Moorhead City Council Meeting May 12, 2014
Moorhead economic development continues: Three property tax proposals were approved.
Project 1:
Joshua West, West Holdings LLC, was approved for a tax exemption for the construction of an office-shop building for a business lawn care business, JT Lawn Service and hauling located at 3333 9 Street South. The plans include construction of an 80’ x 200’ steel shop building including office space.
The lawn care portion of the company will retain thirty (30) full-time equivalent positions with a completion date of November 30, 2014. The estimated value of the project is $936,100.
Project 2:
SuperValu Holdings Inc. was approved for a tax exemption for the construction of a free-standing 61,000 square foot Hornbacher’s supermarket at 950 40th Avenue South. The planned store will be built along side of a proposed shopping center similar to the Osgood store in south Fargo with an estimated project cost of $4,270,000.
Construction of the project will begin in July 2014, or as soon as possible, with an
estimated completion of February 2015. The project will create forty (40) new full-time positions as well as 110 part-time positions.
Project 3:
8th Street Retail Center LLC was approved for a tax exemption for the construction of a 50,000 square foot 2-story multi-tenant retail center with various retail, service, and office tenants with estimated completion of February 2015. The property will be developed in conjunction with the Hornbacher’s supermarket with an estimated project cost of $4,514,000.
It was estimated that the new tenants will likely create (or retain) seven (7) fulltime equivalent positions.
Other Council Actions:
Conducted a Public Hearing to approve special assessments for unpaid charges from 92 affected property owners totaling $97,788.74. Most of the charges date from 1/1/13 through 12/31/13 and include some 2014 assessments. The amount includes delinquent fees, penalties, and abatement costs.
Voted to accept the Moorhead River Corridor Master Plan. The Mayor and City Council initiated the Development of the River Corridor Master Plan in November 2012 to guide future management and maintenance of the river corridor while balancing community needs, flood mitigation, transportation, recreation, public/private property, and natural resource preservation and restoration. There are no financial impacts relating to the resolution to accept the River Corridor Master Plan.
The proposal to construct a round-a-about intersection at the corner of 50thAvenue South and Highway 75 was voted down due to the lack of funding and other higher prioritized projects. An area resident spoke against the project. The projected $2 million cost would reduce other numerous street improvements that have already been identified.
Significant Drug Seizure and Arrests
Moorhead Police Officers conducted a traffic stop on a Tuesday May 5th involving a white Chevy Impala as a result of an on-going drug investigation. A K9 search around the exterior of the vehicle resulted in positive alerts for narcotics. During a search of the vehicle Methamphetamines and a large amount of cash were seized.
A short time later, a search warrant was executed at the vehicle occupants’ residence of 632 12th Street North in Moorhead. Additional large quantities of illegal drugs were seized. MELISSA ANN CHRISTIANSEN (30 years old) and HARRY SAMUEL DESJARLAIT (34 years old) were arrested and are currently being held in the Clay County Jail pending a Long Form Complaint for Felony level drug charges.
Police seized: (Street Value of Drugs estimated at over $13,000)
19.8 grams of Methamphetamine
18.6 grams of Heroin
.8 grams of Marijuana
Unauthorized prescription pills
$12,642 US Currency
2012 Chevrolet Impala
SBA Launches Accelerator
Competition to Award $2.5 Million for
Small Business Startups
WASHINGTON –Today, Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the SBA is launching a $2.5 million competition for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models to compete for monetary prizes of $50,000 each. To award the prizes, an expert panel of judges will consider each applicant’s stated mission, founding team members and business goals among other core components. The deadline for applying is August 2, 2014.
The panel will give particular attention to, and the SBA encourages, applicants that fill geographic gaps in the accelerator and entrepreneurial ecosystem space. It is well known that the most successful accelerators to date were founded on the coasts. Through this competition, we are looking to support the development of accelerators and thus startups in parts of the country where there are fewer conventional sources of access to capital (i.e., venture capital and other investors).
In addition to accelerators which fill the gaps described above, we are also seeking out accelerators which are run by and support women or other underrepresented groups. Lastly, special consideration will be given to any accelerator models which support manufacturing.
For the purposes of this competition, Growth Accelerators include accelerators, incubators, co-working startup communities, shared tinker-spaces or other models to accomplish similar goals.
Over the coming months, SBA will be working with a number of partners such as the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) and others to host a number of Demo Days across the country. Demo Days provide opportunities for networking and the sharing of best practices among accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models. The first Demo Day of 2014 was held in Austin, Texas at the Capital Factory and concurrent with the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival. Thirteen accelerators across multiple industries and geographies gave five minute pitches to a room full of their peers. SBA is working to develop more of these events to happen in different cities around the country in 2014. Finalists in the competition will also be participating in a Demo Day remotely, thus there is no requirement for applicants to participate in the in-person events.
To apply visit sba.gov or challenge.gov. For additional questions, contact accelerators@sba.gov.