Thank you to everyone who attended our 2021 CGMC Fall Conference last week in Willmar! More than 90 city leaders representing 45 cities attended the two-day conference, which featured great presentations and thoughtful conversations about critical issues impacting communities across the state.

Read on for more conference highlights, and check out our Facebook photo album from the conference here and watch this 30-second video here.

State demographer shares 2020 Census results, discusses implications

The conference kicked off Thursday afternoon with Minnesota State Demographer Susan Brower’s presentation on the 2020 Census results and what they mean for Greater Minnesota. Brower discussed population and demographic trends from the most recent census, showing areas of growth and decline across Minnesota.

Brower detailed the issues of aging population, with baby boomers retiring now through 2030, creating future workforce shortages. Baby boomer retirements paired with little to no growth in working-age population creates a puzzle for Minnesota communities in maintaining a strong workforce. Her presentation ended with a discussion with the audience where she asked how communities are thinking about maintaining their working-age populations. This issue ties directly into some of the later conference sessions related to workforce, child care and attracting and maintaining residents.

You can watch Brower’s presentation here and read her Power Point presentation here.

Panel shares how community, businesses and state can work together to tackle child care needs

The child care panel at the conference presented a case study on how the Spicer community came together to finance and construct a new child care center. It was presented from the perspectives of Jenny Holweger, CEO of the Kandiyohi County Area Family YMCA (the operator of the center); Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar), who is also a member of the local business community which played a key role in building community and financial support; and from Scott Marquardt of Southwest Minnesota Initiative Foundation, which provided technical support in Spicer and aided in other child care efforts throughout the region.

The panelists provided several pieces of advice for any community looking to grow its child care provider capacity. Although every community’s needs are different, each of the panelists agreed with the following:

  • First, the initial step should be to connect with your regional Initiative Foundation which can provide direct technical support as well as help identify other resources, and connect with First Children’s Finance, another support agency that can provide technical assistance.
  • Second, bring together your local child care providers and your business and community leaders early to help design the plan as well as build support. Success will take a strong local public/private partnership.
  • Third, when asked, your local employers will support the effort financially. However, before the fundraising effort is launched publicly, the community should already have raised at least 15-20% of the needed funds. In Spicer, community donations ranged from $10 to $100,000. One of the things that helped with some of the larger donations was to allow them to happen over multiple years.
  • Finally, if you have child care needs in your community, do not fear that your existing local providers will feel threatened. Most providers worry about what will happen in a community when they retire, and most hate telling families they do not have room for their kids.

You can watch the panel discussion here. A list of resources available for any community looking to grow their child care capacity is available here.

Attorney General Ellison makes pitch for cities to join opioid settlement

The opioid epidemic has had a devastating impact on families and communities across Minnesota and the nation. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and a handful of Minnesota local governments have sued several manufacturers and distributors of these drugs. At the conference, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar), and Assistant Attorney General Evan Romanoff spoke about the impact the opioid crisis has had on Minnesota and how the lawsuits may assist communities in mitigating future damage.

To date, Minnesota is participating in at least six different settlements against manufacturers and distributors, though not all details have been finalized. One of the largest settlements, against a group of distributors and Johnson and Johnson, is structured so that the amount of funding the state will receive depends on how many local governments above a population threshold agree to opt-in to the settlement and forgo the opportunity to bring a lawsuit in the future.

A committee made up of local government association representatives (including CGMC) has been discussing how funds from the settlement should be distributed. Although the agreement has not been finalized, it appears the funds will be split with 75% going to local governments and 25% to the state. The local government share will be distributed to counties, to local governments that have been participating in the litigation, and to cities with populations greater than 30,000. Cities under 30,000 would be able to consult with their counties to request funding and discuss deployment of opioid remediation programs in their communities.

Attorney General Ellison and Rep. Baker emphasized the importance of cities over 10,000 in population opting into the settlement. Even if a city does not receive a direct allocation of funds, the entire state will receive more funding as more cities opt-in. Cities may be able to obtain funds through their county or by applying for grants from the state.

If your city has a population of more than 10,000, you will need to make a final decision and authorize opting into the settlement during December. Keep this in mind as you put your city council agendas together for the month.

You can watch the presentation here and read the Power Point here. If you have any questions about these issues, please contact Elizabeth Wefel at eawefel@flaherty-hood.com and she will direct you to the appropriate resources.

City leaders exchange ideas on how to maximize ARP funds

The federal government’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) presents a unique, one-time opportunity for communities to make investments to maximize COVID-19 relief dollars and chart a continuing course toward recovery. Based on feedback and questions CGMC staff have received in recent months from our member cities, senior attorney/lobbyist Shane Zahrt led a discussion of the ARP’s local fiscal recovery fund dollars.

While the session included a background presentation on potential uses for local ARP funds, the primary purpose of the hour was to give city leaders the opportunity to talk with each other. Cities across the state are finding new, creative ways to make the best use of these one-time dollars, so CGMC sought to provide a forum for leaders to connect, share ideas, and exchange best practices.

Newbie legislators discuss the trials, tribulations and successes of their first year in office

We capped a full afternoon of programming with our legislative panel. The panel offered something of a twist on the usual as we invited first-term legislators to give their perspective on learning the legislative process and serving their constituents while navigating the new weird world of COVID-19. We were joined by Sen. Aric Putnam (DFL-St. Cloud), Rep. Spencer Igo (R-Grand Rapids), and Rep. Emma Greenman (DFL-Minneapolis), all of whom were newly elected in 2020.

When it came to the challenges of the position, all three acknowledged that forming relationships with colleagues, legislative staff, and stakeholders, mostly via Zoom, proved difficult. Understanding the legislative process, especially the different phases of the legislative calendar, was also a challenge as often there was just not anyone around to ask.

Despite all three being in their first term and two of them being in the minority, each panelist was able to point to passing legislation that they were particularly proud of and came away from their first session with a feeling that they could indeed have an impact despite being new on the job.

We want to thank Sen. Putnam, Rep. Igo, and Rep. Greenman for an interesting and fun panel!

Dinner speaker highlights challenges, opportunities facing local retailers

We were excited to have Bruce Nustad, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association, as our Thursday dinner keynote speaker. During Nustad’s dynamic and engaging presentation, he unpacked the challenges Greater Minnesota retailers faced during and post-pandemic. Despite challenges, retail and businesses continue to succeed through creative partnerships with local governments. He shared that this year, consumers will be spending more at the holidays than ever before.  

Presentation lays out the myriad environmental challenges impacting cities

On Friday morning, environmental attorney Gretel Lee and CGMC Executive Director Bradley Peterson gave a presentation on trending environmental issues and challenges facing Minnesota cities, coupled with the need for membership involvement in response to such challenges.

Among the main topics discussed were an update on PFAS mitigation efforts at both the state and federal levels, the Impaired Waters List for 2022, sulfate and wild rice, and the upcoming nitrate and ammonia water quality standards rulemaking, which are slated to begin next month. At the close of the presentation, Peterson and Lee provided dates for important deadlines and action items (see the important “dates to know” here). They also urged members to participate in the CGMC’s Environmental Action Fund to help the CGMC better respond to these challenges on behalf of our members. Cities that have not yet indicated their participation in the Environmental Action Fund in 2022 will be receiving more information about it from us soon.

You can watch the presentation here and read the Power Point presentation here. If you have any questions, please contact Gretel Lee at gllee@flaherty-hood.com or (651) 259-1903.

Tips for recruiting residents to your community

As the pandemic opened the door for more work-from-home and telecommuting options, we are hearing an increasing number of anecdotes about families interested in ditching the big city for smaller towns and a different pace of life. But how does a city promote itself and entice families to choose their community over somewhere else? 

Neil Linscheid, an extension educator with the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality, provided ideas and insights in a presentation titled “Greater Minnesota’s Resident Recruitment Advantage.” He shared examples of things some rural communities have done to inform and welcome new or prospective residents, as well as practical, affordable steps cities can take to showcase their communities and encourage families to set down roots.

You can watch Linscheid’s presentation here and read his Power Point here.

CGMC adopts policy positions for 2022

In addition to speakers and presentations, the conference also included a membership meeting Friday morning during which members discussed and adopted the CGMC’s 2022 legislative policy positions. To review the adopted positions, click on the following subject areas:

Learn more about the CGMC’s top legislative priorities here.