by April Scheinoha
Reporter

The Thief River Falls City Council tabled a request for a $30,000 contribution to Advance Thief River. By a vote of 5 to 2, the council tabled the request at its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Voting in favor of tabling the request were Mayor Brian Holmer, and council members Jason Aarestad, Jerald Brown, Curt Howe and Rachel Prudhomme. Voting in opposition were council members Steve Narverud and Don Sollom. Currently, there are only seven council members as the Ward 3 vacancy hasn’t yet been filled. The Budget Committee is expected to consider the request at an upcoming meeting.

The joint economic development initiative is seeking the contribution for consultant Michelle Landsverk’s work, her expenses, and other expenses related to luring a data center to come to Thief River Falls.

Advance Thief River’s 2019 work plan is expected to be more aggressive and require more time from Landsverk. Rick Trontvet, president of the Jobs Inc. Board, said Jobs Inc. can only contribute $20,000 for 2019. He expected the board would contribute an additional $10,000 of in-kind work in terms of meetings and lunches with prospective developers or business owners.

Advance Thief River has also requested $30,000 from Pennington County.  County Board has placed $30,000 in its budget for Advance Thief River. However, at this time, commissioners are unsure whether the county will pay that amount. At a recent meeting, commissioners were concerned about providing $30,000, when Jobs Inc. won’t be providing the same amount and the council hadn’t yet formally voted on whether it would contribute $30,000.

At the council meeting, Landsverk said her work has increased in the last few weeks. She expected the consulting work could constitute “well over half-time.”
A budget outline wasn’t provided to the council, much to the consternation of Holmer and Prudhomme. Holmer said he wanted a written budget since the council would have to try to determine how it would find the additional money requested by Advance Thief River.

For 2018, the city, county and Jobs Inc. each paid $13,000 for work completed between June and December after Landsverk came on board. Trontvet said Landsverk is using city and county rooms when they are available to conduct her work. He added that he has communicated with public officials about potential locations for a more permanent office for Landsverk.