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Economic Development Authority Page 4 <br />July 15, 2019 <br />----------------------------- <br /> <br />Commissioner Westgaard stated some of the money in the wetland bank may be <br />needed for Active Elk River development. <br /> <br />Commissioner Blesener clarified that this strategic plan would only be for the EDA <br />and not the entire city. <br /> <br />Commissioner Ovall felt it was important that a strategic plan was created and <br />supported shifting money into completing it. <br /> <br />Vice President Wagner asked Ms. Othoudt about a reasonable expectation on the <br />cost of a strategic plan. <br /> <br />Ms. Othoudt felt that $50,000 was a good amount to obtain something that had long <br />term benefits. <br /> <br />Vice President Wagner asked about firms in the Minneapolis area that did these <br />strategic plans. <br /> <br />Ms. Othoudt suggested having a site selector company do the plan because they are <br />in tune to the marketing. The plan should include getting community input. <br /> <br />The commission determined to leave do a strategic plan every five years and leave <br />the $10,000 in the budget to pay for a future plan. This plan would be paid for with a <br />one-time funding from the reserves. <br /> <br />Ms. Othoudt will go out for proposals from companies who can complete a strategic <br />plan. <br /> <br /> Vice President Wagner felt the commission did not need to revise their goals. <br /> <br />Commissioner Westgaard asked about the budget item for legal fees. He feels past <br />years trends have been higher and doesn’t want to undercut our budget. <br /> <br />Vice President Wagner suggested averaging out the past three years and making it <br />$6,000. <br /> <br />Vice President Wagner questioned the line item on the budget for International <br />Economic Development Council (IEDC) certification. How does this training <br />benefit staff and the city? <br /> <br />Commissioner Ovall asked if the EDA is the deciding factor in approving training <br />requests or does the city also approve training requests. He would recommend some <br />sort of formal documentation be submitted after training to outline how the training <br />has benefited the staff member and the EDA. <br /> <br /> <br />