This transcript appears to be from a meeting of the **Cottage Grove Economic Development Authority (EDA)**. Based on the context provided and the phonetic cues in the raw text (e.g., "cheetah" for Thiede, "Jennifer lit" for Jennifer Levitt), here is the corrected transcript with speaker names. [00:00] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, good morning. This is the February 13th, 2024, Cottage Grove Economic Development Authority, which I'm calling to order. The first order of business is roll call. So, Alexa, do you want to take that? [00:10] **Alexa [Staff]:** EDA Member Carrie? [No response] EDA Member John Baptist? [00:12] **EDA Member John Baptist:** Present. [00:13] **Alexa [Staff]:** EDA Member Myers? [00:14] **EDA Member Myers:** Present. [00:15] **Alexa [Staff]:** EDA Member Scott? [No response] EDA Member Thiede? [No response] EDA Vice President Olsen? [00:17] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Here. [00:18] **Alexa [Staff]:** EDA President Bailey? [00:19] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Here. And let the record show that Mr. Thiede just arrived, so he is here. All right, so everybody that we thought was going to be here is here now. All right, perfect. So next item on our agenda is approval of the minutes. 3.1 is the January 9th, 2024 meeting minutes. If there are no changes or corrections, I'll need a motion and a second. [00:35] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Move to approve. [00:36] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by EDA Vice President Olson. [00:38] **EDA Member Myers:** I'll second the motion. [00:39] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA Member Myers. I kept seeing you going down like you're ready to say—all right. All those in favor signify by saying aye. [00:45] **Group:** Aye. [00:46] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Next, we're going to number four, which is business items, and we will start out with 4.1, which is the economic development update and business inquiry, and our City Administrator, Jennifer Levitt, is going to walk us through these items. [00:55] **Jennifer Levitt:** Well, good morning, EDA President and members. It's always nice for me to be on this side giving a presentation, so you're going to hear from me a lot this morning. As we start out EDA meetings, we start with the Beige Book. As of right now, employment grew modestly since the last report. Price pressures were mild overall. Businesses reported that prices they charged to customers had not changed since the last report—can we all say thank you to that one? As we talked about before, childcare has been a huge issue looking at affordability, and so that's been some of the challenges that workers are experiencing. Just as an update, we've been working with Washington County, the Chamber, and also with our state legislators as we look at childcare affordability because we know that that is a challenge. As the legislative session started yesterday, I know our legislators will also be looking at that childcare affordability because that is a factor in enabling people to have mobility. Customer spending rose modestly. Construction activity was slightly lower, while commercial real estate activity remained flat. The office market sector was soft; however, retail vacancies improved, which we've seen here in Cottage Grove. Residential real estate remains subdued. I would say that's more nationally. When we look at the City of Cottage Grove, our new housing starts—both multi-family and single-family—are still coming in relatively strong, and our actual overall lot count is still strong. I'm anticipating as we get through the Spring Showcase, we're probably going to see our new housing starts actually start to improve back to, I'll say, pre-interest rate hike days. Manufacturing activity decreased slightly while agricultural conditions remained unchanged. Minority and women-owned businesses reported lower sales and profits continue to decline since the last report. When we look at construction here in Cottage Grove, Holstein is still making really great progress. This construction season in the winter here has been very favorable for everybody, and them are no exception. Right now, they've gone vertical with their pre-cast tip-up panel walls. The roof steel is in place, and now they've actually applied for their interior office space permit. And the one that everybody is talking about: yesterday, Dunkin' Donuts started their soft open. As you can tell, our Public Safety team visited them yesterday because we wanted to be able to showcase that indeed Dunkin' Donuts was open. I will keep you posted when we know of a formal ribbon cutting for them. Chase Bank, which is located in front of Kohl's, is still making good progress with their footing and foundation walls being completed. I can honestly tell you, I think right now with the fact that winter doesn't really look like winter out there, everybody is enjoying the very favorable construction season. I know for us, even in our water treatment plant, we're probably well over a month ahead of schedule. All businesses are really starting to enjoy that. OD Kids is really no exception to that either because they're making good progress on their construction. Norhart Apartments, which is down by Hadley and 103rd, they have submitted for their building permit. Trellis, which is now called Blue Stem—their permit is under review. And then Dodge Nature Center, the Shepard Farm, the old estate that sits back from the roadway—that building had been renovated, and so we will be excited to share with you when there will be an opportunity to tour that as they've gotten their certificate of occupancy. Also, I'm going to put a plug in for Glacial Valley Park. Now that we have a certificate of occupancy, you can now reserve the building. So if you're looking for a business meeting, family gathering, or different party opportunity, that's a great place. Check out the rental opportunity there, and I'd be happy to stand for any questions. [04:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you. Any questions for Jennifer? All right, I guess you covered everything there. So we'll move to 4.2, which is called the First Amendment to the purchase agreement with Kwik Trip. [05:10] **Jennifer Levitt:** Well, thank you, Mayor, members of the EDA. The City of Cottage Grove and the EDA entered into a purchase agreement with Kwik Trip and Wag Farms back in October. October obviously is fall, and one of the key factors that an entity needs to do specifically on this site is a wetland delineation. When you look at a wetland delineation, you need to ensure that you have plants, soil, and presence of water. Unfortunately, in October and into the winter here, they can't actually do a wetland delineation, which is needed on the site. So they've actually asked for an extension to their closing date, which was originally April 1st. They're now going to the end of November with that. Nothing extreme here in regards to the purchase agreement change, just changing the closing date at this point in time. If there's an opportunity for them to close sooner, they will, but they just like to have that buffer to ensure they get their wetland delineation done. In addition, they weren't anticipating construction starting until 2025, so this really doesn't set them back at all. So at this time, there is a recommendation on the screen for your consideration. [06:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. So first of all, any questions for Jennifer on this one? [06:20] **EDA Member Myers:** I do have one question. Reading the packet, it seems like they're adding additional earnest money towards the purchase. Is that refundable or is it non-refundable should they decide not to proceed forward with the transaction? [06:35] **Jennifer Levitt:** Mayor, members of the EDA, that's a good point. We did ask for additional escrow to secure this. It does "go hard" at this time, and so if they were to remove themselves from the purchase agreement, that cash would not be returned to them. If they proceed to closing, that money is deducted then from the sale price at closing. [06:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah, good question. All right, any other questions on this topic? All right, we have the motion before us. I will need a motion and a second to approve this measure. [07:05] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Mayor, I'll move Resolution 2024-01, a resolution approving the assignment of the purchase agreement between WG Farms and the EDA and the First Amendment to the purchase agreement between the EDA and Kwik Trip Incorporated, subject to minor modification approved by the City Attorney. [07:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by the EDA Vice President Olsen. Do I have a second? [07:30] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. [07:31] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Seconded by EDA Member Thiede. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [07:38] **Group:** Aye. [07:39] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. And then we'll move to 4.3, which is the Dowdle Art Project Amendment to the service agreement. Jennifer, it's you again. [07:48] **Jennifer Levitt:** Well, thank you. As all of you are aware, Eric Dowdle was in town to visit Cottage Grove in January. He had an opportunity to tour the community and engage with folks. He engaged with some businesses through the Chamber. As we started to look at some of the dates, some of the challenges that he had with his supplier related to the puzzle manufacturing could not meet the Strawberry Fest deadline that we had in the contract for June 13th. So, as part of it, we decided that another unveil date that would work really well was the actual Food Truck Festival, which will be September 14th. This will be an opportunity we think that's even better than the June one. Originally, we were going to have the June activity kickoff just before Strawberry Fest and we were going to sell the puzzles at Strawberry Fest. Now, if we make the puzzle unveil part of the larger event at the Food Truck Festival, it'll be more prominent, it'll enable more people to actually come out and engage with the puzzle and telling our story here in Cottage Grove, and would probably continue to help with puzzle sales. The good news is the contract does allow for that exclusive sell period for one year, so we can still sell at Strawberry Fest in 2025. So even though it didn't hit our original plan, I think sometimes Plan B may actually have worked out better to be able to celebrate with the community. So there are a couple of modifications to that contract with Dowdle for those adjustments in dates—to take the unveiling date and the payment relationship—so we're just looking for your approval of that amendment. [09:20] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. Council or EDA, any questions? Did you have a question? EDA Vice President Olsen. [09:28] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Jennifer. First of all, thanks for all of the updates. You know, very nice job pitching today. With respect to the Dowdle puzzle program that we're pursuing, I had the opportunity to meet with Jaime Mann, who is spearheading the Food Truck Festival on behalf of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), for which I happen to be the chair now. We spent some time talking through what our game plan looks like for this year's festival. This becoming part of the Food Truck Festival is actually a huge win in our opinion. Last year's Food Truck Festival was our first ever; we had 23 food trucks that came to the festival, and then of course we had the Cottage Grove Lions there, we had live music, we had John Yang and the One Family folks come and do a bean bag tournament, etc. This year, as you know, we are looking to expand our footprint into a marketplace and some other fun things, and we feel like this is the perfect opportunity to bring the community together in September to unveil the puzzle without all the hullabaloo of Strawberry Fest going on around us—so, a little bit less distraction. We also think that it's going to help us attract an even bigger crowd than last year, which we estimated at about 6,000 people. We feel pretty comfortable this year we'll be 10,000-plus with some additional food trucks, so on and so forth. And of course, it's only a one-day event, so it's a "snooze and you lose" kind of thing; you've got to show up on the day of. All of that being said, my question is this: are we planning to have kind of the same programming in place that we talked about when we met with Eric with respect to him and his team? I know he has some social media folks that he works with and some other things—we're not missing out on any of those opportunities by moving into September, are we? [11:10] **Jennifer Levitt:** Mayor, members of the EDA, no. At this point, we actually think it's probably going to be even bigger because now we won't be limited by space or parking. More people can actually come out; we'll have larger tents and gathering places. The people that are actually going to be able to tell the story may be front and center on stage, maybe even before the first band kicks off, for example. I mean, we're still working out the logistics, but it'll provide the opportunity to showcase each piece and each story that the puzzle talks about. I think it's an exciting opportunity to bring the community together as we share our story together and then be able to celebrate with it in such a unique way, which, down at the golf course, we would have been limited by space and parking. As you mentioned, we're hoping over 6,000 people come, so I think that's an exciting opportunity. [12:00] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Absolutely. So we'll all pray for good weather, and we look forward to having Eric and his team in town again. I'm so excited about this. I think it's really going to resonate with the members of the public in terms of a good piece of memorabilia, but also a good way to celebrate not only who we were, but who we are today as a city. So thanks very much for that. [12:20] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** The only other comment I'll just piggyback on that before we do a motion and a second—unless the EDA has any comments—was when we posted this out on social media about this program, I was actually frankly surprised at the amount of people that know who he is and the program that he does. The number of people that talk about the fact that they have purchased Dowdle puzzles and they love them and that now we're going to be part of that. And then the other thing that I thought was interesting and exciting is that at the beginning of all this, I didn't realize it was part of a national thing for the, I'll say, the birthday or the anniversary of the United States of America in a couple years from now. So we're going to be part of something that's bigger than just Cottage Grove a couple years from now when we celebrate—I believe it's 250 years as America. So I think that's going to be kind of cool that we're part of whatever that's going to be. We've been told to kind of stay tuned as that happens. So, pretty awesome. All right, any other questions or comments? [13:15] **EDA Member Myers:** Yeah, so because he's the one who can't make the deadline, are we getting any kind of discount on this project? I mean, it doesn't seem like there's any financial relief or incentive for us other than it's another opportunity in September. [13:30] **Jennifer Levitt:** Mayor, members of the EDA, the only change that we made was actually the payment schedule was then correlated to the later date. So we did maintain the same exact pay schedule value, but just the actual date in which those payments would be made was subject to the later completion date. [13:50] **EDA Member John Baptist:** I motion to approve the attached Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Dowdle Studios LLC to move the final project completion date to September 14, 2024. [14:02] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by EDA Member John Baptist. Do I have a second? [14:05] **EDA Member Myers:** Second that motion. [14:07] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA Member Myers. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [14:15] **Group:** Aye (4). [14:16] **EDA Member Myers:** No. [14:17] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Motion carries, 4 to 1. All right. Five is public hearings, which we have none this morning. Other business: just before you, there is at your table here the EDA calendar, which is just basically showing some of the meetings for the next about half a month or so. I will mention just on a side note that this weekend—this Friday—actually starts the River Oaks fish fry as well as probably fish fries everywhere else, but I just wanted to mention to everybody if you are interested or want to go to River Oaks for a fish fry, please make sure you make reservations, because you can't just walk up to that particular one. So I did want to mention that. And then, is there any EDA comments from anybody? EDA Vice President Olsen. [15:10] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much, Mayor. We just got done talking about our Food Truck Festival, which I can tell you the Convention and Visitors Bureau is very excited about for this year, especially due to the success that we experienced last year. We're anticipating 40 food trucks this year versus 23. We're anticipating some additional offerings for those in attendance, including a marketplace where vendors can come and share their artistic or otherwise talents with the public. I have a lot of respect for those people because I am not that guy—I'm lucky if I can draw a stick figure. But the reason that I bring it up is, in speaking with Jaime Mann, who is spearheading the Food Truck Festival committee, one of the things that we discussed was getting more people involved within the scope of the public. I know that our Convention and Visitors Bureau team will be involved with planning and executing, but I wanted to make an offer to members of the EDA: if you are interested, let me know, and we would get you in contact with Jaime. This is an opportunity for you to be part of the Food Truck Festival committee and share your thoughts and ideas, look at some of the ways in which we are going to be celebrating the community on that day—including the Dowdle puzzle project—and really become a part from the ground up of what we think is going to be just an amazing day. So if you have any interest in being part of the planning for the Food Truck Festival, let us know. You can speak to me, you can certainly speak to the Mayor, Jennifer, or whomever, and we'll get you in touch with Jaime. It would be nice to have some partnership from the EDA in addition to the CVB and other members of the committee—for example, Lori Levine from the Chamber is on the committee and we have several city staff members, but it's a big lift, and as everybody knows, more hands makes that a lot easier. Anyway, I just wanted to share that and see if anybody had any interest. Give it some thought, let us know, and I'll turn it back to you, Mayor. [17:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you. Any other EDA comments at this point? I just wanted to point out on the screen just so you all are aware that at this point it doesn't appear that we'll need to have a meeting in March. We don't just have meetings for the sake of meetings, so unless something changes, our next EDA meeting will be Tuesday, April 9th. So you get a reprieve for one month for meetings. 6.3 is Response to Previous EDA Comments—there were none. We do not have a workshop nor any presentations, so we're now all the way to the point of adjournment. Who wants to make the motion? [17:55] **EDA Member Myers:** Motion to adjourn. [17:56] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** We have a motion by EDA Member Myers. Do I have a second? [17:58] **EDA Member John Baptist:** Second that motion. [18:00] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA Member John Baptist. All those in favor signify by saying aye. [18:05] **Group:** Aye. [18:06] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. We are adjourned.