The Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority met on Tuesday morning at the Valley Technology Park in Crookston.
AUDIT BY BRADY MARTZ APPROVED
Brian Opsahl of Brady Martz and Associates went through the 2024 audit and said that when dealing with the federal government (federal housing money), the audit is a lot of work, and it is crucial to ensure everything is correct. “So, we went through the 2024 audit, where we’ve issued an unmodified opinion on the financial statements. Went through some highlights as far as some of the activity that occurred during 2024, including the change in the overall net position, as well as cash flows, etc,” said Opsahl. “I also went through some highlights within the compliance reports, which consist of the government auditing standards report and the uniform guidance or single audit report.”
Opsahl said one item of note was that the unrestricted funds balance was down $10,000. Still, overall, the audit was good. “We had an unmodified opinion on the financial statements, so that’s considered a good or a clean opinion. We had a few findings within the government auditing standards report related to us preparing the financial statements, which is very common finding for small entities. And then we had a few issues within the Section 8 voucher single audit program, which we went through and offered some ideas or suggestions for improvement in the future,” said Opsahl. “we had an unmodified opinion on the financial statements, so that’s considered a good or a clean opinion. We had a few findings within the government auditing standards report related to us preparing the financial statements, which is a very common finding for small entities. And then we had a few issues within the Section 8 voucher single audit program, which we went through and offered some ideas or suggestions for improvement in the future.”
APPROVE HIRING CONTRACTOR FOR OAK COURT APARTMENT REMODEL
The board unanimously approved hiring Voronyak Builders for the 2024 Publicly Owned Housing Program (POHP) second phase of remodeling the Oak Court Apartments. Voronyak Builders of Bertram, Minnesota, was the low bidder out of five. The bids ranged from $455,690 to $708,000. “We recommended moving forward with the low bid from Vroniak Builders. They have experience working with Ringdahl Architects and Minnesota Housing,” said Crookston Housing Director Theresa Tahran. “We will be doing the following projects: the air handler, additional sidewalks, replacing kitchen cabinets in 33 units, and replacing the handicap door handles for the main front and back door. Most of the work will probably start in the spring, just because of the weather, and we have to do a lot of due diligence with the Minnesota Housing to get the project going.”
CHILDCARE FUNDING REQUEST
The board discussed a request of $7,200 from the Childcare Fund. A property owner asked for a $7,200 grant to redo the siding on a home they will lease to a childcare provider that will operate out of the property. The childcare operator is getting a childcare provider license and hopes to be running by January. The board discussed requiring a lien for the larger monetary request because if they sell the property within a year or don’t have a daycare operating for a year, the grant would have to be repaid. The board wanted to delay a vote on moving forward on the grant until they talk with legal counsel to see the best actions to take on the lien requirement. “The request brought up some questions that the board has just about their own internal processes for approving these kinds of grants,” said CHEDA’s Taylor Wyum. “So we’ve got some work to do, just researching the best practices for granting out this money, and then we will reconsider the request at a special meeting.”
After all the details have been worked out, the board plans to have a special meeting to approve the grant request.
US EDA PUBLIC WORKS ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE GRANT
The City of Crookston has been awarded $3.3 million in a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant for infrastructure installation at the Colburn Industrial Park for a project that will cost an estimated $7.1 million. The City of Crookston’s share will be $3.8 million, and the CHEDA board approved asking the city to apply for a U.S. EDA Public Works Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant to help with the project’s cost. “The council will be considering whether to accept those funds on August 20th, so our board got an overview of the project,” said Wyum. “They’ve been aware of it before, but it was just a refresher, and they made a recommendation to the council that the council should accept the grant. So we’ll send that letter over to the council and have that for their review on October 20.”
In order to make the project happen, the City would have to bond for the project in 2026, with payments starting in 2027. The city would get a temporary bond with interest-only payments of $73,102.50 per year for the first three years, assuming the City gets the state funding. “To cover the project costs we’ll be looking at applying for additional grant funds from the state to match those federal dollars as well as looking into the possibility of bonding for project costs,” said Wyum. “And then what mechanisms can help pay back that bond payment.”
The board was told the Ag Innovation Center land is bringing in $60,000 a year in the City’s property tax revenue, and that developing the other lots is important to adding to the City’s tax rolls and could help the community in a big way. With the railroad spur being constructed in the area and the amount of interest in the properties they have seen already, it is a big opportunity for the City to grow its tax base and bring new businesses to town, which is the primary purpose of CHEDA.
The next scheduled CHEDA meeting will be on Tuesday, November 25 at 7:00 a.m. at the Valley Technology Park.