The impact on the foreign trade zone of the joint annexation plan between Ranier and Koochiching County was again the topic of conversation at the Koochiching Economic Development Authority Board meeting Wednesday.
“Can’t you still feel the love in the room?” KEDA board Chair Wade Pavleck quipped as the meeting began, referencing his comment from yesterday’s Koochiching County Board joint meeting with the International Falls City Council.
But sides were quickly taken on the annexation issue by several members of the KEDA board who represent the two bodies.
“We won’t lose control of the area,” Pavleck, who represents the county board on the KEDA board, promised about the FTZ and also the City Beach, noting other projects with similar considerations.
Falls city councilors and KEDA board members Tim “Chopper” McBride and Gail Rognerud noted the city’s considerable investment in the FTZ and wanted to ensure the area would continue in its current direction.
Rognerud said that she wanted Ranier to “go back and annex what you said you would,” referring to the Jameson and French additions.
In response to a question about making more “doughnut holes” in the area to be annexed, Pavleck responded that the best plan would be for the city of Ranier to collect the property taxes generated in the annexation area and not remove pieces from it.
“To tell them we’re excluding areas doesn’t make sense,” Pavleck said.
McBride mentioned an idea that would put the FTZ under the Planning and Zoning Commission, protecting its current status.
Pavleck said that he could be made to agree to that plan, but Rognerud said that she doesn’t see the Falls City Council removing its opposition.
KEDA board member Mike Hanson urged McBride to contact the state agency handling the annexation, the Office of Administrative Hearings, to find precedent with similar issues in other communities.
McBride responded that he was going to “push hard to get rid of this (FTZ/City Beach issue) and make my constituents happy.”
Before the FTZ discussion, KEDA Director Paul Nevanen said he was “encouraged” by progress made at the joint meeting yesterday; but he warned that internal conflict among the governments could discourage businesses looking at this area.
“It’s in everybody’s interest to resolve these issues,” Nevanen said. “The key to all of this is communication.”
During the FTZ discussion, Nevanen also asked to be invited to meetings where the zone was discussed since the KEDA is the grantee of the area and decisions might directly impact his organization.
Pavleck summed up the issue by reminding the board that, “we’re all pushing in the same direction.”
Meanwhile, Nevanen told the board that he hopes to have the FTZ site shovel-ready by spring. He also continues to work with Dave Serrano, of Arro of the North, on the location’s site plan.
Nevanen also said that he is working on the final chapters of the feasibility study for the Renewable Energy Clean Air Project plasma gasification facility. KEDA is also working with Sen. Tom Saxhaug’s office to introduce modified language in the coming Legislative session that would allow the group to use portions of the bonding money to match federal funds.
A representative of Coronal, the company working with the KEDA on RECAP, met with representatives of the Occupational Development Center and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to discuss how they could become involved in the project. Nevanen said that he foresees the ODC workers having a role in the facility, and that MNSCU would work to develop a curriculum for their schools to train students in the gasification facility’s processes.
KEDA board news notes
• The Koochiching Economic Development Authority on Wednesday did not review the 2008 audit report from the firm handling the audit, Walker, Giroux and Hahne. That report was delayed and is now scheduled to be reviewed during the October meeting.
• KEDA board member Tim “Chopper” McBride told the group that he and his brother, Koochiching County Commissioner Brian McBride, would discuss an early October date for the previously scheduled joint International Falls/Koochiching County meeting, which had to be rescheduled due to conflicts.
• KEDA Director Paul Nevanen noted that he had visited the Backus Community Center office location and said that he would like to hold a future KEDA board meeting at Backus to review the office space. Board chair Wade Pavleck said that it was a good idea for the board to sit down with representatives of Backus.
• Nevanen also added that the KEDA could become involved in the Minnesota Chamber and Pohlad Foundation’s “Get Ready to Grow” program, in conjunction locally with the International Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, which would loan money to local businesses to help with employee retention. Local funds would be matched by the Pohlad Foundation. The board would need to vote on the issue to move forward with the loan.
• The Cold Weather Testing Facility is nearly ready for the next season of use, according to Nevanen, and the facility is booked full from November through March.
• During a discussion about updates to KEDA Web site content and using Google analytics to track where users are coming from, Pavleck asked about the privacy and security of confidential information coming to the KEDA and Small Business Development Center if the tracking information was available.
