[0:00] payments of $66,541

[0:05] uh primarily legal and insurance fees.

[0:10] » I'll make a motion.

[0:12] » Second.

[0:12] » A motion from Austin, a second from

[0:14] Nick. All in favor?

[0:16] » I.

[0:16] » Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

[0:20] Uh we'll start things out this morning.

[0:22] We have a guest from the Southern

[0:24] Minnesota Initiative Foundation here to

[0:26] share some things with us.

[0:29] » All right. Thank you for having me. Uh,

[0:31] is it okay if I pass out some folders?

[0:32] » Absolutely. Awesome.

[0:38] » Thank you.

[0:43] » Thank you.

[0:44] » I still got mine.

[0:46] » Okay.

[0:53] [clears throat]

[0:54] Okay. Well, um, thank you everyone for

[0:58] having me here today. Uh, it's I I

[1:00] consider it a real opportunity. Um, and

[1:03] again, thank you for your long-standing

[1:04] partnership with Southern Minnesota

[1:06] Initiative Foundation. Um, just a brief

[1:08] introduction. You know, New Prague EDA

[1:11] has been a valued Smith supporter since

[1:14] 2003. Um, and has contributed a total of

[1:16] $11,000 over that time to Smith. Uh we

[1:20] truly appreciate your commitment to

[1:22] strengthening communities and supporting

[1:24] economic development through southern

[1:26] Minnesota. Just to give you a refresher

[1:28] who Smith who we are at Smith at

[1:30] Southern Minnesota Initiative

[1:32] Foundation. Um so we are a regional

[1:35] development and philanthropic

[1:36] organization serving 20 counties, 175

[1:39] communities, and one native nation

[1:41] across southern Minnesota. Our mission

[1:44] is to foster economic development and

[1:46] community vitality uh through

[1:48] collaboration, partnerships, investments

[1:50] and uh philanthropy.

[1:53] What we do uh so entrepreneurship and

[1:55] economic development, business lending,

[1:58] uh startup financing, gap financing,

[2:00] technical assistance, entrepreneur

[2:02] support, rural entrepreneurial uh

[2:05] entrepreneurship development, and more.

[2:07] Um, also early childhood development,

[2:11] just to kind of give you an idea here,

[2:13] um, early care and education grants,

[2:15] early literacy grants, child care

[2:17] workforce initiatives, uh, free provider

[2:20] training, uh, community early childhood

[2:22] partnerships. And then the last pillar

[2:25] is community vitality,

[2:27] um, small town grants, placemaking

[2:29] projects, community beautifification,

[2:31] downtown improvements, community

[2:33] leadership development. basically making

[2:35] these small towns um across our region

[2:38] places that people uh want to live

[2:40] because there's so much value there, but

[2:42] not it's not always easy to maybe see

[2:44] that. And so we want to give small towns

[2:45] a fighting chance to to um hold and

[2:50] retain um everything that makes a town

[2:53] and a community so wonderful. Um and

[2:55] then also philanthropy. So this is uh

[2:57] for example community foundations,

[2:59] endowments, donor advised funds, legacy

[3:02] giving, regional grant making, really

[3:03] just giving people um a pathway to uh

[3:07] supporting their communities in all the

[3:10] diverse ways that they could or want to.

[3:12] Every community has unique needs and so

[3:14] for example, our community foundations

[3:16] are there to uh allow communities to

[3:18] rally around those needs. So

[3:21] um why Smith partners with EDAS?

[3:25] One of the reasons Smith enjoys working

[3:27] with EDA's EDA offices is because we're

[3:30] pursuing many of the same outcomes,

[3:32] um, business growth, workforce

[3:34] attraction and retention,

[3:36] entrepreneurial support, childcare

[3:37] availability, community development,

[3:39] quality of life improvements.

[3:42] Um, typically Smith serves as an

[3:44] additional tool in an EDA's um, toolbox.

[3:48] So, we help communities connect

[3:50] businesses to capital, identify opport

[3:52] grant opportunities, provide technical

[3:54] assistance. You know, we can work with

[3:57] uh businesses starting out all the way

[3:58] up to advanced businesses. Um, for

[4:01] example, Quickbooks, um, how to keep

[4:04] your taxes organized, pretty much

[4:05] everything. Um, so it's pretty cool. We

[4:08] can come alongside a business and help

[4:10] them flourish. Um, support

[4:12] entrepreneurs, you know, that's kind of

[4:13] the name of the game. strengthen local

[4:15] philanthropy, improve childcare

[4:17] capacity, development, community

[4:19] projects. So rather than replacing local

[4:21] economic development efforts, we help

[4:24] communities bring additional resources

[4:26] and expertise to the table. So kind of

[4:28] diving in here, and I'll be I'll be

[4:30] brief. Um, but the Lassour County uh

[4:33] impact since 1986,

[4:35] um, $6.9 million has been invested in

[4:38] the Lassour County. 322 grants have been

[4:41] awarded, 30 loans provided to support

[4:44] entrepreneurs. Uh 3,370

[4:48] entrepreneurs supported uh 72 children

[4:51] supported through recent initiatives

[4:52] within the last three years. Um just to

[4:55] kind of give you an idea, we have around

[4:57] 31 develop approved training sessions

[4:59] throughout our region annually. Uh these

[5:02] are training sessions that childcare

[5:03] providers or really anyone that works

[5:04] with children um in a licensed capacity

[5:07] can come and um not only receive

[5:10] accreditation by the state um but learn

[5:12] best practices in terms of how to run

[5:14] their business and how to uh best serve

[5:16] our children. Um so, uh to give you kind

[5:20] of an idea, um return on investment for

[5:24] every dollar donated from Lassour

[5:25] County, approximately $21 has been

[5:27] invested back into Lassour County

[5:29] through grants, loans, programming, and

[5:31] technical assistance. So that's the

[5:33] power of leveraging local support with

[5:35] state, federal, philanthropic,

[5:37] corporate, and private resources as

[5:38] well. Um so again, I kind of already

[5:41] mentioned this, but business loans, this

[5:43] is one way that we support economic

[5:45] development. uh we provide financing um

[5:48] from starting up all the way to equity

[5:49] investments. So um that technical

[5:52] assistance, cash flow planning, loan

[5:54] readiness, growth strategies, um you

[5:56] name it. But in fiscal year 2025, Smith

[5:59] provided around 35 and a half hours of

[6:02] business technical assistance here in

[6:03] Lassour County with an estimated value

[6:05] of around $2,840.

[6:08] So, these are businesses here um that

[6:10] are that are benefiting from that again

[6:12] because of the partnership that Smith

[6:14] and the EDA have and also others. Um so,

[6:17] we're so grateful for that.

[6:18] Entrepreneurship highlights Montgomery

[6:21] uh Rev initiative. Smith awarded a

[6:23] $20,000 grant to support Montgomery's

[6:25] rural entrepreneurial venture program,

[6:27] REV. Uh the project focuses on business

[6:30] outreach, one-on-one entrepreneur

[6:32] visits, identifying barriers to growth.

[6:35] Uh this initiative creates stronger

[6:36] local businesses and more informed

[6:38] economic development strategies.

[6:41] Uh the promise act [clears throat] the

[6:44] promise act grants um recent lassour

[6:46] county recipients included uh $50,000

[6:49] awarded to lassour farming corporation

[6:52] $25,000 awarded to the lawn barber

[6:54] service services in lassour um

[6:57] supporting business stability payroll

[6:59] retention equipment modernization and

[7:02] business growth. Uh the new Prague

[7:04] impact here um early childhood and

[7:06] education. New Prague area schools um

[7:08] early learning program Smith invested

[7:11] around $17,000 to support parent

[7:13] resource bags, early childhood

[7:15] engagement, school readiness

[7:17] initiatives, and uh full day preschool

[7:19] programming for atrisisk students. uh

[7:22] New Prague Area Community Foundation.

[7:24] Smith awarded $10,000 early care and

[7:26] education grant to support childcare

[7:29] provider resource library provider

[7:31] training, parent education, and then

[7:33] community early childhood initiatives.

[7:36] Um New Prague Area

[7:38] Early Childhood Initiative received a

[7:40] $12,000 grant um again for parent

[7:43] education, educator professional

[7:45] development, and um and play-based

[7:48] learning. So, um, and and I can go on

[7:50] and on about about this, um, but and

[7:52] it's just so special. Again, it just

[7:53] highlights the power of our our kind of

[7:55] our synergistic, um, relationship here.

[7:57] It's really great. Um, community

[7:59] vitality impact, the city of New Prague,

[8:02] um, smalltown grant. They received

[8:04] $6,631

[8:05] for improvements to Southside Park Disc

[8:08] Golf Course, uh, wayfinding signage,

[8:10] park enhancements, uh, visitor

[8:12] experience improvements. also forward

[8:15] new Prague Foundation uh small town

[8:17] grant in the total of $9,685

[8:20] for landscaping uh native vegetation

[8:23] trees and shrubs uh outdoor performance

[8:25] space improvements things that just make

[8:27] the community a wonderful livable place

[8:29] um that kind of enhance it. Community

[8:31] foundations, of course, we do community

[8:33] foundations work like I mentioned. I I

[8:34] won't go over everything, but uh we

[8:36] support our community foundations. We

[8:38] sort of do all the backend work, the

[8:40] legal work, tax stuff like that. uh

[8:42] freeing up the board um of the community

[8:45] foundation to focus on what is most

[8:46] important and pressing in their

[8:48] community. And so that's really really

[8:50] great. So we supported uh recent support

[8:52] in the last three years. Uh for example,

[8:54] this uh in 2025 we supported the new

[8:56] Prague Community Foundation at $6,000

[8:59] around $6,000. So um and of course

[9:03] Montgomery, Lassour, Alleion, you know,

[9:06] the they have community foundations as

[9:08] well that uh we work with. So, under our

[9:11] Smith umbrella, I should say as well,

[9:14] um, child care matters to the economic

[9:16] development. Obviously, parents need a

[9:18] place to drop off their kids. Um, of

[9:20] course, and and there's many reasons why

[9:22] that matters as well. So, when

[9:23] businesses tell us they struggle to find

[9:25] workers, childcare is frequently part of

[9:26] that discussion. Um, so child care

[9:29] impacts, workforce participation. Um,

[9:31] there's there's many and I'm sure all of

[9:32] you know most of them. So um today

[9:35] childcare is economic development and

[9:37] that's why Smith continues investing

[9:39] heavily um in that. So um I can make you

[9:43] aware of some upcoming grants. I'll just

[9:44] say one. The small town grant uh is

[9:46] actually opening this month. Um typical

[9:49] deadline is in October. Uh who can apply

[9:52] would be cities, local governments,

[9:54] nonprofits, and community organiza um

[9:56] community organizations. Um this is

[9:58] again beautifification for the

[10:00] community, public spaces, downtown

[10:02] improvements. um and so on. So, um with

[10:06] all of that, I just want to say thank

[10:08] you for for your time. I hope I went

[10:11] over um I was thorough enough. I um your

[10:14] investment helps Smith continue

[10:16] supporting entrepreneurs, businesses,

[10:18] communities, um early childhood

[10:20] initiatives, and so much more in the

[10:22] Lassour County and southern Minnesota

[10:24] area. On behalf of Smith, I specifically

[10:27] ask that the new PRA EDA continue uh its

[10:31] support at the same level as last year

[10:32] at the thousand level. Um and again, we

[10:35] just gratefully appreciate your

[10:36] partnership and leadership and your

[10:38] commitment to creating a stronger future

[10:40] for New Craig. So, thank you.

[10:42] » Thanks, Aaron. Any questions, anyone?

[10:48] » Appreciate all that you and the

[10:49] organization do in southern Minnesota.

[10:51] Great to have you join us and keep us

[10:53] posted.

[10:53] » Thank you very much. Thank you,

[10:54] » Honor.

[10:57] » Uh, next up on the agenda, Joe, updates

[11:01] on BRNE.

[11:04] » We have Do you want me to go to the

[11:06] microphone or

[11:07] » Up to you. I'm fine either way.

[11:09] » We have three um visits since your last

[11:12] meeting. Um, the first was at Hi and

[11:15] Austin. Brooke and I were able to attend

[11:17] that one. It was interesting because the

[11:20] first time we had visited them was six

[11:22] months after they opened. So it been

[11:24] five years since

[11:26] um they grew from 13 full-time employees

[11:29] to 30. Um Colton the manager has very

[11:32] positive say attitude towards Craig and

[11:36] the area said that customer growth has

[11:42] the street improvement project had a

[11:44] slight impact but it was shortterm

[11:47] otherwise very

[11:53] That's about right. Yeah, good.

[11:56] » And then the second one was at Heras

[11:58] floors and um again another positive

[12:01] one. They are in the downtown. Um their

[12:05] building consists of three600 square

[12:07] foot or 4,800 square feet. Right now

[12:10] they are still looking at expanding and

[12:12] moving to the side of town and that

[12:14] would be an expansion from 4,800 to

[12:17] 14,000 square feet.

[12:19] Positive growth for the community.

[12:23] They have four full-time employees and

[12:26] they have subs that also assist both

[12:29] this store and the one

[12:32] that attended [snorts]

[12:34] comments on that.

[12:36] » No, I mean they made the normal comment

[12:38] of parking is

[12:39] Yeah, especially on that area downtown

[12:50] » No, I think things are generally going

[12:52] well for them.

[12:54] They're hoping to make their move sooner

[12:56] than later.

[12:57] » Yeah, they got the work for the new

[12:59] building out to bid. We had actually

[13:00] approved and had a building permit

[13:02] sitting there and they just never move

[13:05] forward to pick it up. So, we got to

[13:07] re-re the permit with the new

[13:10] contractors that they may bring on

[13:11] board.

[13:13] Sounds like a positive

[13:15] project.

[13:16] » Yeah. Continuing to grow, too. I think

[13:17] one of the things I took away from there

[13:19] is they're looking at adding some

[13:21] appliance sales and services. So, some

[13:23] additional lines of business. So, it's

[13:26] it's good to see them having success

[13:28] here locally.

[13:31] » That's nice. A long-term family

[13:33] business.

[13:34] » Yeah.

[13:38] And then we also had a visit at funeral

[13:43] home with a new owner. That was nice

[13:46] meeting a new business person to the

[13:49] community. It's himself and then he

[13:53] wellated

[13:55] wants to become involved with the

[13:56] different organizations.

[14:01] This is his first funeral home that he's

[14:02] kind of run, but he has family business.

[14:07] » Yeah. Out of Lakeville.

[14:12] » Yeah.

[14:13] » That puts us at 10 for the year and has

[14:15] been calling. So, if you have any

[14:18] businesses that really like to go out,

[14:20] let me know. And I'll

[14:23] » All right.

[14:27] » Sounds good. Thanks, Joe. [snorts]

[14:30] uh business updates, guys.

[14:32] » Yeah, real quickly. So, we did issue uh

[14:35] another new home permit in July. So, up

[14:37] to our total of 2025 uh with a total of

[14:40] three, which is again, not a lot. Um, as

[14:43] we've talked, we just need more lots. We

[14:46] did uh wrap up last Monday with the city

[14:49] council the concept plan review for

[14:51] Harvest Fields development, which is 185

[14:54] lots on um 60 acres. I had a follow-up

[14:57] meeting with them yesterday. They are

[14:59] shooting for their plan unit development

[15:02] uh and annexation uh formal applications

[15:05] by our October 7th deadline. Uh right

[15:08] now what they need to get done is kind

[15:10] of more preliminary design um from

[15:12] grading to the traffic study and um

[15:16] they're actively working on both of

[15:17] those right now. And uh yeah, they're

[15:20] just trying to get the all the

[15:21] entitlement work done here uh before

[15:23] they close on the land obviously and

[15:25] know that they have uh land use approval

[15:27] uh to move forward. Uh like with any

[15:30] project, you know, they got to make sure

[15:31] that they have um you know, the

[15:33] financial uh stability in the project

[15:36] from not only the beginning of the

[15:38] project, but through how long they think

[15:39] it would take to phase it, which is

[15:41] about a fiveyear time period, generally

[15:43] speaking, um for the 185 lots, all

[15:47] pending market conditions and

[15:49] everything. So, uh positive on on that

[15:52] project, at least for now.

[15:54] » Ken, well, that that'll be the first one

[15:56] since Eastland, right?

[15:58] uh or has

[15:59] » We've had other plats, you know, under

[16:01] 10 lots [snorts] throughout town and

[16:04] replplats and different things, but of

[16:06] of substantial size. Yeah, definitely.

[16:08] » Definitely.

[16:09] » Um we did and we've had town home

[16:11] developments, I should say, since

[16:12] Eastland as well. But

[16:14] » Um other than that, the uh Chart

[16:17] Industries property or not property, the

[16:20] company was acquired by Baker Hughes

[16:22] back in July. Um, we have not heard

[16:24] directly from the new ownership, but uh,

[16:27] everything I've read is that they

[16:28] continue to uh, operate as they have uh,

[16:31] here in New Prague uh, for the time

[16:33] being. I don't know if anybody else has

[16:34] heard anything differently um, on the

[16:37] EDA's end, but uh, that was something I

[16:40] didn't know that was happening. I don't

[16:41] know if maybe Josh did. No idea. Um,

[16:46] other than that, we did get the building

[16:47] permit for Bold North Hemp for the uh,

[16:49] cannabis cultivation at the mill

[16:52] property. um just working on some um

[16:55] code things with them on that building.

[16:58] And then uh TP Insurance uh is also

[17:01] doing some internal alterations to their

[17:03] uh building on Main Street. So it's kind

[17:06] of the the bulk of the projects over the

[17:08] past month here that we've had. One note

[17:11] to add just just from yesterday

[17:13] actually. So there was a rumor

[17:15] circulating around town that the post

[17:17] office is no longer moving. Um the last

[17:19] couple days there have been a lot of

[17:21] vehicles over there. We actually did

[17:22] send a staff member over and had

[17:24] internal confirmation that uh they are

[17:27] working for USPS to renovate that

[17:31] building. So,

[17:33] » That was my assumption. I I was going to

[17:34] pop in there yesterday, too, just as I'm

[17:36] being our neighbor, but what I noticed

[17:38] yesterday was they had basically pulled

[17:40] all the ventilation hoods off the roof.

[17:42] So, I was like, "Okay, they're not

[17:45] » It's not going to be a restaurant any

[17:47] longer," which to me kind of

[17:49] » Yeah. I mean, it's I mean, our building

[17:50] official was the one that went over and

[17:52] took a look because while this uh USPS

[17:55] does not need any permits or okays from

[17:59] the city, if for some reason it wasn't

[18:01] USPS doing work, then you would have had

[18:03] to put a stop to it.

[18:04] » So,

[18:06] the postal service does not they can

[18:08] just buy a building and start doing

[18:10] whatever. No notification to you. No,

[18:13] » They don't even have to own it. They're

[18:14] just leasing it and it's situation. So

[18:17] yeah, they they

[18:18] » To the point of they don't even have to

[18:20] follow a lot of laws. Like they have

[18:22] parked their vehicles illegally on Main

[18:24] Street and our police officers have just

[18:25] been like, "Can you guys please move

[18:27] them? Like we can't make you move them,

[18:29] but and they've just no we're good." So

[18:32] yeah, they tr they are truly above every

[18:36] law of which we as a city could possibly

[18:38] try to hold up to.

[18:39] » Oh, the fed boys.

[18:41] » Interesting.

[18:42] » Oh, you're in the wrong business, man.

[18:44] You need [laughter] to be in the federal

[18:45] government. I don't want to dabble with

[18:46] any of that. That's that's dark arts

[18:48] over there.

[18:48] » But but yes, we we had heard a few

[18:50] because I mean we because of that

[18:52] they've never formally informed us they

[18:54] were going in there. Um we had actually

[18:58] heard rumors. I we got a few phone calls

[19:00] from a couple residents. I think even

[19:03] the paper reached out to both of us

[19:05] » Trying to figure out, hey, we'd heard

[19:07] that they' broken their lease and

[19:08] weren't moving anymore and you know more

[19:10] than us then because we know nothing.

[19:13] and our boots on the ground just sending

[19:15] the building official in uh kind of

[19:18] confirmed that they kind of are ramping

[19:20] up and I think they've almost gutted the

[19:22] building.

[19:23] » Yeah, it's completely gutted at this

[19:24] point.

[19:24] » Yeah, they a day

[19:25] » They moved pretty quick because I I was

[19:27] out of town last week but they I think

[19:29] it was Thursday and Friday there before

[19:32] I left the week prior saw a couple

[19:34] vehicles and then it was just boom.

[19:36] » Yep.

[19:36] » But to that point, Nick, it has caused

[19:38] problems. I know.

[19:39] » I can't imagine. Well, they don't have

[19:41] to notify you, do any code reviews,

[19:43] everything. Oh, sounds great.

[19:45] » I was say the problem comes, especially

[19:48] when they try to sell or if they're

[19:49] leasing the building. Like, if they're

[19:50] no longer in there,

[19:52] » The building owner is now stuck with a

[19:53] building that isn't code compliance.

[19:55] » They think, well, it's the federal

[19:55] government. It's got to be up to snuff.

[19:57] Well,

[19:57] » They do.

[19:58] » So, federal government owns the building

[20:00] or they found a private buyer and they

[20:02] lease it.

[20:03] » I believe the building is still actually

[20:05] owned by the same owner.

[20:07] » It's leased. They typically do 99ear

[20:09] leases. They're just under a long-term

[20:10] lease of federal government.

[20:14] » But the [snorts] new postmaster, you

[20:15] know, I don't know how long he's been

[20:16] there. Maybe a year, three quarters a

[20:18] year. He did announce it at city club.

[20:21] » Oh, [laughter]

[20:23] » So you missed the official meeting.

[20:25] » Missed the official meeting.

[20:30] » You stood up there and say, I got an

[20:31] announcement. I'm the so and so and we

[20:33] are moving to the

[20:34] » So much shady about this entire thing

[20:36] that's going on. It just doesn't feel

[20:38] good.

[20:40] Okay, great for our new post office.

[20:42] » All right.

[20:43] » I just hope it still looks like a pizza

[20:44] ranch when they're done. Pull up looking

[20:46] for pizza.

[20:46] » Oh, no. It's drive-thru chicken. Hey,

[20:49] [laughter]

[20:49] » Get the drive.

[20:52] » God, there you go. Nice.

[20:54] » That wrap it up, Ken.

[20:55] » That does. Yeah.

[20:56] » Okay. Uh Joe, CDA updates.

[21:00] » You clarified new happenings have a lot

[21:02] of different uses. [laughter]

[21:05] » That's hard to believe. Well, all the

[21:07] Facebook, so you can go in with the real

[21:09] information and no one will believe you.

[21:11] » Um, CDA updates, we are undertaking our

[21:14] strategic plan for the next five years.

[21:16] So, starting today, we'll have a social

[21:18] media post with a link to a community

[21:21] survey, happy to send that link out to

[21:23] you as well. But if you have input on

[21:25] the direction and focus that our agency

[21:28] should have the next few years, get your

[21:30] input.

[21:32] And um today we are hosting tax tips for

[21:35] businesses from 11 to 12:30.

[21:38] Aaron Anderson from Dems Consulting will

[21:41] be presenting free lunch if you want to

[21:43] come.

[21:45] Finally, uh Fastrack Challenge. Our

[21:47] applications closed for this year's 10th

[21:50] annual event and we applications from

[21:53] four cities. So our board will be

[21:57] finalist within the next

[22:02] Great.

[22:04] Uh we do not have anyone from the school

[22:06] district with an update today. So that

[22:08] moves us along to Josh with the

[22:10] executive report.

[22:11] » Uh yeah, just a few general updates of

[22:14] various things going on. Um as you know,

[22:17] um CVF Racing has submitted a TIFF

[22:20] application to the city. We continue to

[22:22] try to work through that process on our

[22:24] end. Um, of note, I don't know if I

[22:26] updated this to you guys before, um,

[22:29] they have also submitted and are running

[22:31] through the same process over in Bell

[22:33] Plane at the moment. Um, there are

[22:36] between the two cities, our offers are

[22:37] very different, but our assumptions are

[22:39] also very different through that. And

[22:40] so, um, we are just trying to present

[22:43] the best possible offer that makes sense

[22:44] for us as a city without necessarily

[22:50] piffing back money that CVF may not

[22:52] necessarily need for the project. So, we

[22:54] continue to work through that process.

[22:56] Hopefully, we'll um come to a

[22:58] conclusion. Hope more hoping

[23:00] [clears throat] good than bad sooner

[23:01] than later so it doesn't remain open,

[23:03] but we continue to work through that. Um

[23:06] did the TIFF application reflect just

[23:09] the parcel that he's considering or was

[23:12] it for the entirety of that parcel

[23:14] that's for sale there?

[23:20] » Just I think it be just for that

[23:21] building. Yeah, just just for the port

[23:23] portion that he is using

[23:24] » Like 12 [snorts] whatever acres. Yeah.

[23:27] » Yep. That answer that's

[23:29] » His plan at this point would be just to

[23:30] annex as far as we know that small

[23:33] portion of the property

[23:34] » For his property for his building. Yeah.

[23:36] Okay.

[23:38] » Uh other notes. Um

[23:42] city center over here. I know we've

[23:43] talked about there possibly being trying

[23:45] to use up money over there. I don't

[23:47] think we're going to be able to use all

[23:48] the money at this point. We kind of

[23:49] heard back yesterday that there are

[23:51] certain things that are eligible to use

[23:53] the money for and other things that

[23:54] aren't. And so

[23:57] I know dur kind of during our

[23:59] discussions we talked about well uh what

[24:02] if the city or EDA kind of opens up kind

[24:05] of business loans, low low interest or

[24:08] forgivable loans to businesses to help

[24:09] do improvements? We may actually have

[24:11] money to be able to do something like

[24:13] that um and be looking to spend it uh so

[24:16] that way we don't have to give it back.

[24:17] So Ken and I will kind of keep looking

[24:19] into that as we wrap [clears throat] up

[24:20] that uh city center process. Really now

[24:24] at this point I think is we just need to

[24:25] get on a call with Bolton Mink who's

[24:27] been helping us through that as to okay

[24:29] they're telling us we're able to use

[24:32] 500,000 of it for grading andor storm

[24:35] water improvements. Just how do we get

[24:36] that unlocked get that move forward so

[24:39] we'll know exactly how much we'll have

[24:40] left then to put into some sort of

[24:43] initial pot or something for business

[24:45] loans.

[24:47] But yes, Chuck.

[24:49] » No, I was just wondering once we get

[24:51] that done, are we going to market that

[24:53] north part of it?

[24:54] » I think that would kind of be the next

[24:55] step of that of now what do we do with

[24:58] the rest of that lot? It might be the

[25:00] selling of the rest of that lot is what

[25:02] kind of helps finish off some of those

[25:04] sidewalk improvements and park that

[25:06] area.

[25:08] » And what's the latest on the last two

[25:10] lots that we sold? Um, as far as

[25:13] » Yeah, so yeah, they've been closed on.

[25:15] Um, okay. I don't believe they've

[25:17] submitted any building permits for those

[25:18] at this point. They do have a full year

[25:20] to get a shovel in the ground, which I

[25:22] believe is May.

[25:23] » Yep.

[25:24] » Next year. So,

[25:26] » That's not unheard of. I believe Scott

[25:27] Equipment, it was about

[25:29] » Nine months after we closed that they

[25:31] finally submitted their stuff. So,

[25:33] they're aware and we are certainly

[25:35] willing to work with them however we can

[25:36] to make sure

[25:38] » That those two lots build successfully.

[25:44] Uh, that is all I've got unless you guys

[25:45] have other questions about happenings

[25:47] around the city.

[25:48] » About city hall. How's that? The new

[25:50] city hall.

[25:50] » New city hall. Well, if you voted

[25:52] yesterday, you would have got to check

[25:53] it out.

[25:54] » Um, otherwise, no. We had our first

[25:57] meeting with the uh parking for the

[26:00] election. Was it

[26:04] » Uh I think for 98% of the day it was

[26:08] good from what I've heard. And Ken can

[26:10] probably speak to it as he was one of

[26:11] the head judges. So, if you didn't like

[26:13] how the elections turned out, talk to

[26:15] him. Um, I think parking was generally

[26:18] good from what I've heard for most of

[26:19] the day, other than there was kind of

[26:21] about probably a 20 minute window where

[26:23] you had the

[26:25] » First crew and second crew change over

[26:29] » Plus the lunch rush.

[26:30] » Plus the lunch rush all trying to use

[26:32] all that parking at one time. I think it

[26:34] got a little hairy,

[26:35] » But there's plenty of street parking

[26:36] around there and I think the street

[26:38] parking was able to absorb it.

[26:40] » Good. So, street parking did what street

[26:41] parking was meant to do, and that is

[26:44] » Be parking.

[26:45] » So, I think talking to Chief Applin and

[26:48] our other um judges that we think that

[26:51] we're going to try to find an

[26:53] alternative location for our judges to

[26:55] park because when we had the the

[26:57] changeover, we had nearly 30 cars u

[27:00] filling up the north parking lot and

[27:03] » Yeah, there wasn't much place for the

[27:05] public then at that point. So, we're

[27:06] going to maybe talk to the hotel. Um

[27:09] that's generally not full during the

[27:11] middle of the week,

[27:12] » Right?

[27:12] » So see if we can park over there.

[27:14] » A pizza ranch.

[27:15] » Yeah, [laughter] depending on

[27:17] » We don't know what's going on there.

[27:19] » Yeah, for all we know, it's a vacant

[27:20] building, so we can just park at Pizza

[27:22] Ranch.

[27:24] All right.

[27:27] » Oh,

[27:28] » To answer your question. So, we had our

[27:30] first design meeting here like two weeks

[27:32] ago and kind of went over general

[27:34] concept of what the city's looking for

[27:36] and uh I believe we're meeting on Monday

[27:39] here again. They were going to kind of

[27:40] come back with some few a few options of

[27:43] high levels of okay, this is what we

[27:45] could do or this is what we could do.

[27:47] Kind of a few options of that. And I

[27:49] think the plan is to go to the city

[27:50] council then and say, "Hey, here are

[27:52] kind of some of the options we're

[27:53] looking at

[27:55] how would you guys like us to proceed?"

[27:57] And uh and then hopefully there's not

[28:00] it's not a ton of work. It's not like

[28:01] we're redesigning the whole building.

[28:02] And so I hope I'm I'm hoping by October

[28:06] we certainly got this whole design phase

[28:08] wrapped up and they can get the um

[28:11] construction documents drawn up and we

[28:13] can kind of figure out how the

[28:15] improvements are happening from there. I

[28:16] know they were going to look at stuff so

[28:18] far as the this is the stuff you need to

[28:20] do now. This is stuff we'd recommend you

[28:22] doing, but you could wait three, four,

[28:23] five years if you want to put some money

[28:25] away so you can take care of it then.

[28:32] » All right. Any other items? If not, take

[28:35] a motion to adjurnn.

[28:37] » So move second.

[28:39] » Motion from Nick, second from Troy. All

[28:41] in favor? I.

[28:42] » Thanks all. You

New Prague EDA Meeting - 8/12/26

Transcript