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	MINUTES Growth Fund Committee Meeting Office of Urban Development Conference Room 1405 1st Avenue North Grand Forks, ND 58203 Tuesday, August 21, 2007 1. Roll Call Chairman Doug Christensen called the meeting to order at 4:05 pm. Present were Terry Smith, Jon Ramsey, and Bob Brooks. Also present were Greg Hoover, Connie Mangan, Hal Gershman, Meredith Richards, Klaus Thiessen, Keith Lund, Katie Osborne, Todd Fahrni, Stuart Johnson, Wayne Zink, Brian Osowski, John Hitchcock, Kurt Eickhof, John Eickhof, Tu-Uyen Tran, and Pam Evenson. Absent was Eliot Glassheim. 2. Approval of Minutes – July 16, 2007 Bob Brooks moved and Jon Ramsey seconded the motion to approve minutes as amended from the previous meeting of July 16, 2007. All present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. 3. Monthly Report – July 2007 None. 4. Growth Fund Applications – G.F. Truss, Eickhof Group, and LM Glasfiber Keith Lund, Vice-President of the Economic Development Corporation introduced Stuart Johnson, owner of G.F. Truss and Wayne Zink, Vice-President of Bremer Bank. Mr. Lund reviewed the preliminary project report for G.F. Truss, and a full application was distributed at the meeting. G.F. Truss, a full service manufacturer specializing in residential, farm, and commercial truss assembly, is located at 5101 North Washington Street in Grand Forks. The majority of their product is sold to regional lumberyards that have customers extending from Iowa to the Canadian border. Their recent expansion project includes the purchase of equipment to increase productivity in their manufacturing process. They have secured a $300,000 loan with Bremer Bank and have a discretionary line of credit of $100,000 for the project, which is expected to add 15 jobs within the next 2 years. G.F. Truss is applying for a PACE participation loan of $17,505. The underlying debt is for a term of 5 years meaning the Growth Fund PACE loan will be paid back in 3 months after the 5 year period. Mr. Johnson is offering to personally guarantee the loans. Discussion followed. Jon Ramsey moved and Terry Smith seconded the motion to approve the PACE loan of $17,505 for the G.F. Truss expansion. All present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Keith Lund introduced Kurt and John Eickhof of Eickhof Development Group, LLC. They are requesting approval of a 3-month option on 8.5 acres of land in Industrial Park at 60 cents a square foot. The site is located on 12th Avenue South adjacent to and west of the PS Door property. Eickhof Development is in the final stages of a developer’s agreement to bring an out-of-state primary sector manufacturing firm to Grand Forks. They plan to construct a 70,000 square foot production facility that is expected to employ up to 100 people with 2 years. They hope to break ground late September. Eickhof Development is asking for assistance in soil remediation similar to that provided to PS Doors. Since estimated costs are currently unknown, this item will be resolved prior to exercising of the option. Jon Ramsey moved and Bob Brooks seconded the motion to approve Eickhof Development a 3-month option on 8.5 acres of land in Industrial Park at 60 cents a square foot. Terry Smith recused himself. All others present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Greg Hoover reviewed the staff report on additional parking for LM Glasfiber Parking that was tabled at the July 16th Growth Fund meeting when the company requested an additional 336 parking spots. After further refinement, the company believes that 142 additional spaces will meet current needs. LM Glasfiber and Amazon.com will continue to share the underused parking at Cirrus per their agreement with Cirrus. The current estimate is $322,418 for the 142 spaces on the Amazon / LM site (lots 2 and 3). Mr. Hoover said that we have specs prepared by EAPC so the action requested is to authorize publication of the bid solicitation on or after tomorrow. Jon Ramsey moved and Bob Brooks seconded the motion to approve construction of 142 additional parking spaces at the LM Glasfiber site. All present voted Aye. MOTION CARRIED. 5. Other Business Brian Osowski, Vice-President of Bremer Bank, requested that the Growth Fund allow the bank to use the original Cirrus building to secure a $1 million Jobs Development Grant that was part of the original financing package for the Cirrus expansion. Bremer is ready to move forward with the loan to Cirrus but would like to use the building as collateral for that loan. Discussion followed. Staff was instructed to research the debt structure on the Cirrus building and resume discussion at next month’s meeting. Bob Brooks moved and Terry Smith seconded the motion to delay the request from Bremer Bank for a month. All present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Greg Hoover reported that the City Council approved ordinance 24-0104 which codified the JDA’s ability to take equity positions in companies. Though already in the Growth Fund policies and procedures, this action was undertaken as a result of recent State enabling legislation. The Board asked Keith Lund and Klaus Thiessen from EDC to submit a letter to the banks reminding everyone of the Growth Fund participation in the BND PACE Program. 6. Project Update None. 7. Adjournment Bob Brooks moved and Jon Ramsey seconded the motion to adjourn. All present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Meeting adjourned at 4:40 pm. __________________________________ ___________________________________ Pamela Evenson Doug Christensen Office of Urban Development Chairman