City of Grand Forks, North Dakota

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	MINUTES Amended Growth Fund Committee Meeting City Hall, Rm A101 255 N. 4th Street Grand Forks, ND 58203 Monday, July 16, 2007 1. Roll Call Chairman Doug Christensen called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm. Present were Eliot Glassheim, Terry Smith, and Jon Ramsey. Also present were Greg Hoover, Connie Mangan, Hal Gershman, John Schmisek, Meredith Richards, Brad Gengler, Duaine Espegard, Katie Osborne, Todd Fahrni, John Erickson, Leo Ledohowski, Taras Sokolyk, Gerald Muizelaar, and Pam Evenson. Absent was Bob Brooks. 2. Approval of Minutes – May 15, 2007 Jon Ramsey moved and Eliot Glassheim seconded the motion to approve minutes from the previous meeting of May 15, 2007. All present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. 3. Monthly Report – June 2007 No discussion. Report accepted. 4. Growth Fund Applications – Canad Inns and LM Glasfiber Taras Sokolyk, Chief Executive Officer of Canad Inns spoke on the company’s behalf. Also present were Leo Ledohowski, President and Chair of Canad Inns, and John Erickson from Assurity Finance & Development who put the finance package together for the Grand Forks complex. Except for 20 rooms left to open, the facility, including the waterpark and three restaurants, is completely operational. Mr. Sokolyk said that the PACE loan application being considered now is for the waterpark, and that it was discussed almost two years ago as part as a larger economic incentive package for the Canad Inn destination center in Grand Forks. He said that the overall incentive package was developed along with City officials and others attending today’s meeting. During this time, a number of economic incentives, including the PACE loan, were presented. Canad Inns understood then that if they qualified for the loan, it would be approved upon submittal. He said the waterpark was a unique feature of the destination center, and there were challenges in building a waterpark of this magnitude and making it work in a market of this size. He said that they have met and exceeded all the requirements and that the waterpark meets all expectations. Although it was a few million dollars more than they anticipated when they made the initial grant application, they are up and running now and see that there is potential for growth but it will be a long struggle. Discussion turned to documentation of any conversation between officials of the City and Canad Inns that the City/JDA would entertain a PACE loan application. Staff presented a copy of the January 12, 2004 Committee of the Whole minutes that stated Canad Inns was going to make an application to the State of North Dakota for a PACE loan and the local financial participation was anticipated to be around $135,000. Mr. Ramsey explained that it was okay to delay the application because state regulations for the PACE loan do not allow disbursement until the destination center was completed and operational. Eliot Glassheim moved and Terry Smith seconded the motion to approve the Pace loan of $135,000 honoring our commitment made in January 2004. Jon Ramsey recused himself and all others present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Greg Hoover said this will go onto the JDA agenda next Monday. Mr. Hoover handed out a revision of the map in the packet on LM Glasfiber’s parking expansion proposal. Gerald Muizelaar, Engineering Manager from LM Glasfiber spoke on the company’s behalf. They have 235 parking slots assigned to them and Amazon.com has 130. With LM Glasfiber’s current additional work, Amazon.com soon starting its fall campaign, and Cirrus adding 100 to 200 additional employees within the next two to three years, a parking crunch is developing and causing safety issues. There is a deficit of 200 to 265 spaces. LM Glasfiber is also dealing with the issue of storage space for their blades. Mr. Muizelaar believes that Lot 2 with 48 spaces and Lot 3 with 94 spaces are essential for alleviating the parking problem. The possibility of busing from the Alerus was discussed, and Mr. Muizelaar said it was an additional burden on the employees and they could not expect that of them. Much discussion followed. Mr. Christensen indicated that the committee was favorably disposed to have additional parking but asked that JDA and LM staff refine the proposal for further consideration. 5. Potential Amendment to Grand Forks City Code 24-0104 Relating to Powers of the Grand Forks Growth Fund The North Dakota Legislature recently adopted a bill that includes language regarding “innovative financing mechanisms” to the JDA powers. City Attorney Howard Swanson drafted an ordinance amending Section 24-0104 of the Grand Forks City Code to include such language. Discussion followed. The committee asked staff to instruct the City Attorney to bring the ordinance forward for City Council consideration. 6. Other Business None. 7. Project Update None. 8. Adjournment Eliot Glassheim moved and Jon Ramsey seconded the motion to adjourn. All present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Meeting adjourned at 5:20 pm. __________________________________ ___________________________________ Pamela Evenson Doug Christensen Office of Urban Development Chairman