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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-09-26 SEDA Meeting Minutes MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY HELD MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26,2016 The Springfield Economic Development Agency met in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield,Oregon on Monday September 26, 2016 at 6:34 p.m.,with Board Chair Sean VanGordon presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Board Chair Sean VanGordon, Board Vice-Chair Sheri Moore and Board Members Hillary Wylie,Marilee Woodrow,Christine Lundberg,Joe Pishioneri, and Dave Ralston. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,Attorney Mary Bridget Smith,and City Recorder Amy Sowa. Board Member Leiken was absent(excused). CONSENT CALENDAR 1. MINUTES a. Minutes of July 18,2016. IT WAS MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER RALSTON TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR.THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 7 FOR AND 0 AGAINST(1 ABSENT—LEIKEN). COMMUNICATIONS a. Business from the Audience -None b. Correspondence -None c. Business from the Staff-None REPORT OF CHAIR -None REPORT OF COMMITTEES -None PUBLIC HEARINGS -None NEW BUSINESS 1. Regional Entrepreneurship Fund Program. Courtney Griesel, Economic Development Manager, presented the staff report on this item. Staff is proposing to utilize urban renewal dollars to fund a multi-year regional grant to invest in human capital,build innovation talent, and bring new technologies to market in Lane County and, more specifically, Springfield. Urban renewal funds in an amount of$35,000 are proposed to be Springfield Economic Development Agency Minutes September 26,2016 Page 2 r) made available to firms proposing to locate within either of the Springfield urban renewal districts. These funds would be leveraged with other regional dollars to generate a total available grant fund of$230,000. Staff is proposing to collaborate with regional partners to develop an Entrepreneur Training Fund of$230,000 to be administered by Lane Workforce Partnership. The fund is intended to: • Enhance training availability to assist start up business and entrepreneurs. • Develop innovation skills needed to critically evaluate innovative business ideas;and • Build essential skills to act upon innovative ideas. Lane Workforce Partnership has agreed to act as the manager of the grant advertisement, awards and reporting. SEDA economic development staff would hold an oversight and advisory role in scoring applicants and reviewing grant recipient reporting to determine the effectiveness of the grant fund. While the full grant fund to be made available is proposed at$230,000,the Springfield funds initially pledged to the partnership would total only $35,000 of those funds to be made available in the first year. It is also proposed by staff that an additional $20,000 might be made available over the following two years should the awarded grant recipient illustrate a successful first start- up year. The total proposed financial investment by SEDA would be in the amount of$55,000 over 3 years. In order for a successful applicant to be eligible for the full $230,000, including Springfield funds,the applicant would be required to: • Physically locate in either Springfield urban renewal area, • Work with Lane County residents to develop innovative ideas, • Strengthen the private sector workforce,emphasizing increased productivity, • Work to keep Lane County businesses viable and competitive, offering new skills and opportunities; and, • Focus on training for businesses which will advance the high tech, production/manufacturing or healthcare sectors in Lane County. Regional funding partners in this grant start-up proposal include the City of Springfield,Lane Workforce Partnership,Lane County and the City of Eugene. Should the SEDA Board approve initial funding of either$35,000 for a one(1)year grant fund or $55,000 for a three(3)year grant fund,the training funds could be advertised as available as soon as October. This is the same amount of funds that had been allocated to NEDCO for the Main Street Program which was no longer active or funded.As of last week, Lane County Board of Directors approved $90,000 for this partnership. IT WAS MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER RALSTON WITH A SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER MOORE TO AUTHORIZE USE OF SPRINGFIELD URBAN RENEWAL DOLLARS TO FUND A REGIONAL GRANT,TO BE ISSUED AND MANAGED BY LANE WORKFORCE PARTNERSHIP,FOR QUALIFYING ENTREPRENEUR START- O UPS LOCATING IN EITHER SPRINGFIELD URBAN RENEWAL AREAS. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 7 FOR AND 0 AGAINST(1 ABSENT—LEIKEN). Springfield Economic Development Agency Minutes September 26,2016 Page 3 2. Intergovernmental Agreement Amendment Resolution. RESOLUTION NO. SEDA2016-08—A RESOLUTION OF THE SPRINGFIELD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY(SEDA)AUTHORIZING THE AMENDMENT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT TO ADVANCE AND REPAY FUNDS NEEDED FOR URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS. Bob Duey,Finance Director,presented the staff report on this item. Mr. Duey said this was related to the borrowing of funds for SEDA from a commercial bank. This started before the start of the calendar year when the City Council authorized the urban renewal district to spend up to $2M to purchase 4-6 parcels to put property together for a potential development. After that process was started, staff realized that in order for the property to be available to work with the developer, General Fund dollars could not be used,but would need to be purchased with urban renewal funds. In looking at the urban renewal funds available for the purchases, it became apparent that funds would need to be borrowed. A request for proposals(RFP)was sent out generating three responses from banks. The bank with the best response was the Bank of the Cascades with a rate of 3.06%. They originally asked for a 10-year amortization schedule with a 5-year early payoff. Knowing there were other things SEDA wanted to do,they didn't want to tie up all funds to repaying the loan. It was noted that the urban renewal agency only had 8 years left so they changed the schedule to 8 years, still with the 5-year payoff. The resolution before the Board directs the Finance Director to complete negotiations and sign the paperwork for the loan,and also to amend the intergovernmental agreement(IGA) between the City and SEDA. The City will see a corresponding IGA at their October 3,2016 regular meeting. Board Member Moore asked how much the City has loaned SEDA to date. Mr. Duey said at this time, SEDA does not have any loans with the City,although they owe some system development charges(SDCs). SEDA paid off all other loans a few years ago. Board Member Ralston said he thought there would have been more happening by this time when they first started the urban renewal district. They need to start getting things done over the next eight years to take advantage of urban renewal. Mr. Grimaldi said they may also want to have a discussion at some point about extending the urban renewal district. Mr. Duey said they were looking at both. Ms. Griesel said a couple of months ago the timeline showed five important processes over the next 18 months. That is a much more aggressive pace than had occurred previously. IT WAS MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER WYLIE TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. SEDA2016-08. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 7 FOR AND 0 AGAINST(1 ABSENT—LEIKEN). OLD BUSINESS -None. Springfield Economic Development Agency Minutes September 26,2016 Page 4 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:45p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa Marilee Woodrow Secretary 0