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Harmony EDA ratifies three-month loan payment holiday, grants Monster Bash a one-year pause
Summary
The Harmony Economic Development Authority approved a three-month loan payment holiday for interested borrowers with no interest accrual and granted Monster Bash, Inc. a one-year payment holiday with a waiver of three months' interest after board discussion. The board also asked staff to consult the city attorney on memorializing the holiday.
The Harmony Economic Development Authority voted May 7 to ratify a temporary relief program for local borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and to grant a separate one-year pause to an annual-pay nonprofit loan.
At the start of the electronic meeting, staff member Chris Giesen said the EDA had offered a three-month payment holiday to borrowers who were not on restructured plans and recommended the board formally ratify the practice and waive interest during the holiday. The board approved the motion (mover: Steve Sagen; second: Kerry Kingsley) to authorize a three-month loan payment holiday for interested borrowers, extend participating loans’ terms by three months, and not accrue interest for the holiday period. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 5-0.
The staff memo estimated approximately $915 of interest would otherwise have accrued during the holiday period; the board’s motion waives that accrual for participating borrowers. Chair Chris Skaalen asked staff to consult the city attorney and determine how to memorialize the payment holiday to avoid future enforcement issues; staff agreed to do so.
The board also debated a separate request from Monster Bash, Inc., a nonprofit whose major annual revenue event is an on‑season haunted-house fundraiser. Skaalen initially moved to grant a one‑year payment holiday and to waive one year of interest, but that motion failed for lack of a second. After additional discussion, board member Steve Donney moved — and Kerry Kingsley seconded — a motion to grant Monster Bash a one‑year payment holiday and to waive three months’ interest (staff estimated three months’ interest on that loan to be about $105). That motion passed 5-0.
The board took the two votes as formal motions with roll-call tallies recorded in the minutes. No other broad loan-forgiveness or permanent modification program was adopted at the meeting; the decisions are limited to the holiday period described and the single Monster Bash loan exception. The board also discussed continuing outreach to affected businesses, and staff said they had been helping businesses apply for federal programs, including guidance on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness.
The EDA’s next regular meeting is scheduled for June 4, 2020, to be held electronically per Minn. Stat. § 13D.02.
