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MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF APRIL 9, 2012 <br />Miron called the meeting to order at 8:30 am. <br />PRESENT: Arcand, Bever, Denaway, Klein, Puleo, and Miron <br />ABSENT: Graff <br />STAFF: Bryan Bear, City Administrator <br />Rachel Juba, Planner <br />APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE EDA MEETING OF MARCH 12, 2012 <br />Arcand made motion, Klein seconded, to approve minutes for the EDA meeting of March <br />12, 2012 <br />All aye. Motion carried. <br />XCEL ENERGY INC. <br />Xcel Energy Inc., received site plan approval from the City Council for a 20,000 square <br />foot training center on April 2, 2012. Construction is planned to start in May. Lynn <br />Patzner from Xcel Energy Inc., was present at the meeting to talk about the project and <br />Xcel's economic development efforts. <br />Ms. Patzner gave a background of Xcel Energy Inc. She stated that they serve 8 states <br />and are headquartered in Minneapolis. They are the number one wind energy provider <br />and number seven for solar capacity. They have several green and clean energy programs <br />available. <br />She talked about the gas and electric training facility that received site plan approval from <br />the City. There will be approximately 1,000 journeymen and apprentices trained at the <br />Hugo facility each year. Xcel Energy believes that number will grow 10% by 2015. She <br />stated that Xcel Energy will provide recommendations to the trainees on what is available <br />in Hugo for services. <br />Miron asked how the approval process was in Hugo and if Ms. Patzner felt that Hugo was <br />business friendly. She stated that the City has extremely business friendly and worked <br />with the Xcel Energy staff on revisions that were made throughout the process. There <br />were no surprises was they went through the process. Denaway asked how Hugo's <br />approval process compared to other cities they have worked with. She stated that Hugo <br />had less fees associated with development, such as landscape escrow and park dedication. <br />Ms. Patzner stated that Xcel Energy is planning a public open house once the facility is <br />built. <br />The EDA welcomed Xcel Energy as a new business in the community. <br />UPDATE IN 2012 ROAD PROJECTS / INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS <br />