CARES money to assist local businesses
Additional CARES Act money will be coming to Lyon County business owners impacted by executive orders from the governor. However, it’s unclear exactly to whom the money will be distributed or how much each business will receive later this winter.
The State of Minnesota has allocated $505,920.47 ($493,580.95 business relief, $12,339.52 for administrative costs) to Lyon County to be used for businesses and non-profits that were impacted by an executive order related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lyon County Commissioners on Tuesday decided to use the same committee that was formed for the CARES grants to put together an application, along with criteria for businesses to apply for the new grant. While no decisions were made as to criteria at Tuesday’s meeting, discussion included showing a certain percentage of loss to qualify and limiting grants to $10,000 per business to allow more businesses to receive funds.
Businesses would also have to have no current tax liens on record with the secretary of state at of the time of application in order to qualify for the grant. The board is looking to act quickly, as the grants must be awarded by March 15, 2021, and distributed by March 31, 2021.
Once an application is ready, it will be posted on the county website. County commissioners will also work with local EDA directors to spread the word about the application to local communities in the county.
County commissioners also moved forward on developing a county economic development authority. Public meetings have been set for Jan. 13 and 14 at 4:30 p.m. at the Lyon County Government Center.
“We’re asking for no more than two representatives from each town,” County Administrator Loren Stomberg said. “We’re not sure every town will be represented.”
“I’ve got a couple other communities to get a hold of,” Commissioner Rick Anderson said. “We’ll try to get some representation from every community. We’ve reached out to everyone we can think of. We’ve made the offer. This is a big deal for the county if we’re going to create this.”
In other business Tuesday:
• Steve Ritter was nominated and elected board chair for 2021. Anderson was nominated and elected board vice chair for 2021.
• The board approved a subordination agreement to a mortgage from First Independent Bank for parcel 13-021005-0. The subordination agreement is for a mortgage to parties refinancing their mortgage.
• The board approved the landfill professional engineering services agreement with Burns & McDonnell for 2021 in the amount of $115,000.
• The board approved designating www.lyonco.org as the official publication of advertisements for transportation related projects.
• The board approved the environmental department to request proposals for recycling collection services. The current agreement ends March 31, 2021.