90 projects competing for $47.5M DEED bonding fund | Finance ...

Posted: 4:42 pm Tue, July 10, 2012
By Chris?Newmarker
Tags: bonding bill, Mark Phillips, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Monte Hanson

The largest funding request is $27 million for a St. Paul Saints stadium in the city?s Lowertown area. (Submitted rendering)

Ninety public projects across Minnesota ? with a total price tag of $288.4 million ? are competing for a mere $47.5 million in bonding money that state lawmakers set aside for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to distribute.

Monday evening was the application deadline for the program.

?Given the size of the list, we?re looking at two months before awards are announced, probably mid-September or so,? DEED spokesman Monte Hanson said Tuesday.

The largest grant requests include $27 million for a St. Paul Saints stadium in the city?s Lowertown area, $25 million for a redesign of Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, $25 million for a Mayo Civic Center-Convention Center addition in Rochester, $14.5 million to renovate and expand Mankato?s civic center, $14 million to help the Metropolitan Council fund? preliminary engineering for the Southwest Light Rail Transit line, $10 million for a public parking ramp in Duluth, and $9.6 million for convention center expansion in St. Cloud.

A full list is available on DEED?s website here.

Funding recipients will be selected based on such criteria as number of full-time jobs created or retained, increase in the local tax base, ability to attract private investment, health and safety benefits, and evidence of a strong return on investment and cost-benefit ratio.

DEED Commissioner Mark Phillips said in a conference call Tuesday that projects affecting a broader geographic area would likely receive more attention. Demonstration of economic development impact? and job creation is important.

?We are going to be open to criticism. There?s no doubt about that,? Phillips said.

DEED will run the proposals by Gov. Mark Dayton because DEED reports to the governor, Phillips said. How much influence will the DFLer have on the process? ?I guess as much as he wants,? he said.

?We want this money to go to work as quickly as possible,? Phillips said.

The DEED fund was part of the $496 million bonding bill that the Legislature passed and Dayton signed in May. Competition was expected to be fierce. Less than two-thirds of the $775 million worth of bond-funded projects proposed by Dayton made it into the Republican-controlled Legislature?s final bill.

There was enough interest that DEED last month pushed back the application deadline another two weeks.

Phillips said he didn?t think the Legislature should have left the decision to DEED on which public project should receive bonding money, and which should not.

?The governor and I weren?t too keen on this. ? We don?t think this is our role,? Phillips said.

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Source: http://finance-commerce.com/2012/07/90-projects-competing-for-47-5m-deed-bonding-fund/

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