Staff photo by Clay Schuld The Economic Development Authority approved a lease agreement with Ted Bergstrom of Bergstrom Concessions for a property at 326 N. Broadway. Bergstrom plans to use a portion of the property for a concession stand on weekends starting in late March.

NEW ULM — Ted Bergstrom will once again open a concession stand at 326 N. Broadway starting late March if weather permits.

The New Ulm Economic Development Authority approved a lease agreement with Bergstrom to rent the property to open his concession stand. Bergstrom rented the same location from July through October in 2020. The lease agreement is for $150 per month including utilities.

Housing Coordinator Heather Bregel said Bergstrom typically would attend food fairs during the summer months, but last year because of COVID many of these events were canceled. Bergstrom anticipates a similar situation in 2021.

Broadway Haus Apartments currently rents the property for tenant parking during snow removal, typically November through March. There is no other conflict with renting the space and there were no complaints from area tenents.

City Councilor and EDA board member Les Schultz said he is a patron of Bergstrom’s concession stand and was happy to make the motion to approve the lease agreement.

Board member Susan Fix seconded the motion and said she was happy to see this come through again.

The EDA did question if other food trucks or concession stands had expressed interest in renting space in this lot.

Bregel said no one else contacted the EDA about operating a food truck at this location. She said there is space available for a second vendor at this site. Bergstrom did request that if a second lease is approved, no menu item is duplicated.

Schultz believes Bergstrom’s menu is unique enough to avoid duplication.

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City Manager Chris Dalton said he plans to close the COVID Relief Grant at the end of this month. He said only a handful of additional businesses can apply. Dalton plans to reach out to those remaining businesses before the end of the month.

Dalton also alerted the board to a mistake made in approving a commercial rehab loan last June. On June 9, 2020, the EDA approved a commercial rehab loan for $75,000.

Dalton said this business did not qualify for the loan as the primary purpose was not retail, service, non-profit, or business/office. The primary use of the building was manufacturing and warehousing. This was the first loan that brought this account into the negative. Dalton informed the board that it needed to be informed and acknowledge the mistake for auditing purposes.

The loan amount also triggers the need for business subsidy reporting. Moving forward the maximum dollar amount for the rehab loan program will be $74,000. The policy for this program will be updated accordingly.

Schultz asked if the requirements should be changed to include these types of business.

Dalton said the city has a revolving loan fund for manufacturing and warehousing businesses.

The commercial rehab loan account receives repayments every month. Dalton estimates the account accumulated $7,000 each month and as of Jan. 31, there was $23,000 available in the fund.

Bregel said historically this fund was underused but had seen greater application after the board increased the number of loans allowed.

Board member Daniel Braam said the EDA wanted the fund to be used to impact the business community, but the board needed to be vigilant on loan approval.