09-23-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--September 23, 2002 2513 RECESSED MEETING OF CASS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING IN BUDGET SESSION SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 MEETING TO ORDER Chairman AJon Wieland called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM with all members present as follows: Donna Schneider, Scott Wagner, John Meyer, Robyn Sorum and Alon Wieland. Several department heads, counb/ employees and the media were among those in the audience. Mr. Wieland said the purpose of today's meeting is to consider two more items before finalizing the 2003 county budget. FARGO CASS COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, Skills Development Proqram Rick Berg, Chairman of the Fargo Cass County Economic Development Corporation (FCCEDC), was present for commission review of their budget request, specifically the skills development project. Staff members also present were Amanda Swanson and Sue Morton. Mr. Berg summarized the FCCEDC budget request of $235,000, which encompasses three areas. The first is operations in the amount of $175,000, which is the same request as in previous years. The second part of the request is for $15,000, which will help pay for a study to measure productivity in the Fargo area with the goal of attracting business and creating more jobs. The third component of the request is $45,000, which is for the skills development program for New Americans and iow-moderate income individuals. According to Mr. Berg, FCCEDC formed a subcommittee to review the skills development program, and the subcommittee recommended the pass-through of $45,000 for the program with several conditions. The full board of the FCCEDC approved supporting the program under the conditions outlined by the subcommittee, as follows: 1) that the program be monitored more closely for results; 2) that it will be a stand-alone operation at the end of next year; and 3) that the program will bdng in more pdmary sector manufacturers to provide jobs for graduates of the program. Mr. Meyer and Mr. Wagner serve as county representatives on the FCCEDC Board, and Mr. Wagner supports the budget, with the exception of giving another $45,000 to the skills development program. He does not believe they have met their objectives, particularly in terms of the number of people enrolled in the program. He said $100,000 of county tax dollars has already gone into the program, with another $50,000 in grant money from the City of Fargo. He said the target goal was to serve 16-25 people in the first class, but there were only six. Five actually completed the course, and he understands there were only two people enrolled in the second class. Further, he said the program will move into next year with $60,000 already. Mr. Meyer supports leaving $45,000 in the budget for 2003 because it will be only the second year of operating the program. He thinks, it is too soon to cut back on funding now, and there is some accountability and responsibility in the conditions outlined by FCCEDC. Mrs. Schneider said she thought the basic premise of the program was very good, however, she was disheartened by the limited results this year for the amount of money that was budgeted for the program. She would support an amount less than $45,000, perhaps $30,000, for next year's budget.