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Mr. Stauffacher confirmed that he could get that information to staff to provide to Member Howell. <br />Motion by Member Johnson, seconded by Member Lindahl, to recommend to City Council to <br />implement a 3% Lodging Tax and to join the Twin Cities Gateway Visitors Bureau. <br />Motion carried. Voting Yes: Members Johnson, Lindahl, MacLennan, and Riley. Voting No: <br />Acting Chairperson Stewart. Absent: Chairperson Wiyninger. Abstain: Member Howell. <br />4.03: Consider Recommendation for Approval of 2025 EDA Budget <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan presented the staff report. <br />Member Riley commented that he is fine with the number. He referenced the RALF properties <br />and asked if there would be expenses in excess of the rent collected. <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan commented that the properties would need to be <br />marketed for sale and there would be associated costs. He noted that may or may not come to <br />fruition in 2025, but wanted to plan appropriately. He stated that the rent collected on RALF <br />properties can be used for administration and anything above that needs to be returned to the RALF <br />fund. He did not believe that marketing would be a cost that could be an eligible expense for the <br />RALF funds. He confirmed that he can look into that to determine eligibility. <br />Acting Chairperson Stewart commented that she is a little bummed that the decrease is only 1.1 <br />percent, which was a result of reduced training dollars, and would like to see that decrease more <br />in the future. <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan confirmed that after the initial training is completed, <br />recertification is a much lesser cost. He noted that marketing seems to be at an appropriate level <br />currently. He did not anticipate that there would be a larger decrease to the budget in the future, <br />providing more details on expenses that arise such as the SAC/WAC loan program for restaurants. <br />Motion by Member Johnson, seconded by Member MacLennan, to adopt the proposed 2025 <br />Budget and Levy as presented. <br />Motion carried. Voting Yes: Acting Chairperson Stewart, Members Johnson, MacLennan, <br />Howell, Lindahl, and Riley. Voting No: None. Absent: Chairperson Wiyninger. <br />4.04: Old Town Hall Discussion — 50th Anniversary — Renovation Quotes — Next Steps <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan presented the staff report. <br />Member Howell commented that there is one historical building, and it would be nice to have that <br />fixed up rather than have it sit and continue to deteriorate. She stated that her initial thought was <br />to hold park and recreation programing in there, but there did not seem to be an appetite for that, <br />so the direction from the Council was to bring it to the EDA. <br />Economic Development Authority/ August 8, 2024 <br />Page 4 of 7 <br />