**[00:00] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, all right, good morning. Uh, this is the July 9th, uh, 2024 Cottage Grove Economic Development Authority meeting, which I'm calling to order. Um, a little change for us this morning. Uh, the next one is we're going to do the Pledge of Allegiance, so if you please rise. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. And will Tammy do the roll, please? **[00:01] Tammy Anderson:** Commissioner Scott? (Here). Commissioner Cary? (Here). Commissioner Myers? (Here). Commissioner Jean-Baptiste? (Absent). Commissioner Thiede? (Here). Councilmember Olsen? (Here). Mayor Bailey? (Here). **[00:02] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, next is number four, which is approval of the minutes. Uh, we do have one which is a 4.1, which is approval of the 4/9/2024 regular meeting minutes. If there were no changes or corrections, we'll need a motion and a second, please. **[00:03] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Move to approve. **[00:03] Mayor Myron Bailey:** We have a motion by Councilmember Olsen. **[00:04] Commissioner Myers:** I'll second that motion. **[00:04] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by, uh, EDA member Meyer. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying "Aye." (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, then we go to presentations. Uh, our first presentation this morning is what we like to call the LOST—I hate that acronym—but I led Zac... our public work—or, almost, I almost promoted you again—Parks and Rec Director Zac Dockter is going to kind of walk us through this upcoming, um, uh, plan for our parks, which has the local option sales tax. So, Zac, take it away. **[00:05] Zac Dockter:** Good morning, EDA President and EDA members. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today about our "Preserve, Play, Prosper" plan, which is a program that gives our residents an opportunity to reinvest into parks, recreation, and outdoor spaces. Parks and Recreation is definitely a point of pride in Cottage Grove, and if you haven't been out in a boat this summer, I challenge you to go to any park; all of our parks are getting used, and they're getting used a lot. And that growth—that usage—just continues to grow as the community grows as well. Um, but we also see it in all of our surveys and all of our communication with the residents that people appreciate and love their park and recreation system. But it's getting harder and harder to fund large capital investments each year. Cost of projects go up; the growth of the community means we're investing into new areas as well. Um, but I will say that we've always been very proud of the fact that we maintain what we have as well. So if you travel out in the parks and the trails and the open space, you'll see that we do a very good job, thanks to the City Council's commitment to making sure that we're taking care of all the acreage and all the equipment we have out in the parks today. It's been 40 years since we've had a voter-approved referendum, so it's been a long time since we've made a, you know, a single large investment into multiple park spaces like we have here with voter approval. So, it's been quite a while. So, um, and I want to make sure people understand that this isn't a knee-jerk response to a funding need. So, we've spent over 18 months, actually closer to two years, studying what our community wanted to see in its future recreational system. And what we found through all these surveys and trying to connect with the community was that our residents want new and improved recreation opportunities for people of all ages, preservation of natural habitat, and enhanced connection to parks and nature. Now, those are broad statements; there's a whole bunch of things that fall below that—specifics like playgrounds or ball fields or whatever it might be. But that's kind of the broad picture of what people want. And then we took the list of all the things that we heard people say that they wanted, then we tried to condense it and fit them into the park system that we have today. So, the result of that effort brings us to this "Preserve, Play, Prosper" plan, which is proposed to invest $36 million to renovate and revitalize our parks, recreational offerings, and outdoor spaces. There's three key projects: Hamlet Park, Mississippi Dunes Park, and then River Oaks Golf Course and Event Center. Starting with Hamlet Park: Hamlet is our oldest and largest park in Cottage Grove. Obviously, we've invested a lot into Cottage Grove over the past 50 years, but it's been since 1984 since we've had a large single investment into kind of the entire park itself. Hamlet Park is typically split into... I'm going to start with this: the proposed plan would invest $17 million into upgrading the play equipment, building a new four-season recreational building, installing a small splash pad, recreating the skateboard park, building an amphitheater, creating an art walk sculpture garden with benches and informational kiosks, adding synthetic turf—replacing the natural turf that is on that current football/soccer field—and finishing the softball park complex. So, right now we built the two ball fields over the last five or six years; we would add the last two ball fields on the south side of that, and then that includes adding the third parking lot, the entry road, the trails, and landscaping. So now the park from north to south is essentially complete. Some imagery, as I was alluding to earlier: Hamlet Park is kind of split into the North, the Central Hub, and then the South. The South part is the ball field complex. The Central Hub, which is pictured on your left here, that's where it shows kind of the main area that's what you're most familiar with today; the reinvestment of those areas with the amphitheater, the skateboard park, and those items. And then the North is the trail entry off of Grange and 80th Street. So, we would enhance that area; that would be kind of where that art area would be, as well as a lot of landscaping to promote the North End trail entry. Mississippi Dunes Park: We have a unique opportunity to create a new 33.3-acre nature-themed public park along the Mississippi River. We have long pursued recreational opportunities along the river, and Council can attest that this has been a priority since I've been here since 2001. One of the goals of Council has always been to increase public access to the Mississippi River. So, we have a unique opportunity here with this recent strategic acquisition, which, by the way, was all grant-funded to get the 33.3 acres. We are now positioned to build a rare park that brings people to the river for a myriad of recreational experiences. So, the proposed $13 million would restore and preserve natural habitat of the site, would build up the shoreline along the river, would provide recreational river access for canoes, kayaks, small boats, and fishing. We would use the trails that are there now but then also enhance and expand on those—both a combination of paved trails and natural hiking trails—create a nature-based playground, which is pictured here on the right (that's an actual image of the playground that we've designed for this site), provide outdoor classroom spaces, build an interpretive learning center (a building that has educational opportunities in there as well as event opportunities), and then adding facilities kind of throughout for nature activities, picnicking, and things like that. This is the master plan we've been working on; there's been about three or four iterations of the master plan, and you'll see some new imagery coming out even after this, but just kind of shows you how that park lays out. Again, we've acquired all that shoreline along the river from the old Mississippi Dunes Golf Course, so we're happy that there's almost 2,000 linear feet of shoreline that's been preserved for public access. Then the third project is the River Oaks Golf Course and Event Center. We have the opportunity to make this a year-round recreational multi-use recreation destination for families and people of all ages. And I just want to make sure I'm going to lead off with: this is not about growing the game of golf. This is about doing everything other than golf, for the most part, at River Oaks to try to get people down there. It is a point of pride in the community. People use it for all sorts of reasons, whether it's weddings, events, golf, bocce ball, bags tournaments, or whatever it might be. So, there's a bunch of different ways to use River Oaks, and we're trying to increase that opportunity. The proposed $6 million plan at River Oaks would be to install a multi-sport simulator, as the picture shows on the right; it's not just for golf, it could be used for soccer, hockey—I think there's even zombie shooting and things like that—and that would be an indoor opportunity for residents, visitors, and families. Add a pickleball event court, create a new winter mountain biking course, upgrade the building connecting the two buildings—right now there's a separation between the two buildings, we would connect that building and make that one whole building—enhance the patio dining area; obviously, the patio is a selling point for River Oaks that overlooks the river. And then build a nine-hole Himalayan putting green course designed for all skill levels. So, instead of a mini-putt course, this would be more of a challenging... it's a bunch of moguls on a putting green, and then you can play different games and have different experiences there, and that's all free to the public. This is an image of what the building might look like on the two pictures on the right, when it's all connected and enhancing the patio. There'll be more imagery coming out to try to show what that looks like as well. And then the event center court would align next to the bocce ball courts and that could be used multi-purpose; you could have weddings on that, you could have small concerts on that, you could have the pickleball tournaments on that—lots of different things you can do. I do get the question about the golf course and the noise with the pickleball; there's a little water feature in there that we put in there to try to drown out some of the pickleball noise, but there's also balls that you can use that deaden the sound a little bit, there's screens that you can put up and different things that you can do to mitigate sound as well. But the golf course staff is extremely excited about that and they don't see concerns with that noise. And then a picture of the Himalayan green on the bottom left shows how that lays out next to the clubhouse. I think most folks say, "Hey, it looks great, but looks like it's expensive." As we talked about, it's $17 million for Hamlet, $13 million for Mississippi Dunes, and then $6 million for River Oaks Golf Course and Event Center. But we've studied a myriad of ways to try to come up with a plan that pays for all that, and we've landed on this idea of the Local Option Sales Tax, which the Mayor kicked off this presentation with. It would result in a 0.5% sales tax increase on any purchases made in Cottage Grove that qualify under the sales tax law. So, that's basically one penny on every $2 that you spend, or 50 cents on $100 in purchase. And that's over a 25-year period. And I should say it does—the sales tax expires either when the projects are paid off (and this is a maximum of $36 million), so when we get $36 million in tax revenue, or 25 years. So, either 25 years or $36 million, whichever comes first. Why the Local Option Sales Tax? It ensures that both residents and non-residents share in the cost. If we do a general obligation bond for referendum, that means it solely lands on the backs of the property owners in Cottage Grove. We feel like this spreads it out a little bit more evenly and also, because of all the visitors that come to Cottage Grove for parks and recreation services, this shares in the cost with visitors as well. We figure right now that University of Minnesota did an economic study for us, and they project about 31.3% of sales tax would be paid for by non-residents, the remaining paid for by residents. And it's also projected that number should continue to go up as Cottage Grove grows—the share of the non-tax portion. A question about how this Local Option Sales Tax works: it's applied to the same items and services and follows the same exemptions as the state sales tax. So things like groceries, clothing, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, and baby products are not taxed. Otherwise, anyone who purchases qualifying items and services in Cottage Grove would pay that half-percent sales tax. Projected out, each Cottage Grove resident is estimated to pay on average an additional $23 per year, or about $1.92 per month, for investment into this project. This is where I do want to highlight that you do need to have State authority to go to referendum here. And part of that requirement is—and we do have that authority to do that—one of the requirements is that each project stands on its own merit. So, there'll be three different questions. There'll be a header that explains what the city is asking as a summary with the Local Option Sales Tax, and then each project has its own vote. So, you will vote for Hamlet Park separately from Mississippi Dunes and River Oaks Golf Course. The key is if one of those projects passes, it's a 0.5% sales tax increase. If two or three pass, it's still a 0.5% sales tax increase. So, no matter if one, two, or three go, it's a 0.5% sales tax increase. If just one of the projects goes, obviously we would generate that revenue sooner and obviously the tax would probably fall off sooner as well. So that's how that works. And if none of them pass, then there is no sales tax increase. The key here is that we want to get people to the website. We've spent a lot of time, energy, and effort building the website. It's very informative, has frequently asked questions, a lot of detail on the park projects, and the imagery is being updated almost weekly. And as we get questions from the public, we're trying to make sure that they get put on the website. There's a ton of information out there. So as you guys talk with community members or you're visiting with people and they have questions, I would say get them to the website because there's a ton of information there. And then, of course, call us. There's no secrets; everything's on the table. We'll answer any questions that come our way, but at the end of the day, it's up to the voters to decide on how they'd like to see this referendum go. And the date: early voting begins Friday, September 20th, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. With that, I will stand for questions. **[00:15] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you, Zac, for presenting. I know Councilmember/Vice President Olsen and I have heard this a few times, so that's good. So, the rest of you, is there any particular questions that you have at this point for Zac on this project or on this proposal? Yes, Mr. Thiede. **[00:16] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Where would this put us for sales tax-wise amongst our neighbors? Like what is Woodbury doing, what is Hastings doing, etc.? **[00:16] Zac Dockter:** Very good question, Mr. Thiede. There's actually on the website a really good map on there right now that shows the Local Option Sales Taxes that are being charged in other communities. So as an example, I think St. Paul's at 1.5%. Woodbury is currently going to referendum for a 0.5% sales tax to fund their public safety facility. Oakdale has one in place, Golden Valley has one, Bloomington has one in place. So there's a good map that kind of shows where we would fit in that. There's a whole bunch of communities that already charge a sales tax, typically 0.5% and up, and then there's a bunch of communities that are pending. I gave you a few examples, but that map shows... I would direct you to the website to get better data. **[00:17] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Fair enough. Yeah, I just know St. Paul's is like the highest in the entire state and they keep adding more of them, so... **[00:17] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah. No, and in this case, you know, the other question I sometimes hear, and I know Zac, you've heard this too, is, "Well, what if none of them pass?" Obviously, personally speaking, I hope they all pass, but if none of them pass, what happens with these projects? And the answer really would be the same as we've been doing for many, many, many, many years at Hamlet as an example: things would just... we'd put them on our Capital Improvements Plan. Slowly but surely, the items would get built over many, many, many years. And the purpose behind this is we've heard what our public is asking; the citizens are asking us. So this is an opportunity for us to kind of—I'll say—hit the ground running and get these projects completed. Frankly, Hamlet's been worked on for a very, very long time, but we just kind of etch away at it. It's fine if that's how we've decided to do it over the years, but this is our way to say, okay, we can put these projects in the ground and get these done—to get that park down in the river completed on a quicker basis, if you will, than spreading over a multitude of years. So I mean, I just throw that out there just as a side note. But again, I would just say unless anybody else has any questions, you know, please forward them to the website—whether it's asking one of us on our staff, our elected officials, and even for you guys. I mean, obviously, if people have questions for you one way or the other, we want everybody to be informed. We've actually had that conversation with the gentleman that's kind of working with us on this Local Option Sales Tax proposal in their company, which was, you know, the best thing we can do is make sure everybody... if somebody says no, then somebody says no, but the goal is to have everybody have a say in it or as many people. And that's also why, by the way, it's a presidential election year; it's the highest turnout, and so it really gives everybody the opportunity to say "yay" or "nay" on these particular questions. Any other questions, EDA? All right, thank you, Zac, for coming in this morning and sharing. Have a great day. **[00:20] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, our next presentation this morning is by Stacy Kvilvang, who—thank goodness you got here in time—regarding business subsidy and public financing policy. And so I'll kick it over to you to get us rolling here. **[00:20] Stacy Kvilvang:** Great, thank you, President, Commissioners. Maybe just one other thing that I'll add onto the Local Option Sales Tax discussion is to always remind folks kind of the key thing is that, you know, what you get is 31% of that money is coming from outside residents coming in that are actually using your facilities. So that's great; that's a good opportunity because, as you said, President, essentially you eventually would do those projects but it's just going to cost the residents more. So it's a cheaper way to do it and spread that around for the benefit of getting something today. So that's always a key thing to remember—that you're using other folks' money that are coming in and actually using your facilities as well to assist in paying for that. Well, we're going to talk a little bit about your business subsidy and public financing policy. We're going to talk about the tools that you have available, and then we're going to talk about some other things that have changed in the legislative session this past year that we had. So what you look at is: what is a business subsidy? Essentially, it's a statutory requirement that's out there, and basically a business subsidy is assistance to commercial businesses—so housing is exempt. So any multi-family housing, single-family developments that you may do is exempt from it; only for commercial developments. And typically, it's assistance of $150,000 or more that kicks in, so you have to go into your policy that we'll talk about—the specifics that you have to have for that. And that subsidy can be anything from tax increment financing that you may provide, that you've done in the past on your pay-as-you-go notes that you do; it could be grants that you provide; it could be interest rate write-downs; it's a multitude of things that you could provide. So as long as that value is 150,000 or more, you're going into what your business subsidy policy would actually state. Back in 2001 is when a lot of this came into play—that they had the changes at the state legislature. So they said if you're going to provide a business subsidy, there's two main things that you have to have or meet in order to do that: one, the state wanted to see job goals requirements for it, and they also wanted to see wage floor requirements when you're doing that. So that's all technically that's required by this statute, along with doing an agreement, which cities had already done. Essentially, when we went through this process with the EDA back in, I think it was 2017—it's been quite a while—we set the job goal at one full-time equivalent employee. And when we had the discussion with the EDA at that time, what I would say to you today is most cities—that's where it's at, right? Because it's just the requirement; it's the minimum requirement. And the reason why we set it lower at that one job is there will always be that one project that comes along that you really, really want, and it's not about job creation; it's about something else for your community. But the reality is, and as you guys may know from a lot of your projects, is that that job creation goal is actually a lot higher. So if we take North Point for example, their job creation goal is over 200 jobs, right? So your policy is just the minimum, right? What you actually get for the assistance that you're doing is likely going to be something higher, but we set it low for the time that that project comes that job creation isn't your biggest thing that you're doing. The second thing is the wage requirement. So most cities will set it off of what minimum wage is because that floats; that goes up and down over time. Well, it just goes up, I should say. So you guys are currently at two times the minimum wage. And we had discussions back when we set the policy to look at maybe three times and other things, but that was starting to get to be a wage that was really high for probably a lot of the jobs that you get. So you didn't want to be able to miss out on some, again, those projects that you would want to actually get that are paying good wages at two times. So that's where we settled. Again, in your policy, that's your minimum, right? At least has to meet that. But it doesn't necessarily mean that it won't be more. So again, if you take North Point as your most recent example, some of those jobs are a lot higher than that and some are, you know, at and exceeding that as well. So again, it's just your policy that you have in there for that. The second thing is when we did your policy, we call it a public financing policy. So that wraps in that business subsidy requirement, but on top of that, that public financing policy is really a document that's a guidance for developers that are coming to the city to develop. And so it has everything in there that they would want to know about the city and what you are actually looking for. So it's your application process and what's your priorities, right? As an EDA or a city that you actually want to get done. When we go in and look at your public financing policy, you know, a lot of your things are standard what we have in a lot of communities—that you want it to meet the comprehensive plan, talks about spin-off development, talks about all these other things. But what I highlight for you are the two things at the bottom that are probably a little bit different for you as a city, because we do like to make these a little bit more individual to the communities: that you wanted to improve or add public infrastructure such as roads, utilities extension, stormwater ponding, etc. That's not unusual for a growth community, right? Because you're still developing. So we always want development to pay for itself. So again, what that benefit is, if they're coming in for a development and roads and utilities are needed services, again, they have to pay for that. But essentially, you're willing to give assistance to offset some of that cost because it can be pretty expensive. And then you wanted to establish business interests that add to the diversity of the city's offerings. So again, when you're looking at some of it, what you're saying is that we have certain users here—office/warehouse—we want to diversify. So that's kind of a key priority that we have: let's not just do all the same, you know, we want to be able to build into what we have for businesses and service and commerce that is here in our community. Now, the other thing we always put in there is kind of: what's your desired qualifications? What's the projects that you really want to get or that you want to see in your community? This is where we personalize it to you again. And so the big four that you guys had last time was anything in your Business Park, the Gateway North District, Cottage View District, and then Langdon along the portion of West Point Douglas Road, including the Majestic Ballroom, which will get redeveloped someday. So that's a key for you guys. And then I would say again to highlight what's a little bit different for you guys again, when you look at some of your desire qualifications, is that you want a development of a full or limited-service hotel. So you're not necessarily different from other communities, but it's just... it was a key factor, something that you wanted to do to have opportunities for people to be able to stay, right? When they come to visit or there's weddings over at the golf course and other things; you wanted more opportunities rather than having to go over to Woodbury or someplace else. And then you wanted to provide opportunities for entertainment venues such as a movie theater, family fun center, or larger attraction unique to the city. So again, you're trying to incorporate to make yourself a little bit more of a destination community for some of those things that not only your residents want, but you want other people to be able to come to your community and actually utilize. Provide facade improvements—there was a lot of talk about some existing businesses that maybe could use some assistance with that, that you want to help them spruce that up a little bit to change the character of a certain area. Again, the road access was key for a lot of the developments that you're doing. And then you wanted to actually provide opportunities for some small businesses—so let's not forget about the little guys that may eventually become the middle-sized guys or the big guys, right? So you want to have opportunities for those smaller businesses to be able to come to the community and grow here with you. What tools do we have when you're going to give incentives, right, to try and draw these kinds of uses or developments that you have in? The big two that you always use are Tax Increment or Tax Abatement. And they're kind of the same. As you recall, Tax Increment Financing is that you've got a project or property that's paying property taxes at this level; it's got a certain value. But when you come in and you develop or redevelop, the value is up here and you're paying more taxes. So that tax increment that's available is the difference between current taxes and future taxes, okay? There's a little nuances with that with commercial because we have certain taxes that aren't available, but essentially that is what is available. Now, when you create a tax increment district, you have final saying authority. County can't say no; school district can't say no. It's all encompassed because the goal is development or redevelopment. So for you, when you're creating some of your economic development districts that you've done, it's about jobs, okay? That's what you're creating. Your redevelopment, which you had a couple, it's about getting rid of blight and changing that and using it. And then also you've done some for affordable housing as well—you've done the Dominion projects, which were the senior housing facilities; you've got the Roers that we just approved not long ago here as well. But the difference with Tax Abatement: we treat it just like we do tax increment, you know, it's that increased taxes that they're paying, but the difference with that is that each taxing entity gets their say if they provide it or not. So the city has a say, the county has a say, and the school district has a say. And traditionally, what we find throughout the Metro is that when you do tax abatement, it's usually only the city that participates. The school will participate if it's housing, right? Especially roads and development for single-family development because that means more kids, which means more money for the school, so they're happy to do it. And the county will sometimes, again, if it's about a big job driver or creation or something that meets their standards that they have for economic development within the county as a whole. Other things that you can do: obviously grants. You know, so any project that comes in, staff is always looking to see what grants are out there because we're always trying to find funds to augment, so it's just not the city that's participating out there. You can also do loans. So as an EDA, you could have a revolving loan fund, and you've done some of this through some state funds that you've got as well, that you can provide to a business to either get as a startup or to create more jobs and do some other things. Again, we try to recycle any funds that you have to get them out in the community working; we do it as a loan, we receive some of that back so that we can then put it back to work in the community actually again. And we're going to talk about a little bit about the Local Affordable Housing Aid—a new tool that came out. So that's the 0.25% sales tax that's paid throughout the Metro that's available for affordable housing only. Your guys' allocation is about $125,000 for 2024 that you'll have here that's available. So let's talk about LAHA and other things. Again, local affordable housing—LAHA, kind of like LOST, you know, always come up with these acronyms that we have out there. So as we said, you got about $125,000 that you'll get in this aid. Most cities, what they're using it for is for their single-family rehab programs. You can also use it for development of rental housing that's affordable. You can do it for new single-family construction, but there's income requirements that are pretty, pretty open, which is really great and gives you a lot of flexibility on how to use those dollars. But in 2024, the legislature put a couple parameters around that. They said, "Okay, we don't want you guys to now get this $125,000 and just use it as a levy reduction." Right? So whatever you were doing for other housing programs before, you have to keep doing that; this is to supplement that, it's not to replace it, it's to supplement it. So what they're requiring is that you have to show the past two years what you've put forward for affordable housing. It could be your CDBG dollars, it could be your actual HRA levy, it could be city levy dollars, anything else that you've done—they want to see that because they want to make sure that in the next year when you spend it that you just didn't um, take something else away. So you didn't spend $200,000 last year and now that now that you have this, you're only spending $100,000. Again, it's supposed to supplement what you're actually doing out there. At the end of the day, I think the big thing will be challenging for the counties because they're going to have to really consult with the cities to see what they're doing to make sure, because they have a portion—big portion—of the allocation that they're going to be putting to work in the communities countywide as well. The other big change was affordable housing for tax credits. So there's a thing, as you guys recall, it's called Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, which are federal tax credits that are available when you develop affordable rental housing. And essentially what they're saying now is that if in fact you go through Minnesota Housing and you get a tax credit allocation, is now you have to pay prevailing wage on that. Okay, so this has been a big discussion at the legislature on a lot of things. They were actually talking about doing it if you actually give tax increment assistance as well, but essentially what it does is it increases costs by 10 to 15%. Okay, so well, what does that mean at the end of the day? Well, what that means at the end of the day is that those developers of the affordable housing and the tax credits are going to come to the local communities or others to ask for more money, right? It's going to cost us more. So it's kind of... it's difficult. It already is challenging to build and construct affordable housing because the rents are so much lower, right? It's hard to get the numbers to work. Well, now it's getting a little bit harder, so we got to figure that out. So we've had a lot of communities, you know, that do their own local prevailing wage ordinances in place, and some of the developments have struggled or they're not getting the affordable housing at the level that they want. And some folks will say, "Well, it doesn't cost anything more to do this." Well, that's not a true statement. You talk to everyone, it's like, yes, you are paying 10 to 15%, or some cases 20%, depending on where you're located, that you're paying more for this. So it's something to be cognizant of; it's not a good thing, it's not a bad thing, right? It's a local choice for some things. But again, for anything that's getting state funding in the federal tax credits, it's now an actual requirement. Lot of what we've seen now happening is the development community is kind of stepping back and taking a pause. So there are some developments that have already been through their entitlement process, they've already been awarded either their credits or they're in the process of it, that developers are stepping back going, "Not sure we're going to do this." Right? So for some that are so far in the process, they're going back to those local communities going, "We need x amount more now to make this work because of this requirement." And cities have that choice to say, "Yep, we'll dig some more and find some more assistance to provide you," or they're like, "We don't have anything, can we find it someplace else?" So either projects may trickle and move forward, some are going to pause, and some just won't go forward at all. And also I think what we're hearing from a lot of the local traditional affordable housing developers, they're starting to leave and find other markets where there's not this requirement. So it's just going to be interesting to see how everything shakes out over time here at the end of the day to see what actually happens with regards to that. So with that, President, I'm happy to answer any questions just about some of your local tools, your business subsidy policy, etc. **[00:35] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Fantastic. Thank you for the great information, Stacy. EDA members, any questions at this point? EDA Vice President Olsen. **[00:35] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thanks, Stacy. Appreciate you being here this morning. Um, one of the questions that I had about the LAHA is um, when it comes to the requirements around, you know, various funding levels, etc., does TIF or matching grant money that a city might use to help, you know, create an incentive here—does that count towards those requirements or is it purely, for lack of a better phrase, whatever dollars you hand out to the developer? **[00:36] Stacy Kvilvang:** President, Vice President, essentially it's dollars that you may hand out essentially. So it's, you know, it's still a little unclear and fuzzy with the reporting. So like you guys have done some things for affordable housing, right, in the last two years, you can show is that we provided tax increment financing for this, right? But you can't be penalized because not everything that comes forward is going to need tax increment. It's something that you may do, but you may want to do that instead of tax increment of creating a district, which is also a goal of the legislature—that they would prefer to have less districts out there as well. So we will see what will happen with the full reporting if they're going to allow... if they're going to penalize you, right, for using tax increment and saying we got to use that first in the future or not. **[00:37] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** And the grant issue for me is, um, you know, with many of the grants that we apply for, and our city staff, as you know, does an incredible job of seeking out those third-party dollars—some of them come with the stipulation that you have to match up to a certain dollar amount. And I was just curious if that match, because it is City funds, would count towards that requirement. **[00:37] Stacy Kvilvang:** That will count towards that. **[00:37] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Okay, thank you. **[00:37] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, any other questions from EDA members? So I guess you get to—well, thank you, by the way, for the presentation—I think you're going to stay up there, I believe, for the next maybe three or four. Yep. All right, so with that, I guess we'll move right then into number six, which is business items. The first one is 6.1, which is Resolution 2024-7, which is decertification of Tax Increment Financing District number 1-12. **[00:38] Stacy Kvilvang:** Thank you, President, Commissioners. Back in 2001, the EDA created this tax increment district. Um, it's larger than what's just shown on the slide here; it originally encompassed 44 parcels. That was kind of the gateway area to your community that you were looking to redevelop within there. And some of the more key significant things that really happened where you gave your assistance was the Presbyterian Homes senior housing development, because you wanted some affordable senior housing. So it's a 44-unit development. But also you have the former Grove Plaza area where the new Hy-Vee is as well; that some incentives were provided there as well. So in 2006, you entered into an agreement with the developer, which was Presbyterian Homes for this site. 10 years later, in 2016, they finally got everything done and completed. So sometimes it's just challenging, right? So you're like, "Oh, we created a district back in 2001, but it took us a while to get through." Yeah, sometimes it's hard to find the developer, it's hard to put the pricing and the financing and everything together and to actually get to a point where certain things are happening and moving forward. So you provided Presbyterian Homes a $2.4 million pay-as-you-go note. That's what we do for everything. So again, they pay their property taxes, you and reimburse them twice a year as they pay those taxes for the improvements. And those improvements were mostly public improvements for roads and intersection and lighting improvements that were happening in the area, and somewhat to an extent for some of the affordable housing. So again, it's something that came forward, they were able to meet that, and you issued the actual note for that. The public improvements in the district included the roadways and waterways that some of what we're seeing in the area. We got the first tax increment payment on that $2.4 million note in 2017. The anticipated last payment was going to be in 2029. When the district is actually done, it's done at the end of 2028. So February 1 is our last 2028 payment that we actually get. And so when we do these, right, we're always setting up our assistance or our notes based upon what we know today for values, tax rates, etc. Well, what we're happy to say is that that obligation is actually going to be paid off here in August 1st of this year. So, you know, five years earlier than what we anticipated in that district. Now it's going to be decertified early, which is required by statute. So once all your obligations are done, you have to decertify that district. So before you today is the resolution to decertify this district for taxes payable in 2025. Happy to answer any questions. **[00:41] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Stacy, just real quick, um, just for the general public: in that... so now that we're decertifying this tax increment financing district, what does that mean? Where do the tax dollars go now? **[00:41] Stacy Kvilvang:** Great question, President. Essentially, we have modeled this into your long-range financial management plan. We're always looking at your districts and when they're going to be coming off. So what it means is that you have more tax capacity available to levy taxes over. So what you see is that, you know, if everything stayed the same and you had more value to levy over your taxes, your tax rate would go down, or you're using that captured amount that you have to actually do some other things in your community. And there's no difference to any of the taxpayers that are out there. **[00:42] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay, perfect, thank you. EDA, any questions for Stacy on this item? If not, then I'll look for somebody to... there is a motion on the screen for decertification if someone wants to take that, and then need a second. **[00:42] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Mayor, I'll move that we approve Resolution 2024-7, decertification of tax increment financing District 1-12, and direct EDA staff and consultants to take all actions required to decertify the TIF district for taxes payable in 2025. **[00:42] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by EDA Vice President Olsen. Do I have a second? **[00:43] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. **[00:43] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA member Thiede. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying "Aye." (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. All right, now we'll move on to 6.2, which is Resolution 2024-8, decertification of Tax Increment Financing District number 1-18. And I'll recuse myself from this point. **[00:44] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you. **[00:44] Stacy Kvilvang:** All right, thank you, President, Commissioners. Um, this is for Modern Automotive that's located at 9800 Hemingway Avenue. In 2024, the district was decertified by the EDA—or you had an action before you to do this earlier. And once we were getting ready to complete all the decertification actions, we were reminded that we had an interfund loan that was outstanding for this district. So essentially, we are having you redo the decertification resolution because now it's going to be for taxes payable in 2025. So again with this one, our August 1, 2024 payment will be the last payment on that interfund loan note, and then we will move it forward for decertification just like we are with TIF District 1-12. So with that, President, I'm happy to stand for any questions. **[00:45] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** All right, thank you. Any questions on this one? All right, so again on the screen is a recommendation if somebody wants to take that on the... **[00:45] Commissioner Myers:** I can make the motion to approve Resolution 2024-8, decertification of tax increment financing district 1-18, and direct EDA staff and consultants to take all actions required to decertify the TIF district for taxes payable in 2025. **[00:46] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** All right, so I have a motion by EDA member Meyer. Do I have a second? **[00:46] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. **[00:46] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Second by EDA member Thiede. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying "Aye." (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you for that one. **[00:46] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, next is 6.3, which is Resolution 2024-9, Tax Increment Revenue Note for North Point Pay-As-You-Go, Cottage Grove Logistics Park. **[00:47] Stacy Kvilvang:** Thank you, President, Commissioners. Um, as you know, this is TIF District 1-20. Um, this is a district that they are going to be developing upwards of 3.4 million square feet of industrial development. Originally, when you approved this district and the agreement for that, um, you were looking to give them assistance of about $12.1 million. That amount has been significantly reduced, and the reason being for that is because the projections of timing for development. So they have currently finished Phase One as they're required under the agreement on the modifications that we have; it's just under 800,000 square feet that's been developed out there. We've completed the look-back, so all their qualified costs and everything have been certified. Public Works has signed off on the public improvements that have happened out there, so now we're at the point that it's an action item before you for us to actually issue that note. And so as stated before, that note has been reduced from $12.1 million to about $7.166 million. So with that, President, Commissioners, I'm happy to answer any questions. **[00:48] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, does any member on the EDA have a question on this one? All right, seeing none on this one, again we do have a recommendation before us on the screen if somebody wants to take that. **[00:48] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** I move that we approve Resolution 2024-9, Tax Increment Revenue Note series principal amount not to exceed $7,166,000. **[00:49] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by EDA member Thiede. Do I have a second? **[00:49] Commissioner Scott:** I'll second the motion. **[00:49] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA member Scott. Again, any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying "Aye." (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. And last for you, um, is Resolution 2024-10, authorizing a preliminary HRA Levy. **[00:50] Stacy Kvilvang:** Thank you, President, Commissioners. So essentially, as you know, you guys already do an EDA levy, but with your EDA you have HRA powers, which is pretty common. So you are able not only to do business development and business loans, but you're also able to do housing projects and redevelopment projects. So you've done it all, right? You've done affordable housing, and you've done business loans and EDA loans, etc., out there. Essentially, the EDA levy can only be used for those types of things—business and economic development related—whereas an HRA levy can only be used for housing and redevelopment. I'd say the HRA levy gives you a lot more flexibility because redevelopment... there's a lot of things that you can do within that. But again, it's great to have that EDA levy for any loans that you may actually want to do. Currently, the EDA tax levy is $275,000 a year that you levy. Now, the thing about the EDA levy is that really it's a city levy, so it's not as transparent, right? It's just... it's added on as part of your rate, and you don't see a difference on your tax bill or anything like that; it's not a separate line item that's out there. And so what we're going to actually be doing is we're going to have you levy your HRA levy as well. The thing is is that both the EDA and the HRA levy, we have statutory maximums that you can do, and they're pretty close because the formula is pretty similar and it's based upon your taxable market value. So your maximum under the EDA levy is about $1.54 million; you're only levying 275,000. You're not taking full advantage of that, but again we talked about this under your financial management plan with the city council, how we'll look to eventually start to ramp that up so that you guys have a good funding mechanism for future projects that you may want to be undertaking. We're not saying this year that we want to do any increase in that overall levy; we're still going to keep it at 275,000. We're just going to split it between the EDA levy and the HRA levy. And as you can see, your HRA levy maximum is about $1.78 million. So again, we're still just levying the same amount, we're just splitting it in the bucket. And again, part of that's for transparency. So now because of the HRA levy is that you'll actually see that on your tax bill; it's a separate line item so people can actually see that it's set aside for that. Now, the other things just to know about EDA and HRA levies is since the EDA levy is a city levy, right, it's subject to levy limits, which we have not had in a very, very long time. And the HRA levy is not subject to that if those ever come into play again. So it's just something to take under advisement and consideration for that. Essentially, before you will be the resolution to approve and set the public hearing about that HRA levy, which is being set for December 3rd, 2024, at 6 o'clock in the council chambers. That's part of final budget approvals that you have as well. So with that, President, Commissioners, I'm happy to stand for any questions. **[00:53] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, does anybody on the EDA have a question on this one? EDA member Thiede. **[00:54] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Yeah, so I know at our last meeting we did that housing study. When are we getting that back? And then I think that would help us inform as to what kind of projects we would see this used for. **[00:54] Stacy Kvilvang:** Okay, um, I actually... I'll turn it over to our City Administrator, Jennifer Levitt; she can speak to that. **[00:54] Jennifer Levitt:** EDA President, members of the Commission. Um, great question. Um, we will be seeing that probably this fall. So we're anticipating we probably report back to you most likely like in November with that study. Now, as you know, the City Council has a strategic plan; their strategic plan has really included diversity of housing, and that's been the mantra and the goal of the Council—is to diversify as part of our strategic plan. Are we aware that there's a lot of pent-up need and demand in our community? Yes. So is there any challenge to using these funds? No, honestly it's going to be more not having enough funds to meet the demands for housing. Because we hear, especially from our seniors, there's not enough affordable senior housing. So we know that's a huge demand. Affordability is just huge in the Metro right now, and so we know we need that. I know the Mayor can attest to this is... you know, we met with our Met Council rep; we really want transit opportunities expanded in our community. Well, it's always that chicken or the egg: you can't get affordable housing if you don't have transit, and you can't get transit if you don't have affordable housing. So as the city, we need to be making that investment in affordable housing to be able to meet our strategic goals and objectives and to meet the needs of our community. So I would say our needs far outweigh what we have money to do. So I don't think the study itself is going to tell us anything we don't know, because we already know there is this extreme need in our community and in the Metro for affordable housing. Does that answer your question for you? **[00:56] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** No, that's great. And then, can you remind us what kind of projects we'd be looking to do with this new levy? I mean, I know we did one project that kind of fitted earlier, but I mean is it just multi-family affordable housing like that, or is it a greater scope that we can encompass with this? **[00:56] Stacy Kvilvang:** President, Commissioners. Essentially, your HRA levy and EDA levy dollars go into the pots and into the funds, and what those can be used for is not only for projects, but it's also for staff and administration that you have out there as well. So that will be utilized for any future projects that come forward. And so again, you may have an HRA levy, and it's a matter when we look at our buckets, right, at the big larger financial plan for the city, if it's going to be set aside for project-specific or if we're going to utilize it as part of paying for administrative time or studies, things of that nature, to get you set and focused on a road and a path moving forward for certain projects. **[00:57] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah, and I guess, well, I'll just jump in there. I know that, for example, I happen to be at a meeting in Woodbury a while back, and I believe Woodbury's HRA has a couple million dollars in their account. And what they're doing is they're trying to build that number up so that when they have something planned for that—so they're waiting on a developer to, or working with the developers to be able to utilize that amount of money. Yes, it's going to take us a while to build up to that amount, but I guess in our particular case, we kind of have, in my opinion—this is just me—we have two separate buckets. One is really going to be more towards housing and affordable housing; the other one is more through, my personal opinion is like economic development kind of things, more on the commercial business side of things where the HRA levy only is specific, I believe, to housing, at least that's the way they were proposing it. So that's kind of the process that we're looking at through there. But is there a project like right now that we go, "Hey, we could use this"? I don't believe so. I know we have a project that had been looking at a spot in Cottage Grove... I mean, I don't know if you want to speak to that at this point. **[00:58] Jennifer Levitt:** President, members of the EDA. So staff has been meeting regularly with affordable housing builders. I know the Council, you had met with one with a workshop session down at 103rd and Hadley area. We've had a number of people interested in that parcel. I think what's making it challenging, as you heard in Stacy's presentation, with some of those legislative changes, it's making the numbers more challenging. And so we are going to have to come to the table with more money. And so this is really the needed step to get us to that point to help that. Also, it'll help take the burden off of always using TIF for our financing mechanism. So it's going to give us more tools in our toolbox to be able to offer and incentivize those projects that we really want for our community. **[00:59] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay, that... is that what I've got? **[00:59] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** That's great. **[00:59] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Any other questions at this point for Stacy or staff? EDA Vice President Olsen. **[00:59] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thanks. I'm going to point this at Stacy, but you can certainly toss the ball this way if you need to. Um, you know, historically in the metro area, the Met Council has given guidance with respect to what is affordable. So there's... there's different levels. And back in the early 2000s, we were very lucky as a community that we had the side of the highway where the Mayor and I both grew up over by Hamlet Park; that was considered largely to be affordable housing—single-family homes because they were older homes built, you know, by Orrin Thompson way back when. We, I think, have crossed over the threshold with respect to the percent of affordable housing that we have based on property values raising up. So I'm curious if you have any thoughts or insight into what the Met Council currently perceives as, you know, this level of housing is affordable and when you cross over that threshold, it's no longer affordable. Have they given us new guidance? Is there anything that we should be aware of in terms of these projects and what the affordability component looks like, or what is the metric that we're trying to hit? So again, whatever you want to do with that. **[01:00] Stacy Kvilvang:** President, Vice President, it's a great question. So the Met Council uses the same stats that the state uses and that local cities use, and it's what we use for tax increment financing. So HUD comes out every year in about April with what the statistical incomes are on the averages that you have, and they break that down into buckets of 30% AMI, 50% AMI, 60% AMI, 80% AMI. And so essentially for anything that is rental housing, it can fall into any one of those buckets that you have and that what percentage you have of units within that. Met Council will keep a little bit more of a deeper dive... or, not necessarily; sometimes cities have more of the detailed stats on how many 30% units you have, 50% and 60% that you have. When it comes to home ownership, we have kind of two different things, but they're still falling in that statistical data that's provided by the federal government through HUD of what those affordability parameters are. And so when you look at Met Council for some of their programs, they would consider more of the affordability in that 60 to 80% for home ownership. And when you look at tax increment districts, when you do that, it's at 100% for a family of two or less, or 115% for a family of three or more. So it's a little bit different. So again, it's not necessarily that Met Council's setting those affordability parameters; they're using the same data that we all have to use for tax increment financing and for other projects. But again, Met Council, some of their funding for single-family may go more than that 60 to 80%. **[01:02] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Okay, thank you very much. **[01:02] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Jennifer, did you have anything to add? **[01:02] Jennifer Levitt:** Well, President, members of the EDA, the other thing too is Met Council obviously will start launching into our comp plan amendment for 2050, and we'll get our system statements in regards to some of those strategic goals that they have for us in regards to our amount of affordability. Obviously, with our land use planning, we're well-situated for that, but unfortunately it does come down to funding for us to be able to hit all of those goals that Met Council establishes for us. But we'll be getting our system statement soon, and we'll know what those targets and goals will be for our next comp plan amendment. **[01:03] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you. **[01:03] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, any other questions at this point for Stacy or staff? Um, I'll just ask... I'm assuming if you want to flip that back, there's two separate motions. Okay, so what we're looking at at this point is a motion for the first bullet point and then we'll do a second, and then we'll do the same thing for the call for public hearing. So is there somebody on the EDA that would like to make the first motion? **[01:04] Commissioner Scott:** I can make the first motion, um, to approve Resolution 2024-10, authorizing a preliminary levy to be set on taxable property of the city of Cottage Grove, Washington County, Minnesota, for fiscal year 2025—a special benefit tax levy not to exceed $137,500 for the proposed 2025 budget on file with the city. **[01:04] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by EDA member Scott. Do I have a second? **[01:04] Commissioner Myers:** I'll second that motion. **[01:04] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA member Meyer. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying "Aye." (Aye). Opposed? (Nay - Thiede). Motion carries 5 to 1. And then we have a second bullet point there for a motion and a second. **[01:05] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Mayor, I'll move that we call for a public hearing to consider the adoption of the final levy, to be held by the EDA at the regular meeting on December 3rd, 2024, at 6 PM. **[01:05] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by EDA Vice President Olsen. Do I have a second? **[01:05] Commissioner Scott:** I'll second the motion. **[01:05] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA member Scott. Again, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying "Aye." (Aye). Opposed? (Nay - Thiede). Motion does pass 5 to 1. All right, now we'll—thank you, Stacy, by the way—now we'll move on to 6.5, which is Beige Book and development update, and Gretchen is here to go through this. **[01:06] Gretchen Maglich:** Good morning, everyone. It's a tough act to follow. Just real quick, we'll run through the last of the meeting with some updates on the Beige Book. You have both April and May in your packets. Um, they're reporting that employment, prices, and consumer spending grew slightly. Wage increases were moderate. Construction activity improved; construction starts were higher, which is good news. Commercial real estate still a little bit flat, although residential sales are finally strong as the market starts to even out a little bit. Vacancy rates for industrial space were higher and, of course, as you all know, we've said several times now, interest rates and market saturation continue to plague that sector, although hopefully it'll be turning around soon. Manufacturing activity slowed a bit, agricultural conditions remained stable, and oil and gas exploration remained unchanged. And minority and women-owned businesses reported an equal share of lower, unchanged, or higher sales. So the economy is doing well, but not fantastic yet. A couple of updates from the Community Development Department: Blue Stem—Blue Stem, which is the senior living by Trellis, the first-floor framing is complete and the second floor has started. So they're moving along quickly; the weather certainly helped. O2B Kids: finishing work on the project is continuing; some nice pictures there, they're coming along nicely. Some other development updates: Gerber Collision—their plans have been reviewed and approved, so that project is moving forward. Discount Tire—the remodel plans have been reviewed for the project, and you know that's the former Big O site. Honenstein's—they have their temporary CFO. They're looking forward to hopefully doing either a grand opening or ribbon cutting later this month, but Mr. Honenstein said he'll certainly notify us when he's ready. North Point—a building permit has been approved and invoiced for a speculative office building there. They're doing well; they have Lumberman's and also Van Meter over there in the one building. Chase Bank—as you can see as you drive by, it's moving along rapidly and preparations for paving of the parking lots are near completion. And then finally, Norhart apartment building—the plans have been approved, but payment for the permit is still pending. Happy to answer any questions, and your Community Development Director is here as well since this is her staff's work. **[01:09] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, is there any questions for either of them at this point? I think we're all good. All right, so then I guess we'll move to 6.6, which is the Doolittle Art Program update. **[01:10] Gretchen Maglich:** Yes, and you can see on the screen, we're still coordinating the logistics for the project, which is going to take place September 14th at the Cottage Grove Middle School. We still need to determine the special guests that'll be a part of the program; we need to invite the local media to interview Mr. Doolittle and anyone else that'll be in the program. And as we talk about the special guests and their part in the program, the giclee wooden puzzle—that's the story where they come on the stage, they talk a little bit about their piece of the puzzle, and they put it actually into the puzzle. Eric has also created some mini-videos for us to kind of generate excitement about the event, and one of those went out either last week or early this week. We're still working on the delivery of the painting and the coordinating of the puzzles, and also coordinating the staffing needed to sell the puzzles at the event. And we did get a sneak peek at the painting, which is not really available to anybody other than y'all, and it's coming along nicely. So we know we're on track still and happy to answer any questions you might have on that. **[01:12] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, EDA, any questions on this one? Yes, EDA member Thiede. **[01:12] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Yeah, I thought part of moving it to September was that this unveiling event would be open to the public? **[01:12] Gretchen Maglich:** That is correct. It is open to the public. So it'll start about 8:00 in the morning with the media and then the VIPs having a little bit of face time with the artist, and then what it'll do is move into the public portion of it where folks will be invited to be there to either purchase puzzles and participate in the program by seeing the entire unveiling. And then after that, we will hopefully take the artist over to the food truck festival where he'll continue to sign and sell puzzles. **[01:13] Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Fair enough, thank you. **[01:13] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Awesome. Thank you, thanks for the clarification. Any other questions on this one? All right, thank you on that. Then we'll move to 6.7, which is Business Retention and Expansion programs update. **[01:14] Gretchen Maglich:** Thank you. And on this, staff tours are taking place at area businesses. At some point, the EDA members will also be invited to those tours. We're just kind of just starting it because part of what the discussions we had with the businesses was that they were interested in doing things maybe a little more informally on occasion instead of always having to be some sort of production. So we started with—if the Mayor and Council know this—we started with Van Meter, and then we actually went over to Garden World as well. Those interested, we'll be sending out invitations once we kind of figure out what the pattern is, and Renewal by Andersen is supposed to be later this month. We're also working with the Chamber and Grow Minnesota on the draft survey questions; you all have had a chance to weigh in on them, and now we're using some more expertise since we joined the program to figure out what is the optimal number of questions to ask people, and can we make it a survey that's quick enough, short enough, and succinct enough that both small and large businesses will participate? Grow Minnesota, as part of that program, also agreed to analyze the surveys and join us in business interviews as well, and some of you have as well as wanted to join in the interviews. Sorry, I'm having a hard time this morning—my voice is killing me. We hope to have the draft survey completed in July, distributed for after the Labor Day holiday; give them 30 days to respond. And in order to encourage the businesses to take it, we came up with the idea of the chance to win a $250 gift certificate for, like, an after-hours team-building event for the winner with their employees at River Oaks. And happy to answer any questions about that as well. So it's moving forward, but we're not quite finished yet. **[01:16] Mayor Myron Bailey:** No, I would just the only comment I'll mention then to see if the EDA has any comments or questions... but in these interviews, we are finding out some, I'll say, pretty exciting things—you know, whether it's businesses that want to continue to expand in Cottage Grove and are looking for us for guidance, or in another particular case, a business that has been expanding multiple times in our community. We were at the golf outing for the swing for the scholarship for the Chamber to find out that they're already underspaced—in other words, they need more building. And so the good news for us is that we can start working with them on finding additional building opportunities within the city of Cottage Grove. What is the only other interesting thing that I thought personally is in most of these cases, these businesses want to actually own the buildings—they don't necessarily want to lease. So yes, we've got one... one of those warehouses for North Point Logistics is fully filled now, correct? Lumberman's, I think, finished off the... oh, Emily left, but I don't think Lumberman's—the deal there—is finished. **[01:17] Gretchen Maglich:** Okay. But they are interested in taking the rest of the rest of it. **[01:18] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah. And then obviously Van Meter's got the rest of that. So we have one full... the biggest building in that park there is still vacant. **[01:18] Gretchen Maglich:** It is still vacant, yes. There is a ton of interest in North Point, but you're absolutely right. And the City Administrator and the team have been working with all of the various businesses because, like anything, like Stacy presented, things change sometimes. Like North Point always said they would never sell, and then they said, "Well, we'll think about it," right? And same thing with some saying, "Well, I just want to lease and I don't want to own it"—some of them have changed their mind as well. So all of those discussions are going on. **[01:19] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Perfect. All right, any questions, EDA? All right, thank you, Gretchen. So with that, seven on our agenda is public hearings, which we have none this morning. Eight is other business, which we don't have anything this morning. Workshop we do not have this morning. And so we are all the way down to number 10 now, which is adjournment. So I'll look for a motion to adjourn. **[01:20] Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Move to adjourn. **[01:20] Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by EDA Vice President Olsen. Do I have a second? **[01:20] Commissioner Scott:** I'll second the motion. **[01:20] Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by EDA member Scott. All those in favor signify by saying "Aye." (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. And I'll just mention to note on the screen there that our next EDA meeting will be in September on the 10th, so there will not be a meeting in August. Okay, so we are adjourned.