ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, February 1, 2021
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

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

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Lindsey, Mitchell

GUESTS PRESENT:

Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Butters, Mary Anne – Wayne County Commissioner
Crist, Duane – Indiana American Water
Emery, Mike – Palladium-Item
McLane, Brenda – Hometown Media Group

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 4:01 p.m. on Monday, February 1, 2021 via Zoom meeting.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Templin stated the minutes from the January 11, 2021 board meeting were on pages 2-5. There are no corrections
noted.
Motion to approve January 11th minutes as presented by Parker, second by Salazar. Motion carried.
III. TREASURER’S REPORT
a. January 2021 Financials Report
Zaleski reported we were over budget by $3,707.38 MTD and over budget by $3,707.38 YTD for January.
Zaleski stated double payments for health and disability insurance and yearly contracts for pooledmarketing for Hoosier Opportunity caused the overage for this month, but it will even out.
Motion to approve the January 2021 financials as presented by King, second by Tanner. Motion carried.
IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Executive Committee
Bolser reported the Executive Committee met January 28th. Valerie will have an update on theRestaurant Subsidy Program. We will have developer visits this week for the Elder Beerman project.
Wayne County is looking at creating a Housing Committee that the EDC will oversee. The committee will
be made up of community members, not EDC board members. King asked about Main Street groups andShaffer indicated they will be invited to participate periodically.
V. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey – Lindsey reported she completed normal work. Year-end financials are complete and 1099s and Form
1096 have been mailed. Business Entity report has been submitted. First quarter Cost of Living Index (COLI) has
been completed and submitted. Discussion about the report. Shaffer indicated we will share some additional
information with the board about the COLI findings.

Doty – Doty reported we have acquired a photo and quote from Desmond Bane to add to the Home in Wayne(HiW) viewbook. They have been placed at the end of the book and it is ready for printing. Doty indicated shelaunched the Restaurant Subsidy Program on social media. East Central Indiana Regional Partnership (ECIRP)
distributes the Livability magazine each year. The past four years, the EDC placed an ad in the magazine. Thisyear we are doing an advertorial featuring Primex Plastics and Communities in Schools response to COVID-19.
Doty feels this will help our community stand out in the magazine. Doty reported the photo of the week contest
is kicking off. She reminded the contest will be used as a promotional tool for HiW. We will seek permissions forthe photos to use them for marketing and they will create the photos we select from for the second viewbook.
Doty reported the story Louise Ronald wrote featuring Cambridge City is on social media. Doty indicated Ronald
will be writing stories on each of the communities and Centerville will be next. Shaffer reported that Brenda
McLane agreed to feature the stories in the Western Wayne News.
Mitchell – Mitchell reported work by Reynolds Service Tech to repair field tiles to mitigate wetlands 2,5,6,7 hasstarted. She met with Tom Hutchings, who farms the ground, and Jeremy Reynolds to discuss the 7 to 10
depression areas and possible repairs. Mitchell is happy to report the reclassification of wetlands 3,4,8,9 and theditch is complete. They are under state jurisdiction now and it will be easier for us to evaluate mitigation andremediation of those areas. Mitchell stated wetlands 3 and 4 are currently owned by Vandor but we will belooking at possible repair down the road. Mitchell stated she met with Elijah Welch of the Richmond SanitaryDistrict and reported they are still completing the flow monitoring study of Midwest Industrial Park (MIP) to see
what existing capacity remains. Once complete, this will give us a good idea of capacity for Phase I and Phase IIof the MIP and will help determine expansion possibilities. The Industrial Park committee is evaluating the 2021
priority projects.
Shaffer – Shaffer reported we have received 6 applications for the Restaurant Subsidy Program. Shaffer alongwith Mary Walker with Wayne County Tourism and Melissa Vance with the Wayne County Chamber will bereaching out to locally owned restaurants to make sure they are aware of the program. Shaffer reported OCRA
will be doing a 3rd round of funding to help communities. Wayne County will be applying for $250,000 aimed atgrants for small businesses. The City of Richmond and Cambridge City are also applying for funding. We arecoordinating who is requesting funding and for what purpose, so we make sure we get the maximum funding
available for Wayne County. Shaffer reported she is working with a local tool shop looking to invest $1M. They
are looking at the EDIT Grant Application now. Shaffer stated work continues for two local expansion projects.
Shaffer reported we have two site visits scheduled next week with potential developers for downtown including
looking at the former Elder Beerman property. The annual Wage & Benefit Survey has been completed and we
had a record 189 businesses from the region participate this year. Shaffer reported East Central Indiana has
been designated as the State’s 10th 21st Century Talent Region. This fits with the momentum from Forward
Wayne County to increase population and raise the median income.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Patriot Engineering Proposal
Shaffer reported Patriot Engineering has previously completed geotechnical work in MIP but there was a52-acre area that they could not access at the time. There is now access so we would like to have Patriot
back to conduct additional borings in that area. It is advantageous for us to have some complete for eacharea to market. She would like support to pay for six borings from Contractual/Professional Services.
Motion to approve Patriot Engineering Proposal for six borings to be completed in Midwest Industrial
Park by Parker, second by Bolser. Motion carried.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Templin adjourned the meeting at 5:03 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, March 1, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.