're still open for business And uh and that's great ice cream but they are looking to um move on to retire So they are going to this April they're going to
have the the building and the business back up for sale again they were talking about So last fall they took it off for the winter Thank you And I misspoke at that before Um you know another property that kind of comes up that people inquire about uh is the property there on South
Avenue and Highway 120 Um pretty rundown building There's one business there right now uh the pizza factory or what was the pizza factory They uh it sounds like they've had a change of heart They initially were going to stay there till the end of last year and
then move into a different place Uh they have since extended the contract but now the business is up for sale again So that's the only place in them all left That's the only place left Yes that's correct And that's privately owned So that has nothing you know right now as far as Yeah we have no control over that
but it's one that gets brought up Well if somebody could come on and help us with that pine tree center I mean that it's worth it's worth gold right there Uh it's been an eyesore and it's you know my parents live right by there so I see it all the time I remember the glory
days of that place was 7-Eleven back in what '7s maybe Yeah St Paul Derry next door to us That's right That's right Is that where the pizza factory is y So that's that's almost a twoacre site So That's that's a
pretty that's a great big site Do a lot high traffic area High traffic area So I think about that that company that did that report that you just read and I think about it might be a little premature to have them because to pay
for that pay for that organization because we do have that site of Sidewinders The pizza factory was on my mind I just drove past it recently and what is that building and I Googled it and sure enough it's somebody in Phoenix owns it It's a 1.82 acres It looks like
a nice I think there's a low hanging fruit for us to get get to before doing or engaging somebody for any dollars what we want developers The other thing too with right now is that a lot of developers are back are backing off of
the redevelopment or I'm sorry building anything new because of tariffs because of rising interest rates or interest rates being higher So I think we're in a holding pattern So I would I would suggest we don't hire anybody right now because no one's doing anything Um and I
think our focus should be more of the fixing of that pizza pizza factory site That piece of property He owns quite a few properties around St Paul So Also owns the cottages here in town He
owns what the cottages here in town up off 11th Avenue Okay Same owner Okay They live in Arizona Take property taxes Arizona They have places in Florida They
Yeah So they don't pay the property tax up there They do The bill goes to Florida Arizona Yep Okay So yeah we do have and we did run into um the last council when when Tim and I you know were on that one as well
um the developer for uh um article 7 they came to us at the last moment and said "Hey we can't get any loan on commercial space." So we had to do a change to a work live for them So I mean they said we you know we that project
almost went sideways because they couldn't get that So even started that time where it was hard to get for commercial So that all being said this is a great time to focus on retention Correct That's what the facility and that's what we're doing It's a great
time It's a great great time to reinvest in retention in the businesses Um just make the city look nice Now if we could get all our residents to take pride in all their properties that'
be amazing Yeah So sounds like we're on we hold for that We'll continue with what we're doing Yep We'll be able to reach out I know that uh you have another hire that's going to be coming on Correct We do We uh Ken
Robbins is uh currently um he's a planner in Forest Lake and he will be starting here on April 28th on Monday So uh community director community development director good for you So you will see the him at the next meeting as well have his involvement with this So
great awesome have him for the resource then to indeed good Yep Be good to get to see where he's at too be able to uh go from there And he has a long history I mean he worked 19 years in Maplewood He worked in Lake Elmo now in Forest Lake So he's
good experience Good Nice All right Just All right Nothing further All right Nothing further So then it's any member updates anybody have anything to say oh I got one thing I had a a person ask me says
you know we've got no signage on Mcnite Road directing traffic into our North St Paul district Is there some type of a signage that we could ever come up with to specify you know because if
they're going south of Mcnite they've already bass South Avenue That's Yeah that's south to let them know that North St Paul is to the left because if they don't realize that they can go straight ahead and go around the former Schiffsky
site nobody really knows how to get into North St That's a good point And there we have property right there Um I'm trying to think is that on seventh or south station on the correct yes Yeah If we could have put a sign there I don't know
if it would be a billboard sign or if it' be a a lit up neon sign or something Downtown North St Paul And then certain nights would be a flashing of car show tonight Um things like that That would be a uh possible thing that our EDA
could work on to get better signage for our nursing hall that has been brought up in the past Yes Uh that that would be a good place for a sign Um where are you he always has like four businesses What no Which one are you saying there used to be a gas station You know where
the North St Paul Hospital is on on seventh Okay Across the street Okay All right That was the old gas station there one time Yeah I wasn't sure South when you 36 as far as No you're going south of Mcnite off of 36 Yeah Because even when you go So I'm thinking h I'm
thinking Holiday No but south of there yet where North But even if people are getting off because most people are coming off of 36 right i mean most of the traffic's going to be there They take a right and they're going south on Mcnite Your first
logical left is going to be at the holiday not down by not down by the uh the vet the veterinarian place That's another You would think so but Right But but real quick I think South has a turn light I don't think Seventh does It does
Does Seventh have one too okay I think they both do now I wasn't sure if they had a light on that corner too I know South did The only catch there is we own property right there Yeah Okay So but that doesn't mean you couldn't use a sign but that if you went as far as a lit up sign Um but now you're dealing
We'd have to go through the planning and then of course talk with neighbors cuz some of them we'd have to the new signs have a lot of abilities You can turn them down turn them off so they're not so illuminant at night so it's not bothering people uh sleeping at night
Um but I think those have a decent cost to them as well But uh we can certainly look into it And just you know just a thought I someone brought it up to me and I said "Well I can always find out." Yep So that site is only a quarter acre It's very small So you can't really use
it for anything other than Yeah I I think it'd be kind of neat like I I kind of like all the snowmen that were put all around town kind of tied into the big snowman Um could we put a snowman there pointing with lights that shine up to the snowman
so it's not a glowing neon sign with an air like a hand extending out Just continuing on that theme of the snowman visit our downtown North St Paul pointing people to downtown We'd have to get a new mold if we're going to have him pointing But we could
we could do a snowman though Something I mean the snowman was just featured on something local 11 you know channel 9 I'm sorry Oh one of the Mory Glover So that man there was interviewed
for it Yeah So father time interviewed by double down on the snowman and have him pointing or snow woman or whatever Good something there Also there's one too for signage that um I know it was
asked when it was first built in '08 but I drive around a lot and Chaza Weisetta they all got signs on their bridges now that say towns I know that was asked quite a while ago and it was pooed by the by the Mindot but I was wondering I do see more above highways like 212 over
there by Chaza It says Chaza and it' be nice to be able to have something on the Margaret Bridge that says North State I have talked to Morgan and Morgan has given me uh a contact uh through mindot for the bridge person who he said would be a good place to start right there So
I I think that'd be a wonderful idea and that's a great idea Really cool Uh I think we better start with one thing Yeah they're they're pretty picky I mean I think we we've asked for things in the past and they're just a flatout no when it comes to signs especially
along Highway 36 No We could um that would be really awesome You know what too I was wondering you know so we have there's railing and it works out well because there's five spans of railing if you will So it would be perfect in the middle section but do we do it in the
railing or because I've seen some of them where it kind of hangs down on the bridge part as opposed to up above to where I don't know if people I don't know I guess we'll just start the conversation anyway But they do what their rules are indeed Nice to see But I do see more but you know now
they seem to be popping up a little more Yes Good All right Anything else gang if not for adjournment So moved So moved Second Matches All in favor say I I Right now we have on the
schedule June 10th is the next meeting and you're going to go over some of the other stuff Brian suggestions Yes sir Thanks everyone Appreciate it