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HRDC outlines housing, transportation and local-food initiatives including Conifer Transit expansion
Summary
Headwaters Regional Development Commission staff briefed the Beltrami County board on revolving loan funds, active-transportation grants, a $770,000 Fifth Street Trail award, Conifer Transit expansion and local-food programs supporting schools and growers.
Representatives from the Headwaters Regional Development Commission (HRDC) briefed the Beltrami County Board on economic-development lending, transportation grants, transit pilots and local-food initiatives during the work session.
Sean Moran described HRDC’s Headwaters Regional Finance Corporation, a nonprofit subsidiary that manages a revolving loan fund with a capital base around $6.8 million and roughly $2.5 million available for loans. "If there's a business that wants to come to Beltrami County, expand in Beltrami County, or is even struggling in Beltrami County, you can send them my way," Moran said.
HRDC reported several transportation awards and programs: a $770,000 award for the Fifth Street Trail from Jefferson to the high school, a carbon-reduction program allowing recycled-asphalt use on a local road (about $700,000), and ongoing Safe Routes to School planning, including forthcoming work in Red Lake. Mobility Manager Tammy Hagen described a Conifer Transit operating pilot created to complement existing public transit service; HRDC said it provided 1,344 rides and transported more than 2,000 passengers in its first 75 days with one vehicle and driver.
"We came up with an alternative, complimentary...option for individuals that live at Conifer Estates, Conifer Villas, and East Conifer," Hagen said, and HRDC reported a recent grant award to expand the pilot for two more years, extending hours and scope.
HRDC staff also briefed the board on housing programs: multiple down-payment-assistance loans covering Beltrami County and a first-generation assistance product that can offer up to $32,000 forgiven over five years; rehabilitation and emergency repair loan products for low-income homeowners were also described.
On local foods, HRDC’s community development staff said the agency is coordinating growers, school food-service directors and other partners to expand healthy local-food purchases by schools, host monthly meetings for emerging farmers, and assemble a regional local-foods directory to support market access.
HRDC invited county staff and commissioners to follow up for project referrals, loan applications, and local planning coordination.
