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Goodhue County EDA moves to write off $551,325.82 loan from Orinoco Auto Salvage
Summary
Finance Director recommended writing off the remaining Minnesota Investment Fund receivable from Orinoco Auto Salvage after MPCA-ordered remediation and court restrictions made additional collections unlikely; the board approved the write-off by voice vote.
The Goodhue County Economic Development Authority voted to write off the remaining balance of a Minnesota Investment Fund loan issued to Orinoco Auto Salvage, after an update from Finance Director Lucas Dailing.
Dailing told the board the county began administering a Minnesota Investment Fund loan program following a 2010 county resolution to participate in a DEED program that used state flood-assistance grant funding. He said the loans issued between 2011 and 2013 totaled $1,105,632.54 and that the county has received just over $328,272 in repayments. Under the loan agreements, a portion of loans could be forgiven if other conditions were met; some loan balances were previously forgiven or written off.
Dailing reported the outstanding receivable from Orinoco Auto Salvage was $551,325.82. He described a sequence of enforcement and remediation actions involving the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and court proceedings; a recent court order limits the business—s spending (reported on the record as a restriction on spending without MPCA approval), and Dailing said those facts make further collection unlikely. Staff recommended that the EDA board write off the full remaining receivable, and a motion to write off the loan was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.
Board members asked procedural and practical questions about whether the property could go to tax forfeiture and who would carry remediation responsibilities; the presenters said Olmsted County would likely be responsible if the property tax-forfeited and that the MPCA has priority for remediation orders. Dailing also clarified that all of the original program funding came from DEED grants and that Goodhue County did not contribute levy dollars to the fund; repayments that the county did collect remain restricted in the EDA fund for revolving loan purposes.
The board approved the write-off on the record. No roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript; the approval was confirmed by voice vote.
