2. Draft minutes of the 07-09-18 EDA MeetingCITY OF SCANDIA
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Monday, July 9, 2018
6:30 P.M.
Scandia Community Center Board Room
The Scandia Economic Development Authority met in the Board Room at the Scandia
Community Center on Monday, July 9, 2018 beginning at 6:30pm.
Commissioners Present: Bob Hegland, Brad Borg, Steve Kronmiller, and Mark Porubcansky.
Staff Present: Neil Soltis
Also present: Chris Eng
Minutes - Motion by Borg, seconded by Kronmiller to approve the minutes of the June 11, 2018
meeting. Vote: Yes – 4. Motion carried.
Agenda - Motion by Porubcansky, seconded by Borg, to approve the agenda. Vote: Yes – 4.
Motion carried.
Discussion on the 2019 budget – The Board discussed the 2019 budget noting that after funds
are expended for the final payment for the tourism Assessment and memberships in the 2
Chambers there will be $551 available for other purposes. Also noted was there have been no
application to date for the $20,000 that is in the revolving loan fund for exterior improvements.
The Board discussed the need for funding the local match for another predevelopment grant
application or for other studies. Based on the 2016 and 2017 tax levies of $5,000 for the EDA, it
was recommended that this amount be included in City’s the 2019 tax levy.
Discussion on the development of a 3-year work plan – County EDA Director Chris Eng
provided a template for the development of an EDA Work Plan that was used for the County
Plan. The plan would be developed over a series of meeting with the first 3 discussions
focusing on identifying realistic and relevant goals and priorities that can be accomplished in 3
years, drafting action steps and deliverables, and the use of a SWOT analysis to fine tune the
goals and priorities and identify challenges and opportunities. The Board discussed the value of
the work plan in refining the 2019 and future tax levy requests. The Board also discussed the
previous Business Retention and Expansion survey and noted the difficulty in obtaining a listing
of businesses and the need to limit the questions to a manageable number. Eng suggested
using the Reference USA database in order to obtain a listing of businesses located in Scandia.
Update from Washington County CDA – Eng noted that there are 2 other applications to the
CDA for Predevelopment grant funding beyond the Scandia request. Eng supported the Scandia
request noting that a Council resolution of support is the last item needed.
Director’s Report – Soltis noted that the first meeting of the Tourism Leadership Team will be
on July 16th, that the resolution of support for the predevelopment grant will be on the July 17
City Council agenda, that the Blandin Foundation will be reviewing the Robust Network
Feasibility grant application on July 18, and that the landscape beds for the MnDO T Landscape
Partnership project are being prepared.
Commissioner Reports – Update on internet focus group – Kronmiller commented on the
focus group discussions regarding the deliverables for the Fiber to the Premise study.
Questions that need to be addressed include: actual cost to the home as opposed to the street,
fee to connect to the fiber, location of the connection, boundaries with the Midco service area,
agreement regarding the levels of service to be provided and ownership of the system
Items for future agendas – Items for the next agenda will be the Work Plan and updates / next
steps for the tourism assessment, predevelopment community septic study, and fiber study.
Next Meeting Date – The next meeting will be held on August 13th.
Adjournment – Motion by Porubcansky, seconded by Kronmiller to adjourn. Motion carried.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Neil Soltis, Secretary