A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the City of Knox and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation was up for approval during Wednesday night’s city council meeting.
When it comes to what services the SCEDF agreed to provide to the City, they’re offering to assist with economic development planning, marketing and grant writing, Industrial Park planning and marketing, industry and business retention and expansion and commercial district revitalization and development consulting and planning.
Mayor Dennis Estok said the only thing that was eliminated from the services provided was a tourism element since the city has their own tourism department.
While the services basically remained the same, Mayor Estok noted that some negotiations were held and a few noticeable changes were made to the terms of the agreement.
Unlike past agreements, where the contract was active for a full year, there is language included in the MOA for 2019 which states that either party may terminate the agreement upon six months’ written notice.
A change was also made to the amount of money that the City will be providing for the services. In the past, 25 percent of the funds the city received through the County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) were provided to the Development Foundation for their services.
The agreement was modified so City officials will now pay an annual fee of $75,000 rather than a portion of the CEDIT funds.
Members voted unanimously to approve the Memorandum of Agreement with the SCEDF.
