Renaissance Zone Review Board

Renaissance Zone Board Meeting Meeting minutes for March 29, 2018 Public Works Building Members Present: Pete Hugret, Terri Aldrich, Denise Lindbo, Chad Vogel Members Absent: Barry Clute, Betty Fedorchak, Brandyn Henrickson, Kelsy Holt, Kerry Candrian Others Present: Alderman Josh Wolsky, John Zakian, Lance Lang, Sue Nilson Chairman, Pet Hugret called the meeting to order at 8:31 AM. Minutes from the February 28, 2018 meeting were approved. John Zakian updated the group on the Opportunity Zone progress. The downtown census tract has been approved as Opportunity Zone eligible by the US Treasury Department CDFI Fund. The Governor has asked the federal government for a 30-day extension to the deadline for submittal of 25% of eligible tracks to be approved by the federal government as Opportunity Zones. Zakian has completed the North Dakota online application for the submittal. Once the Governor has submitted the applications, the federal government has 30 days to give final approval. Zakian is confident that the downtown Minot census tract will be included in the Governor’s submission. Community Development Entity (CDE) is a non-profit entity that must be created to manage each Opportunity Zone and such a CDE could be added to the duties of a Renaissance Zone Board Corporation that would promote redevelopment in the Ren Zone area and serve as the recipient of Opportunity Zone investments. The Renaissance Zone Board will need to become incorporated. Zakian will look into what needs to be done for that to happen. CDE will not cover the entire track of Ren Zone blocks. The Ren Zone Board meetings and the CDE meetings could take place on the same day, one right after the other to eliminate the need for the Board to get together twice. Lang suggested the City of Minot may want to start a Redevelopment Authority. Zakian stated that the only community in North Dakota that has it set up is Fargo. The Redevelopment Authority has the authority to create its own revenue and issue bonds. They have the power to acquire property and is designed to ease the burden on Cities. The program is almost identical to the TIF program. Zakian recapped last week’s meeting with IEDC (International Economic Development Council). Some of the initial findings were that the City of Minot has many different organizations but they don’t work well together. There is a lack of communication. The IEDC would like to see a coordinated development plan with Downtown being the heart of the City. The final report will be available in about two months. There is a public meeting scheduled in two weeks to inform interested multi-family property owners about CBDG-DR funds and how they work so more multi-family property owners will take advantage of the funds available through it. The current multi-family RFP now being advertised has a focus on the downtown. Main Street Initiative. John spoke to the governor’s office. The State of ND needs a statewide coordinated effort with the National Trust before cities can be fully accredited by the National Trust as a member of its Main Street Center. The state is considering such a coordinated effort as part of the Governor’s initiative. The city can still apply for Main Street designation with the National Trust but a National Trust approved state coordinated program will offer more benefits and recognition for the city. There was some discussion regarding the downtown Trinity properties. The IEDC suggested that the City of Minot take control of the Trinity properties in order to guide development. Alderman Wolsky suggested that there may be a way for the City to take control of them and still require Trinity to maintain the upkeep of the structures and get them back on the tax roll. Zakian suggested the Board take a month to review the suggested changes to the Development Plan, the addition of the blocks, and to consider asking for a 15-year extension before voting on the changes next month. Zakian also suggested that the Board consider examining the structure of the board regarding the number of members and who the members of the Board should be to be sure that it has the right members on it prior to creating a corporation. The Board discussed the current logo that contains a website. The Public Information officer will be contacted to create a page for that website address. A property owner has been in contact with Zakian regarding a possible new Ren Zone application for a couple of buildings downtown. Meeting adjourned 9:25 AM.