ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, January 11, 2021
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

Bolser, Cenova, Frame, Johnson, King, Parker, Robinson, Salazar, Tanner,Templin

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Turner, Zaleski

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Lindsey, Mitchell

GUESTS PRESENT:

Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Butters, Mary Anne – Wayne County Commissioner
Crist, Duane – Indiana American Water

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, January 11, 2021 via Zoom meeting.
II. INTRODUCTION OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS
Templin reported we have two new board members, Peggy Cenova and Sherrilyn Johnson were both appointed
by the Wayne County Commissioners. Cenova state that she is the Regional Director for the Indiana Small
Business Development Center and is from Hagerstown. Johnson stated that she is the Plant Manager at Hills Pet
Nutrition and relocated to Richmond five years ago.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Templin stated the minutes from the December 7, 2020 board meeting were on pages 2-5. There are nocorrections noted.
Motion to approve December 7th minutes as presented by King, second by Parker. Cenova and Johnson abstained.
Motion carried.
IV. TREASURER’S REPORT
a. December 2020 Financials Report
Lindsey reported we were over budget by $17,856.96 MTD and under budget by $88364.08 YTD for
December. Lindsey indicated year end contracts being paid and work in Midwest Industrial Park (MIP)
caused the overage.
Motion to approve the December 2020 financials as presented by King, second by Parker. Motion carried.
b. Encumbrances
Shaffer reported there are no new encumbrances for 2021. We are retaining one encumbrance from 2020in the amount of $1,742.00 to cover printing of the Home in Wayne (Hiw) viewbook.
c. Proposed Transfers
Shaffer indicated it is inevitable we will be over budget in some categories. She reported there are fourtransfers to be completed to balance year-end line items. Under the EDC’s new contract with theCounty, transfers within the 1000 category must be approved by Council and transfers above $5,000.00
must be approved by the Commissioners. $424.66 from 1367-Health Insurance to 1369-Long-Term
Disability was approved by Wayne County Council last week and $10,203.29 from 3323-Travel, Lodging& Meals to 3320-Contractual/Professional Services was approved by the Commissioners last week. TheEDC board needs to approve a transfer of $9.81 from 2215-Equipment Supplies to 2228-Computer Parts
and $405.99 from 4440-Office Equipment to 4445-Office Equipment-Computers Equipment.
Motion to approve the transfers of $9.81 from Equipment Supplies to Computer Parts and $405.99 fromOffice Equipment to Office Equipment-Computer Equipment by Cenova, second by Robinson. Motioncarried.
d. 2020 Funds to be returned to Consolidated EDIT Fund
Shaffer remined the board that we return our unused funds at year-end to the Consolidated EDIT Fund.
We begin the year with our 2021 budget amount. Shaffer indicated we will be returning $88,497.28 tothe Consolidated EDIT Fund for 2020.
Motion to return $88,497.28 from 2020 budget to the Consolidated EDIT Fund by King, second by Parker.
Motion carried.
V. COMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Executive Committee
Templin reported the Executive Committee met January 7th. Valerie will be covering most items
discussed in her staff report. Templin stated that the Town of Milton has asked our help to sell a buildingfor demolition. George Sowers is working on the project and we will have more to report in February.
VI. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey – Lindsey reported she completed normal work. Worked on completion of year-end financials andcreation of 2021 financial files. Worked on Project Vidar with Valerie.
Doty – Doty reported the marketing Committee met on Dec 3rd. The HiW viewbook is ready for printing. Doty
stated we are waiting on verification of one exciting picture. If we can secure the picture, she will reveal atFebruary’s meeting. East Central Indiana Regional Partnership (ECIRP) distributes the Livability magazine eachyear. The EDC partners with Wayne County Tourism on this project. This markets to site selectors and focuses onquality of life. The EDC will have an advertorial in the magazine which will read like an article. The advertorial
will discuss how the Wayne County community pivoted during COVID-19 and features Primex Plastics andCommunities in Schools. Doty stated that she and Shaffer are working with Ady Voltedge to do an audit of ourcommunication process and to help with marketing HiW outside of Wayne County. This project is being fundedwith a $9,500.00 credit the EDC has with Ady as we incurred no travel fees through the strategic plan process.
Doty reported we will begin a photo of the week contest in 2021 using #homeinwayne. This will be used as apromotional tool for HiW and the photos will be used to create the group we select from for the second
viewbook. Doty reported she has been working with a great group of people for the mask up campaign. This is acollaboration of City and County and is using CARES Act dollars for the radio and billboard advertising. Doty
indicated Hoosier Opportunity marketing is working as usage of the website is increasing.
Mitchell – Mitchell discussed the wetland problems for expansion of the Midwest Industrial Park (MIP) to loop
in the new board members. Mitchell reported work by Reynolds Service Tech to mitigate wetlands 2,5,6,7 will
begin Monday. Little River is continuing work on reclassifying wetlands 3,4,8,9 and the ditch and is hopeful it will
be complete in 60-90 days so we can then work on mitigation of those areas. Mitchell stated we will be looking
at repair of the dam and some additional field tiles. Mitchell indicated once these projects are complete theparcels will be level and ready for development. Soil borings will need to be completed at that time. Mitchellstated the Richmond Sanitary District is still completing the flow monitoring study of MIP to see what existing
capacity remains. Once complete, this will give us a good idea of capacity for Phase I and Phase II of the MIP andwill help determine expansion possibilities. Mitchell reported that Grella Partners continues work, on behalf of
the City of Richmond, to applying for the EDA grant to widen a 1-mile stretch of Gaar-Jackson Rd. Mitchell
reported that in the Gateway Industrial Park (GIP), Sugar Creek’s expansion project was approved by the EDC’sIndustrial Park Committee. She stated they will use the same split face block and the expansion will complement
the existing structure. Shaffer indicated that the EDC’s Industrial Park Committee is the oversight for renovation

plans or new development in both MIP and GIP. Mitchell reported the Industrial Park committee’s 2021 priority
projects have been determined and will include looking at the 9/10 acres tract of forested area in MIP to assesscost to clear. Further expansion of the MIP will be evaluated after the sewer study is complete. Mitchellindicated she had continued conversations with housing developers and reported ongoing work with TPMA for
Opportunity Zone development.
Shaffer – Shaffer reported she was able to secure approval from all four funding partners to convert the unused
funds from the COVID-19 loan program to the rent/mortgage subsidy program to help local restaurants. We arestill waiting for the MOU for the County from the City Attorney. Shaffer indicated we are close to launch of theprogram. The application will be on the EDC website’s COVID-19 resource page and Shaffer along with MaryWalker from Wayne County Tourism and Melissa Vance with Wayne County Chamber will be phoning locallyowned restaurants to explain the program. Shaffer reported OCRA will be doing a 3rd round of funding to help
communities. Richmond, Hagerstown, and Fountain City were all funded previously. The program is open to new
applicants and prior recipients. Shaffer is working with communities to try and coordinate who is requestingfunding and for what purpose. The county will be applying for $250,000. Shaffer stated we need to hire a grantwriter. The program allows for 2.5% for grant administration and the fees charged by the grant writer are$2000.00 more. Shaffer would like to get board approval for the additional funds from Consolidated EDIT.
Motion to approve $2,000.00 from Consolidated EDIT for OCRA grant administration by Templin, second by Frame.
Motion carried.
Shaffer reported she is continuing work on BRE 2004 and BRE 2005 which are both local expansion projects.
Shaffer stated the next step for the Elder Beerman property is a site visit. We are working with TPMA and hopeto have a five-developer meeting. Shaffer stated she had been attending town council meetings for communities
that contribute ½ of their EDIT funding to the Consolidated EDIT fund. She updated them on the EDC’s work andwill have the final list of towns that opted to participate for an additional four years at the February meeting.
Shaffer reported she is on the board of the IEDC and will be able to update our board on legislative issues
pertaining to economic development. participated, virtually, in the Power Partners conference with Dallas-basedsite selection consultants and brokers. Mindy Kenworthy with ECIRP asked Shaffer to fill in as she was unable toparticipate. Shaffer indicated this conference allowed her to show what we have to offer and hopes we will havesome leads generated because of her participation.
VII. OTHER BUSINESS
a. First Merchants Trust Resolutions
Shaffer reported we have the First Merchants Resolutions which certify our 403B plan year-end. Theyshows the EDC contributes 5% of each employee’s salary to the 403B, regardless of the employee’s
participation, and states the EDC provides no matching funds.
Motion to approve First Merchants Resolutions for plan year ending December 31, 2020 funds by Parker,second by Bolser. Motion carried.
b. Webb & Associates Engagement Letter
Shaffer reported we have the engagement letter for Webb & Associates for 2021. Their accountant comes
monthly to verify Lindsey’s work and run the monthly financials. The fee will be increasing from $95.00 per
hour to $100.00 per hour for 2021.
Motion to approve Webb & Associates Engagement Letter for 2021 by Salazar, second by Templin. Motioncarried.
c. Brady Ware Engagement Letter
Shaffer reported Brady Ware performs the EDC’s annual audit and prepares the 990-tax return. Jennifer
North is our accountant through them and has handled the EDC’s audit for many years, including with her
previous firm. The fee for 2019 was $6500.00 and the fee for 2021 will be $6650.00.
Motion to approve Brady Ware Engagement Letter for Audit and 990 Tax Return for year ending
December 31, 2020 funds by Tanner, second by King. Motion carried.

d. Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Agreement
Shaffer stated that all EDC staff and board members are required to complete a new Conflict of Interest
Agreement and Confidentiality Notice. Lindsey has sent the required paperwork in a separate email andShaffer asks the board to please complete and return to Lindsey.
e. 2021 Meeting Schedule
Shaffer stated the EDC 2021 meeting schedule is the last page of the packet. Once committee appointments
are finalized, Lindsey will send calendar invitations to all committee members.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Templin adjourned the meeting at 5:03 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, February 1, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.