ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, May 3, 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
Warner, Bob – former EDC Board Chair
Oler, Ronald – Richmond Common Council
Saunders, Gary – Wayne County Council
Thurlow, Kim – Ivy Tech Community CollegeCrist, Duane – Indiana American Water
Emery, Millie – Hometown Media Group

I. CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Randy Templin called the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development
Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:02 p.m. on Monday, May 3, 2021 via Zoom meeting.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Templin stated the minutes from the March 18, 2021, special board meeting was on page 2. There are nocorrections noted.
Motion to approve March 18th minutes as presented by Bolser, second by Turner. Motion carried.
Templin stated the minutes from the April 5, 2021 board meeting were on pages 3-5. There are no corrections
noted.
Motion to approve April 5th minutes as presented by Parker, second by Johnson. Motion carried.
III. TREASURER’S REPORTa. April 2021 Financials Report
Zaleski reported we were under budget by $16,812.94 MTD and under budget by $43,831.68 YTD for April.
Zaleski stated 3362-Maintenance & Repair Equipment and 3389-Staff Education are over for this month
but will even out by year-end.
Motion to approve the April 2021 financials as presented by King, second by Bolser. Motion carried.
IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS
Executive Committee
Templin reported the Executive Committee met April 22nd. The tax abatement program is considering
raising the minimum wage requirement to $14 or $15 per hour. We will need to review our wage
threshold for the EDIT grant applications as changes occur. We discussed the OCRA Round 3 Grant
Program and Val will have more information on that in her report. Broadband survey results are in andPurdue was pleased with our area’s participation rate. The survey showed a lot of people are using theircell phone hot spots for service. It also showed that the NE and SE areas of the county are underserved.
County will be reviewing results as they have state and federal funding for infrastructure. Templin thenreported there has been some interest in the Elder Beerman property and asked Val for an update.
Shaffer indicated there is developer interest, projects may use the existing structure or demolish anduse as a development pad. We are waiting on the Tracey Cross housing study for them to be able tocomplete numbers. Templin stated funding from the American Rescue Plan will be coming to Wayne
County. Commissioners are considering infrastructure needs including sewer, water, and broadband.
Shaffer stated the READI program allows each region to establish itself and there will be lots of work
ahead planning for use of the funds.
V. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey – Lindsey reported she completed normal financial work. She stated she completed work for the OEDA
Basic Economic Development course. COLI survey for the 2nd quarter was completed this month. Lindsey workedon the Strategic Sites Initiative for Leotta with Valerie and Sarah.
Doty – Doty stated the Marketing & Communication committee met on April 7th and heard the presentationfrom Ady Advantage on the Home in Wayne marketing audit. She reported we have asked Ady Advantage to doa deeper dive into our target audience. We want to make some changes to engage with college students. What
are hot jobs and how can we match with them? Doty reported the Hoosier Opportunity hiring event we areworking with the Wayne County Chamber on will be held May 13th. This event will use HO to target both
employers and job seekers. It is designed for students with no plans after graduation. They could interview andreceive a job offer that day. Doty reported the digital version of the annual report is complete and is on the EDC
website. HO is still busy with somewhere between 230 and 240 job postings. Parker asked what schools would
be participating in the job fair and where it is being held. Doty replied all county schools and at the Western
Wayne Administration building from 8 to 4. Bolser stated Ady will need to focus on virtual students also. This is agrowing trend, and it is more economical for all parties.
Mitchell – Mitchell reported she did work for the Strategic Sites program. Leotta looked at 20 local sites and 8
were scored 4 or above so additional information was needed for the program to move forward. In the Midwest
Industrial Park (MIP) a topo by Beals-Moore is underway and she is finishing the IDEM paperwork. Further
expansion in MIP is on hold waiting on results of the Richmond Sanitary District’s flow monitoring for capacity
limits and the Gaar Jackson expansion. For Gateway Industrial Park (GIP) to have additional water capacity,
Wesler & Associates have completed preliminary engineering report. The project will be completed in 4 phaseswith a total cost estimate around $18M. Funding options are being evaluated. The Western Wayne Regional
Sewer Board has made us aware the cost of the new wastewater plant is over budget by $1.5M and they are
currently looking for a grant. Mitchell stated she is working on 1 local expansion and had 3 BR&E visits. Mitchellhopes to have the results of the Tracy Cross housing study next week. She also participated in the Loop progressmeetings.
Shaffer – Shaffer reported the third round of grant funding opened Friday and will run through May 14th at
5:00PM. This program is funded with the $250,000 OCRA awarded Wayne County. Theresa is administering thisprogram, which made sense as she did the 2 rounds of the loan program and the restaurant grant program.
Shaffer reported she responded to three new leads. She also reported that Project Bullseye will be moving
forward but as a smaller expansion for now. Shaffer reported we have nine developers waiting on the results of
the housing study. Shaffer stated that we are looking at expansion of the staff. The results of Ady Advantage’s
strategic plan process indicate we need to look at serving Wayne County in a greater capacity. For that reason
we are evaluating a new development position that would focus on real estate development including housing,
downtowns and the industrial parks. Sarah’s background makes her the perfect fit for that role. Theresa would

take over the BR&E position and we would backfill the office manager position. Shaffer stated she and Lindsey
are currently working on the budget implications and once complete the information will be shared with theboard. King stated he has concerns about spending money that is not on bricks and mortar. Butters stated thecommissioners are working on guidelines about how to spend the $12.78M Wayne County will be receiving.
They are looking at infrastructure, quality of life and land acquisition. They are also reviewing other grant
opportunities and it will be a consensus of many before anything is determined. Shaffer stated we need to lookat infrastructure including broadband and indicated we may need to hire a consultant to help through thefunding process. Templin asked if the restaurants still need help. Shaffer said they all need staff. King statedmaybe we need to look at a program targeting people who have yet to receive a GED. Shaffer stated that next
week is Economic Development Week and she will be sending some articles and information out and she would
appreciate if the board could share with their networks.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
a. First Amendment to Infrastructure Agreement
Shaffer reported in 2016 when Blue Buffalo came to Wayne County, there was a second component totheir agreement that expired March 31st, 2021. This component covered a road upgrade and for a rail
spur to be built. The City has completed the road upgrade. In the original agreement, the city was
responsible for management of the spur project and an estimated $1M investment to build the rail spur.
The Redevelopment Commission has extended the agreement 1 year with the following changes: Blue
Buffalo must manage the project; the city reimburses Blue the $1M cap and if the project is notcompleted Blue must pay the $1M back to the city. Shaffer stated the City has approved the agreement.
The EDC board needs to approve and then it will go to the Commissioners. Sowers stated this is asignatures-only amendment and it is a good amendment. Butters asked if there had been discussion withBlue and Shaffer indicated she had no sense one way or the other of how Blue was planning to proceed.
Motion to approve First Amendment to Infrastructure Agreement by Frame, second by Parker.
Johnson abstained. Motion carriedb. 2020 Annual Report
Shaffer stated the annual report was sent to the full board and she reviewed the highlights from thereport. King stated this shows a job well done but is only a fraction of what the EDC does.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Templin adjourned the meeting at 5:09 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, June 7, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.