ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, August 5, 2024

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:Bolser, Cenova, Fennimore, Foster, Johnson, King, Robinson,
VanDerBurgt, Zaleski

BOARD MEMBERS VIRTUAL:

Tanner, Turner

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

GaddisSTAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Fisher, Doty, Lindsey, Mitchell

GUESTS PRESENT:

George Sowers– EDC Counsel
Brad Dwenger – Wayne County Commissioner
Millie Emery – Western Wayne News
Kim Thurlow – Ivy Tech Community College

1. CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Pete Zaleski called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development Corporationof Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:00 p.m. on August 5, 2024.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. 2024 June Minutes
Zaleski stated the minutes from the June 3 board meeting need to be reviewed and approved.
No corrections were noted.
Motion to approve June 3, 2024, minutes as presented by King and seconded by Foster. Cenova
and Fennimore abstained as they were not present during June’s meeting. Roll call.
Motion carried.
3. TREASURER’S REPORTa. 2024 June Financial Reports
King reviewed the June Income Statement for the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County,
IN and reported the EDC was under budget $23,919.64 for the month and under $39,903.25 YTD. The EDC
was under budget $530.63 for 3323 Travel Lodging and Meals, over budget $525.33 for 3342 InsuranceWorker’s Compensation, and over $821 for 3349 Insurance-General. All accounts should be within budget
by year end.
b. 2024 July Financial Reports
King also reviewed the July Income Statement for the Economic Development Corporation of WayneCounty, IN and reported the EDC was $13,850.41 under budget for the month, and under YTD by$53,753.66. Item 3346 Insurance-Liability is over budget for July $1,697 due to paying our annual premium,and 3389 Staff Education & Training is over $1,703.33. Shaffer explained this overage is due to conference
fees for her to attend the Women in Economic Development Forum and stated the EDC will be reimbursedby Hoosier Energy for these charges.
Motion to approve June and July financials as presented by Johnson and seconded by Robinson. Roll Call.
Motion carried.

c. 2025 Budget
Shaffer shared the 2025 Budget Draft during our board meeting and will present to County Council on
August 7, 2024. She stated our Personal Services increased approximately $25,000 and we have one
member of our staff changing from exempt to hourly non-exempt based on the Indiana Department ofLabor’s new regulations. We have allotted $2,000 in overtime for this employee and removed the $2,000
from our budget for an intern. She reviewed the 2024 Budget vs. 2025 Budget noting changes throughout
her presentation. We were advised to budget for a 15% increase in employee health benefits last year, butrates only increased by 4%, therefore we calculated this year’s expected 15% increase based on 2024 actualrates. Supplies decreased while Other Services and Charges increased slightly. Communication &Transportation was increased due to a possible trip to Japan in 2025 and we increased Advertising & PR by$5,000 for planned updates on EDC and Home in Wayne websites in 2025. Our projected 2025 budget
increased by 3.5% over 2024.
Motion was made to the Board to approve the 2025 Budget Estimate as presented by Johnson, seconded
by Bolser. Roll Call.
Motion carried.
4. CHAIR’S REPORTZaleski said the EDC received the new 4-year lease agreement from Better Homes and Gardens for office space. He
stated the agreement includes taxes, utilities, etc. Shaffer said the increase is $140 per month or an annual increaseof $1,680. We are still in the discussion phase with Better Homes and Gardens. Zaleski reported Earlham College
has asked the EDC to be a subrecipient for a portion of their Revitalize Richmond grant from Lilly for a project witha private developer. He said there is a fee in the contract for the EDC to cover our overhead expenses. Shaffer thenreported that agreements are being created between the EDC and Earlham, between the EDC and the developer,and between the City of Richmond and the developer. Shaffer said she has discussed the agreements with Sowers,
and we are continuing to work out the details. More details will be brought to the board in the coming months.
Zaleski then shared that the Smith Hill Housing Development rezoning is going before the City Council tonight.
Shaffer stated some of the changes include 110 townhouses replacing the apartments and childcare facilities thathave been removed from this project. Lastly, he reported that Shaffer and a few of our board members will bevisiting the participating EDIT communities along with the non-participating communities over the coming months
regarding their contributions to the Consolidated EDIT Fund in 2025-2028.
5. EDC STAFF REPORTS FOR JULY
Doty stated IronGate will have design options on the Home in Wayne brand strategy for us to review and approveby the end of August.
Mitchell reported we held our pre-bid farm lease meeting this week for undeveloped property in the Midwest
Industrial Park for the calendar years 2025-2028. We had 5 farmers attend and the meeting went well. She also
reported we have 44 properties approved for the Wayne County Blight Program. She will be working with thescoring committee to score 55 applications for the HELP Downtown Revitalization Grant Program.
Shaffer reported applications for READI 2.0 funding closed on August 2, and the local scoring committee consistsof Acacia St. John, Jeff Plasterer, Mayor Ron Oler, Beth Leisure, and herself. This committee will move the top 5Wayne County projects forward to the region for review and scoring. The top ranked regional projects will thenmove forward to the IEDC for funding consideration. She and Mitchell hosted a site visit for the Project Route, amanufacturer seeking 20 acres of land with rail access. They toured two sites in the Midwest Industrial Park. She
also reported that Lindsey has been working with Project Lightning who is looking to invest $17M and create new30 jobs.

6. OTHER BUSINESSa. JumpStart Contract
Lindsey said JumpStart did not receive a TRAC grant from our regional coalition however, Ball State University
has funds available to issue a reimbursable grant in the amount of $9,260. The EDC Executive Committee
agreed the EDC could use the funds from our Grant Administration account to cover the initial costs;
Ball State will then reimburse EDC. She reported Eastern Indiana Works conducted the JumpStart training,
and we had 7 participants who passed this training, 6 of those will be working at the new Hagerstown
childcare facility. We will follow-up in the future with the Hagerstown childcare facility to see if theseparticipants are still working for them. We are planning a 2nd cohort for September 17-19, 2024.
Motion by Johnson and seconded by Cenova to approve the JumpStart Contract and authorize the use of EDC
Grant Administrating funds initially with the understanding Ball State University will reimburse us in an
amount up to $9,260. Roll call.
Motion carried.
b. Wayne County Blight Program Inspection Contract
Mitchell reviewed the contract from Heartland Environmental Associates Inc. which includes asbestos
building inspection activities to be conducted on approximately 40 properties in Wayne County approved for
the Wayne County Blight Program. She stated that Heartland understands the 40 properties will be subjectto demolition, but there may be a few more added. Heartland has agreed to $700 per property for 40
properties for a cost $28,000 with the possibility of having 4 additional properties for a grand total of$30,800.
Motion by Cenova and seconded by Foster to approve the Heartland Environmental Associates, Inc. contract
for the Wayne County Blight Program. Roll call.
Motion carried.
c. Real Estate Resolution
Shaffer said the City of Richmond asked the EDC to be a conduit and pass-through between theCity of Richmond and the end user to lease a property located at 2153 Williamsburg Pike. Sowers said theboard’s approval will allow Shaffer to enter into the lease agreements and any net proceeds will be
forwarded to the City of Richmond.
7. ADJOURNMENT
Zaleski adjourned the meeting at 4:35 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, September 9, at 4:00 p.m.