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4.1. HRA DRAFT MINUTES 02-06-2023 Regular Meeting of the Elk River Housing and Redevelopment Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Tuesday, January 3, 2023 Members Present: Chair Denny Chuba, Commissioners Jill Larson-Vito, Nate Ovall, and Jennifer Wagner Members Absent: Commissioner Jayme Cannon Staff Present: Economic Development Director Brent O’Neil, Economic Development Specialist Joshua Mollan, and Sr. Administrative Assistant/Recording Secretary Jennifer Green 1. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Housing and Redevelopment Authority was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Chair Chuba. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider January 3, 2023, Agenda Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Larson-Vito to approve the January 3, 2023, HRA meeting agenda as presented. Motion carried 4-0. 4. Consent Agenda Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Larson-Vito to approve the consent agenda as follows: 4.1 December 5, 2022, HRA Regular Meeting Minutes. 4.2 Check register as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Balance sheet as outlined in the staff report. 4.4 Revenue/expenditure reports as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 4-0. Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 2 January 3, 2023 ----------------------------- 5. Open Forum There was no one present for Open Forum. 6.1 HRA Housing Rehabilitation Loan Update Mr. Mollan presented the staff report. 6.2 Extension – CEE Loan Origination Agreement Mr. O’Neil presented the staff report and indicated extending the agreement with CEE for one year. Commissioner Ovall felt this was a transparent, abundant program offering plenty of options for residents, and not just from our program. He was supportive in extending the agreement as the value CEE provides for the residents of the city was valuable. He indicated he would like to see some facts of CEE’s resident loan approvals with the types of loans given to residents in the city in the annual report. Chair Chuba asked if the appeal of our program needed to be looked at due to the lack of applications. He wondered if we should be marketing more or revamping the program. Commissioner Ovall asked when the last marketing push was completed. Mr. O’Neil indicated the next marketing will be in the next two weeks with the ERMU partnership with utility bills inserts. Prior to that, there were Star News newspaper advertisements last fall. Commissioner Ovall indicated he didn’t disagree with Chair Chuba’s concerns and given the interest rate jump he felt residents are in shock. He stated the other factor is finding contractors and materials to make the improvements. He felt it important to continue watching things in the next few months. Chair Chuba stated CEE and the commission had previously discussed raising the lending level. Commissioner Larson-Vito stated with building slowing down and contractors’ jobs drying up, this would be a good time to increase marketing strategies. Mr. O’Neil stated in the past, they had not advertised the interest rate but now with how competitive and advantageous our program is we can specifically market the competitive interest rate and that we may want to look at other programs that CEE runs and have them offer their suggestions or tweaks to our program or incorporate a supplemental program. Commissioner Ovall stated CEE has provided feedback and suggestions in the past by increasing our lending amount and lowered our interest rate. At that time, the commission Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 3 January 3, 2023 ----------------------------- chose not to make any changes because CEE was able to continue offering residents other options to fit their needs. Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Wagner to approve Extension 2 to the CEE Loan Origination Agreement as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 4-0. 6.3 Upcoming Updates and 2023 Annual Meeting Mr. O’Neil presented the staff report. Commissioner Ovall asked to have those bylaw changes ahead of time. Mr. O’Neil would redline any changes and provide those prior to the packet being distributed. He asked if the commission was comfortable continuing past practice with nominating positions at the time of the meeting. The consensus of the HRA was they were comfortable making nominations from the floor. The Housing and Redevelopment Authority recessed the meeting at 5:45 p.m. to go into work session. The meeting was reconvened at 5:49 p.m. 7.1 724 Main Street Mr. O’Neil began by laying out four areas of discussion for tonight’s meeting: providing a status of the demolition; reviewing feedback received from past and present about the space and downtown as a whole; viewing a presentation of projects that had been implemented in other communities with a similar space size; and identifying a process to plan out the future of the site. Mr. O’Neil stated they had received one demolition quote and are expecting a few more. He felt by the February HRA meeting they should have a proposal for demolition for board consideration. He stated the demolition bids are for soil and mulch temporary fill-in as he felt gravel would be messy and didn’t suggest asphalt. If the HRA was supportive he would continue this route He anticipated a demolition timeframe of April 1.The HRA also wanted the construction fencing taken down once the area was demolished, and fill added. Mr. O’Neil continued by discussing his research on past downtown proposals and resident comments. He distributed two handouts showing the downtown area and the ownership of property and asked the commission to consider if they should be focusing on improving just the meat market site or look at additional area surrounding it and consider a larger scale reconfiguration. Mr. O’Neil then outlined some of the comments he’d heard from the public joint HRA, EDA, and City Council meeting almost two years ago regarding the downtown: -Essential parking for businesses and special events – not always convenient, visible -Importance of having a public restroom to minimize the use of business restrooms -Green space -Providing other amenities -Unique character of downtown and maintaining it Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 4 January 3, 2023 ----------------------------- -The scale of downtown buildings, being “quaint” provides character and appeal -How does this downtown area tie into surrounding areas Mr. Mollan then provided a before and after of recent redevelopment projects with a similar setting as ours. The HRA discussed parking perceptions and pros and cons constructing a parking garage, they are expensive but add a value and safety to covered spots. A garage structure would block the view of the quaint downtown. The Farmer’s Market would have to be moved. They discussed parking along the street and parking restrictions for overnight, long term, and resident. They discussed closing off Jackson to allow for more parking spots. The commission discussed the short-term investment on the property and its long-term effects to the area of what is done now. Mr. O’Neil provided some options for hiring outside professional support: he will be having a conversation with a parking expert to ask them to look at our downtown area and provide some feedback, what the potential scope would look like, and any suggestions they may have. Mr. O’Neal also spoke with HGKi and felt they could assist with visioning and helping the commission narrow down the possibilities at a cost of $3-7,000 range. He stressed that public engagement and input was important to consider during this project. Commissioner Larson-Vito suggested reviewing the data gathered during the recent Comprehensive Plan amendment. Commissioner Ovall felt the commission keeps hearing either a public bathroom or green space would be the best fit in this area. It was the consensus of the HRA to continue discussion and visioning before pulling in a consultant. 8. Adjournment Chair Chuba adjourned the HRA meeting at 6:28 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jennifer Green. _____________________ Tina Allard, City Clerk _____________________ Denny Chuba, Chair Housing & Redevelopment Authority