ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, September 13, 2021
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:Cenova, Frame, King, Parker, Salazar, Tanner, Templin, Zaleski

BOARD MEMBERS VIRTUAL:

Johnson, Robinson

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Bolser, Turner

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Lindsey, Mitchell

GUESTS PRESENT:Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Gilliam, Rebecca – Wayne County Foundation
St. John, Acacia – Forward Wayne County
Crist, Duane – IAW (virtual)
Emery, Millie – Hometown Media Group (virtual)

I. CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Randy Templin called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development
Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:02 p.m. on Monday, September 13, 2021.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Templin stated the minutes from the August 2, 2021 board meeting are on pages 2-4. No corrections are noted.
Motion to approve August 2nd minutes as presented by Zaleski, second by Parker. Roll call. Motion carried.
III. TREASURER’S REPORT
a. August 2021 Financial Reports
Zaleski reported we were under budget $24,111.55 MTD and under budget $110,415.27 YTD for August. Zaleski
stated there were no line items over for the month of August.
Motion to approve the August 2021 financials as presented by Frame, second by Salazar. Roll call. Motion carried.
b. 2020 Audit
Zaleski reported Jennifer North from Brady Ware presented the 2020 audit to Executive Committee. Zaleski statedeverything is in order. The only item of note was the farm rent issue from 2019 that was corrected in 2020 andthat is represented in Note 8 on page 8. Zaleski stated that with Board approval of the audit Lindsey will reach out
to North and Brady Ware to get the 990 tax return completed.
Motion to approve the 2020 Audit by King, second by Tanner. Roll call. Motion carried.
IV. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
Templin reported the audit process went well and mentioned the good work Lindsey did. Templin stated there
were 150 projects submitted for the READI call for projects for our region. He thanked Shaffer and Johnson for
their work scoring the applications. Wayne County had 18 projects and 8 have been submitted for funding
consideration. Final submission date for our plan is Sept 30. Shaffer stated that Fayette County has joined ourregion, so we now have 8 counties and they have also submitted the required $30,000. Templin stated theElement 13 project is progressing and Project Topper is looking at Hagerstown. There are 4 new attraction
projects being worked on currently. There are also 4 local expansion projects in various stages and thatinvestment may total nearly $25M.

V. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey – Lindsey reported she completed normal financial work. She stated she has worked back around to theEDC employee handbook revisions and will have the edited version ready for board approval at the Octobermeeting.
Doty – Doty reported the Marketing & Communication committee met in August. They discussed updates toHoosier Opportunity (HO) and Home in Wayne (HiW). Doty stated she is working on questions to ask of theemployers when we hold roundtables. We want to get their opinions on HO and HiW, such as how they use thesites and how they can be improved. Doty stated she met with a Richmond alum who is considering relocatingback to Richmond from Nashville. It was a great conversation and made Doty wonder if that is a target group weare missing currently with HiW.
Mitchell – Mitchell reported the wetland work in Midwest Industrial Park (MIP) will be completed in October.
She stated if we wait until then we will not have to pay for crop damage. She stated work is moving forward for
housing development. We have begun work on Find a Job Fridays and plans for National Manufacturing Day.
Shaffer – Shaffer reported it was a busy month for business development. Shaffer stated she attended a site
visit with King and others from Cambridge City for the PreservINg Main Street program. King reported it was justannounced that Cambridge City wasn’t selected for the program. The program chose Kendallville and Brookville.
Shaffer reported her work on the READI program continues. The consultant has 5 chapters of the region’s
proposal ready for review. Shaffer reports she wants to stay on top of it as the final proposal is due Sept 30.
Shaffer reported the EDC is working alongside the Chamber, Tourism, Forward Wayne County, and the Wayne
County Foundation to assist the County on the new HELP program application. This program is replacing theStellar Communities program through Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA). This program will help
communities plan on how to invest their ARPA funds. The selected communities must commit at least 30% of
their ARPA dollars to the program. OCRA will select 12 applicants and will provide $20,000 towards a community
coordinator position that will help develop a plan for spending our ARPA dollars. The OCRA match for thisprogram is $1M and $20,000 towards the county’s new position. The application is due October 1st. Shaffer
stated the County has received $12.7M in ARPA funds so this is a great way to secure additional funding. Shaffer
stated Commissioner Plasterer is taking the lead on the application and he and the other Commissioners havebeen visiting the smaller communities to seek their participation. St. John stated Economy and Hagerstown havealready committed their 30%. Frame asked about Elder Beerman development. Shaffer replied they have one
developer seriously considering the project and they are looking at securing the gap funding if the project isselected in the READI program.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Main Street Structural/Feasibility Study
Shaffer reported Forward Wayne County and the Wayne County Foundation are working on doing a studyof the feasibility of structures in the county’s Main Streets. St. John is working with the Main Street
organizations from Richmond, Centerville, Cambridge City and Hagerstown. Shaffer stated Fountain City
opted not to participate. This study will look at the structures and indicate what needs done to bring thebuildings up to code. They will also do some visual concepts. LWC Inc. and Whisenhunt Construction areworking on the project. St. John reported the outlying communities will contribute 5%, the Foundation iscontributing 10%. Richmond’s Redevelopment Commission is funding the City’s portion of $43,030.
Shaffer stated the Commissioners are asking for $76,445 from Consolidated EDIT funds for the remaining
funds. Shaffer stated the Commissioners and Council have both voted in favor of the funds being paid
from the Consolidated EDIT. Shaffer stated we have a balance of just under $3.7M in unobligatedConsolidated EDIT funds. Salazar asked where communities are getting the funding and why Richmond’sis more. Shaffer replied Richmond has TIF and the other communities have much smaller budgets.
Motion by Frame, second by Cenova to approve $76,445 from Consolidated EDIT to be paid to the Wayne
County Foundation. Roll call: King-abstain. Motion carried.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Templin adjourned the meeting at 4:45 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, October 4, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.

Roll Call Vote Tracking: 09-13-21 EDC Board Meeting
Agenda Items
Board Member
BolserCenovaFrame
JohnsonKing
ParkerRobinsonSalazarTannerTemplinTurnerZaleskiKey
1st - motion made2nd - motion seconded
Y - yes voteN - no voteA - abstainedBlank indicates absence

Minutes Financials

2020
AuditMainStreetStudyYYYY
2ndYYYYY
1stYYYY
2ndYYYYY
1stYYY
2ndY

2nd
1stYYYYYYY

1stYYY