A new contract between the Economic Development Group of Wabash Countyand the City of Wabash was approved Wednesday by the Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety.
Under terms of the agreement, the city will pay the EDG $60,000 this year and $70,000 in 2013.
A similar contract will be presented to the Wabash County Commissioners and the North Manchester Town Council, EDG President and CEO Bill Konyha told the board. Pending approval by the respective boards, the county will pay the same rate as the city, while North Manchester will pay $15,000 this year and $17,000 next year.
The contract will be automatically renewed annually once compensation is agreed upon, City Attorney Doug Lehman told the board.
The contract is much the same as in past years, however there have been some other duties added to it, according to Lehman and Konyha.
“We are a service provider, like any other service provider,” Konyha told the Plain Dealer after the meeting. “The contract required us, in the past, to just have invoiced based on our cost. What we’ve done is included a list of attachments that require us to provide deliverables to the city, the county and the town.
“Frankly, it makes us more accountable.”
Among the items that EDG must do are:
• Market available sites and buildings to site selectors, consultants and target industries.
• Work with the City Council, mayor and other key stakeholders to identify target industries.
• Develop a tax abatement policy consistent with other Wabash County jurisdictions.
• Update City Council on pending negotiations during executive meetings.
• Attend City Council meetings and do a public update on at least a quarterly basis.
• Submit monthly reports to the mayor that include tracking of leads, summary of leads, support for private investment, job creation, net new payroll and payroll taxes.
Lehman told the board the city entered into a one-year contract with EDG in 2009.
“We never formally did anything about renewing the contract for 2010 and 2011,” he said. “We continued to operate in 2010 and 2011 under the same terms and conditions as 2009. And we didn’t do anything in 2012 either, so basically in this we’re asking the board to ratify the oral extension of those agreements for 2010, ’11 and ’12, and then we will have a written contract for 2013.”
Funds received from the city, county and North Manchester equals about 45 percent of EDG’s operating budget, Konyha noted.
“The rest of our operating budget we fill through grants, through grant administration, through donations, fees for services, et cetera,” he said.