2. Draft minutes of the 03-11-19 EDA MeetingCITY OF SCANDIA
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Monday, March 11, 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, March 11th beginning at 6:30pm.
Commissioners Present: Brad Borg, Steve Kronmiller, Kirsten Libby, Mark Porubcansky, and
Patti Ray
Staff Present: Neil Soltis
Also present: Mayor Christine Maefsky
Minutes - Motion by Libby, seconded by Porubcansky, to approve the minutes of the February
11, 2019 meeting. Vote: Yes 5-0. Motion carried.
Agenda - Motion by Porubcansky, seconded by Libby, to approve the agenda as amended to
remove the Washington County CDA report. Vote: Yes 5-0. Motion carried.
Update on Fiber to the Premise RFP and project funding options — The Board discussed the 2
proposal that were received in response to the Fiber to the Premise request for proposals. CTC
submitted a proposal to construct the system for $13,377,782 with $S.OM coming from grant
funds, $2,649,777 from CTC, and $5,729,005 from the City. Frontier submitted a proposal to
provide a minimum of 25Mbps down and 3 Mbps upload to every property in the City at a cost
of $552,500 with the City providing $352,500 of that amount. Contact will be made with the
companies that were sent proposals and did not reply by declining or submitting a proposal.
The Board also discussed the legislative efforts regarding broadband noting that Senator Koran
is working on drafting a policy bill for the award of DEED grants and that the Senate bill that
would provide for subordinate service district bonding for broadband in Scandia has moved
through Committee to the Senate as a whole. Kronmiller noted that the Advisory Committee
will be meeting on March 20 to review and score the proposals. The Committee is continuing
to look at other grant options.
Discussion on the development of a 3 -year work plan — Discussion on the plan was deferred to
a future meeting.
Discussion on pre -development grant application for community water system — The Board
discussed the proposal submitted by Bolton & Menk to perform a study to determine the cost
of providing a community water system to the commercial area along 97 east of Olinda and
would be partially funded by a pre -development grant through the Washington County CDA.
The study would help to establish the cost for future uses of the properties in the area that
might have minimum requirements for water flow or pressure. A motion to apply for the grant
was made by Porubcansky and seconded by Ray. Vote: Yes 5-0. Motion carried.
Discussion on April Business Breakfast —The Board discussed the date for the business
breakfast and options for a presentation. The meeting will be held on Wednesday April 24th
and Cynthia Messer will be invited to address the group on the results of the tourism
assessment. Additional topics suggested for updates include broadband, the Gateway Trail,
and the community sewer and water studies.
Director's report — Soltis noted that the Tourism Assessment is being edited and is on track to
be ready for review by the end of March. There have been no updates from Todd Carroll at
potential locations for the Scandia entry signs. The parties who were interested in a
development on the 45 acres on 97 are no longer looking to develop based on the cost of
development. MN DNR and Bolton & Menk will be holding an open house on the Gateway Trail
concept design on Tuesday, March 19 from 5:00 until 6:45 p.m.
Commissioner Reports — Mayor Maefsky noted that Prairie Restoration will be closing their
retail store in Scandia.
Items for future agendas — Items identified for future agendas are the 3 -year plan and updates
on the water study and the MN DOT Landscape Partnership.
Next Meeting Date — The date of the next meeting was set for the Business Breakfast on April
24th, 2019
Adjournment — Motion by Libby, seconded by Ray, to adjourn. Motion carried. The meeting
was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Neil Soltis, Secretary