Economic Development Incentives Committee - August 22, 2023 Minutes
ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE COMMITTEE
Fargo, North Dakota
Regular Meeting Tuesday, August 22, 2023
The August meeting of the Economic and Development Incentive Committee of the City of Fargo, North Dakota was held in the City Commission Room at City Hall at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
The committee members present or absent are:
Members Present: Dave Piepkorn, John Cosgriff, Jon Eisert, Mayor Mahoney, Jim Gilmour, Jessica Ebeling, Levi Bachmeier, Michael Splonskowski, and Lucas Paper.
Members Absent:
Others Present: Jackie Gapp
Commissioner Piepkorn called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
Minutes Approved
A motion was made by John Cosgriff to approve the minutes from June 27, 2023, July 18, 2023, July 25, 2023 and August 15, 2023. Lucas Papert seconded. Motion carries.
Discussion with Developers and Others on Policy for Incentives
Developers Present:
Austin Morris- Enclave Development
Kevin Christianson- Christianson Companies
Alex Christianson- Christianson Companies
Tim Gleason- Gleason Companies
Brian Benscoter- Brandt Holdings
Elizabeth Kosel- Home Builders Association
Blake Nybakken- EPIC Companies
Lance Johnson- EPIC Companies
Developers List:
• Supportive of 5 year term
• Interest rate hikes
o Where would it make sense to put incentives?
Offices, Commercial, Restaurants, Strip Malls, Retail
• Housing- people do not want to live downtown or in a high rise. They would like for example single family with a large lot.
• Density
o High density needs to abide by city rules. Especially with parking.
o Interest Rate buy downs
• Design should not be a criteria within the policy
• Commissioner Piepkorn: Tax incentive and if it was affordable housing you received another one. Is that a good idea?
o Austin Morris: Encouraging supply product planning instead of trying to incent your way out of housing challenges.
• Need to show how incentives have impacted the community over time.
• What are the rules, what needs to be done and treat everyone equally
• Jim Gilmour will be receiving comments from the developers and community
• Would like considerations from developers to maybe put on a survey/application that would be put online for developers to fill out when needing an incentive
• Planning Department will be at next meeting
Discussion will be continued to the next meeting Tuesday, September 26th.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:30pm.