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eDA MEETING MINUTES 1/11/2023

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OLIVIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MINUTES
Wednesday, January 11, 2023

CALL TO ORDER AND DETERMINMATION OF A QUORUM
The regular meeting of the EDA was called to order by Chair Baumgartner at 12: 03 P.M. at the
Olivia City Council Chambers.
Members Present: Cathy Baumgartner, Chuck Brown, Steve Dirks, George Ebbers, Michelle
Hanson and Jon Hawkinson
Staff Present: Susie Lang, EDA Director; Marissa Castillo, Planning and Zoning Administrator
Others Present: Aaron Walton, City Attorney
AGENDA ADDITIONS/APPROVAL
Motion by Ebbers, second by Dirks: to approve the agenda as submitted. Motion passes
unanimously.
MINUTES OF THE December 21, 2022 MEETING
Motion by Brown, second by Hanson: to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of December
21, 2022. Motion passes unanimously.
Election of Executive Board Members
Motion by Brown, second by Dirks: To approve Cathy Baumgartner as the EDA Chair and Tom
McDonnell as the Vice-Chair for 2023. Motion passes unanimously.
Election of Loan Committee and Tourism Representatives
Motion by Dirks second by Hanson: To approve Jon Hawkinson as the EDA Representative on
both the Loan and Tourism Committees. Motion passes unanimously.
Election of Property Committee and Development Committee Members
Motion by Hawkinson second by Hanson: To keep the committee members the same for 2023
with Brown, Baumgartner & McDonnell on the Property Committee and Brown, Dirks and
McDonnell on the Development Committee.
Open Meeting Law Review
City Attorney Walton provided an overview of the Open Meeting Statute. Examples of items to
keep in mind and to avoid doing were provided including not using the Reply All feature in
emails, not having serial meeting (the same but separate conversations with all board
members) and a reminder to disperse promptly after meetings.
Southwest MN Housing Partnership Technical Assistance Proposal
Lang shared that the County HRA/EDA has entered into an agreement with the Southwest
Minnesota Housing Partnership (SWMHP) where the partnership will help provide assistance to
the county, to begin addressing the housing shortages in the area. The 1,400 housing units that
the county is short, was confirmed during a county wide housing study that was completed just
2 years ago. Each community has the opportunity for an intensive half day workshop with the
SWMHP for $2,000. Many questions were raised including; what do we get for the $2,000, how
do they define stakeholders, will the HRA/EDA share what they learn with the communities,
what communities are doing the half day workshop, does the workshop get more extensive
than the worksheets provided, does our comp plan cover most of this. Lang will get answers to
the questions. No action was taken, the item died due to a lack of motion.
Updates & Related Items
Lang shared that she and Jordan Zeller are working together to restart Business Retention &
Expansion visits with Olivia Businesses. Hawkinson and Hanson volunteered to be part of the
visits. Hanson share that Steve Elfering will be hosting an event to debut the new floor plans,
finishes and connect interested parties with Niche Artisan Homes. This event will be at 1:30 pm
on Friday, January 20th at FM BANK in Olivia. Lang shared that there has been and will be
additional work done to the heaters in the warehouse at K&M. There was another sewer gas
issue at Bayberry during the blizzard like conditions, Julson Plumbing and Heating is exploring
options to remedy this in the future. Staff also thanked Baumgartner and Sue Hilgert for
presenting at the City Council meeting. The City Council approved the requested forgiveness of
$214,306.57 in past funding from the Electric Department to cover costs associated with
Fairview Place. Lastly Staff shared that at the Council meeting the sale to Chrysler had been
mentioned. Lang will work with Mary Ipple who provides Bond Council, to see what steps can
be taken to move the process along while still protecting the Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
portion of the project. 2023 Goals were discussed as well, priorities that were mentioned
included housing fix-up funds, infrastructure funds for future development, home development
(spec homes), acquire properties and removal of blight, sale of Bayberry Court, promotion of
the area in partnership with the Chamber. The Board will continue to outline their priorities and
goals for 2023. Hawkinson reminded the board that the Chamber is looking for new members
and they typically meet on the third Wednesday of the month.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion by Dirks second by Ebbers: to adjourn the meeting at 1:05 P.M. Motion passed
unanimously.
Submitted by,
Susie Lang

City of Olivia has declared a snow emergency from 11am Sunday March 24th to 3pm Wednesday March 27th.
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