Community & Economic Development Committee

324 S.Saginaw St., Bryant "BB" Nolden Auditorium

Agenda — 37 items

1. I. CALL TO ORDER
2. II. ROLL CALL
3. 3 Commissioner Brown called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM.
4. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
5. 5 Approval of Meeting Minutes - April 8, 2026 RES-2026-0556 approved Pass
6. 5 Commissioners Loyd, Cousineau, and Flewelling entered the meeting at 5:31 PM.
7. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT TO COMMITTEE
8. V. COMMUNICATIONS
9. 8 Broadband Initiative 26-310
10. 9 Chief Strategic Growth Office Update 26-311
11. 10 Innovation District Follow-Up 26-312
12. 11 Sports Commission 26-313
13. 11 Commissioner Dr. Brown stated: – As a reminder, the NextGenesee Network is an effort by the county to realize one of our priorities to bring high-speed, affordable, reliable Internet Access to every corner of the County. Toward that end, dollars were allocated in the 2024 budget as seed capital, a research study was conducted by MSU and was formally shared during the 2024 Impact Genesee Summit, and this year, an RFP was developed along with a scoring rubric to solicit vendors who can help us achieve this goal. The due date for RFPs is today, May 6. The Broadband Strategy Group will convene on May 11 to score the proposals. Another update will be provided in June.
14. 12 DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION REPORT
15. VI. OLD BUSINESS
16. 13 Commissioner Dr. Brown stated: In order to broaden our search for candidates we are looking at contracting with a headhunter firm that will conduct a full-scale national search during the next few months. We will keep you informed as developments occur.
17. VII. NEW BUSINESS
18. 1. Approval of an agreement between Genesee County and Chronicle Heritage, in an amount not to exceed $88,000.00, to provide for Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Section 106 Review Services; this is a federally funded agreement RES-2026-0458 referred Pass
19. 15 Commissioner Dr. Brown stated: Last month you heard a presentation from Ed Kim who invited the county to partner with his L3C nonprofit. His goal is to seek additional investment to add to the MEDC and Michigan Strategic Fund contributions to foster the development of a problem-solving hub for high-tech businesses who would have offices located next door inside the Huntington Bank building. While we believe this venture has promise, a few questions remain regarding tangible outcomes and long-term benefits for the county. More to come.
20. 2. Approval of Genesee County's 2026 Action Plan for the Community Development Program RES-2026-0460 referred Pass
21. 3. Approval of various events to receive accommodation tax support RES-2026-0568 referred Pass
22. 17 Commissioner Dr. Brown stated: During our June, 2025 Impact Genesee Summit, a breakout session on finding our competitive edge in recreational tourism attracted a full house of interested parties. This provided a strong indicator that sports could serve as a durable economic strategy in Genesee County. The PLAY Genesee breakout session was facilitated by Commissioner Shumaker and featured two presenters including the executive director of the CVB, Amari Steward and Jashell Mitchell-Cross, Development Director at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. Coupled with this information was a feasibility study commissioned by our board with the help of Explore Genesee. The results of that study were shared with us two weeks ago and will be used to help inform future decisions. Even deeper research occurred during a recent visit to Grand Rapids where Commissioners Shumaker, Goetzinger, Avery and I met with a team leaders who took us on an exciting tour of sports and entertainment facilities created by the Grand Rapids Sports Commission. I’d like to now invite my fellow commissioners to share their observations of our visit to Grand Rapids.
23. VIII. OTHER BUSINESS
24. 18 Commissioner Avery suggested: “Field of Dreams” with soccer fields, pickle ball courts and BMX trails and leverage with FireStix, Canusa Games and Gus Macker.
25. IX. ADJOURNMENT
26. 19 Commissioner Goetzinger suggested: Waterfront Conference Center connected to hotels w/naming rights.
27. 20 Commissioner Shumaker suggested: Public Private Partnership and Family/Youth Vision.
28. 21 Commissioner Dr. Brown stated: Now that we have gathered this information and data, our recommendation to the full board is to form a committee to explore the creation of a Genesee County Sports Commission. Such a commission would allow us to capitalize on the rich history of athletics in our community including the production of great athletes like Jim Abbott, Carl Banks, Wayman Britt, Terry Crews, Mark Ingram II, Andre Rison, Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, Glen Rice, Kyle Kuzma, Linelle McKenney, JaVale McGee, Deanna Nolan, Chris Byrd, Andre and Anthony Dirrell, Tim Thomas, Ken Morrow, Brian Rolston and Claressa Shields. And even the great ones on deck like Trey McKenney.
29. 22 Approval to form a committee to create a sports & entertainment commission RES-2026-0595 referred Pass
30. 23 Commisioner Weighill appointed Commissioners Brown, Avery, Shumaker and Goetzinger to the committee.
31. 30 Approval of a request to enter into a funding agreement and memorandum of understanding between Genesee County and Flint Premier Soccer, LLC, and appropriating a lump sum of $15,000.00 from the Accommodation Tax fund balance for the fiscal year ending 2026 RES-2026-0596 referred Pass
32. 31 Approval of a request to enter into a (2) two-year funding agreement and memorandum of understanding between Genesee County and Midwest Invitational Rodeo, LLC, and appropriating a lump sum of $20,000.00, from the Accommodation Tax fund balance for the fiscal year ending 2026 and for the fiscal year ending 2027 RES-2026-0597 referred Pass
33. 32 Approval of a request to use accommodation tax funding for the Midwest Invitational Rodeo event for one (1) year RES-2026-0598 denied Fail
34. 33 Approval of a request to enter into a (2) two-year funding agreement and memorandum of understanding between Genesee County and The Salvation Army - Life Center, for the Gus Macker-Flint Basketball Tournament, and appropriating a lump sum of $20,000.00 from the Accommodation Tax fund balance for the fiscal year ending 2026 and for the fiscal year ending 2027 RES-2026-0599 referred Pass
35. 34 Approval of a request to enter into a funding agreement and memorandum of understanding between Genesee County and the Genesee County Agricultural Society, and appropriating a lump sum of $40,000.00 from the Accommodation Tax fund balance for the fiscal year ending 2026 RES-2026-0600 referred Pass
36. 35 Approval of a request to enter into a funding agreement and memorandum of understanding related to the Firestix College Exposure Tournament, and appropriating a lump sum of $8,000.00 from the Accommodation Tax fund balance for the fiscal year ending 2026 RES-2026-0601 referred Pass
37. 38 The meeting was adjourned at 6:46 PM.