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Initiatives with the magnitude and impact of Destination Medical Center sometimes require board-level decisions to be made between official board of directors’ meetings. In instances like these, an executive committee is often charged with fulfilling limited board responsibilities to help maintain an organization’s momentum relative to time-sensitive issues and ensure projects continue to move forward as scheduled.

In January 2017, the Destination Medical Center Corporation (DMCC) Board of Directors approved a Resolution establishing an executive committee to do just that. As outlined by the Resolution, the committee may act only during intervals between board of directors’ meetings and is subject to the authority and direction of the full board.

The executive committee is governed by the same laws as regular board meetings and is limited on which decisions it can enact. For example, the executive committee cannot change the development plan, issue bonds, submit the annual report to the legislature, approve project funding requests, or amend the board articles of incorporation or bylaws. These functions, as well as those that include investment of public infrastructure funds, are the prerogative of the full board of directors, as outlined by DMC law.

Implementation of an executive committee allows the DMC Corporation to respond promptly to market activity while also providing the transparency expected of a private-public partnership. In a private-market-driven initiative, DMC must move as swiftly as community members, developers, investors, and other stakeholders would expect in order for DMC to succeed.

To better illustrate this need, let’s refer to the Alatus project. In December, the full DMCC Board of Directors approved the Alatus request under the condition that Alatus provide “proof of financing satisfactory to the board” for the public infrastructure funds to be available. This Thursday, the executive committee will hold its first meeting during which members will discuss the Alatus project’s financing plans on behalf of the board to keep the project moving forward.

Thursday’s meeting agenda will also include discussion of the annual Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) filing concerning private investment within the DMC districts and the financial threshold of private investment that must be crossed before state DMC dollars will be released for public infrastructure improvements. The financial threshold of private investment is a time sensitive topic and will, therefore, be addressed at the executive committee meeting rather than delayed until a regular DMCC Board meeting takes place.

Public notice about DMCC executive committee meetings will be communicated in the same manner as other public meetings, including the City of Rochester website and the DMC website. Opportunity for public comment at executive committee meetings will be determined based on the agenda and noted as such. This week’s agenda will not allow for public comment.

The DMCC Executive Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2017, from 9-10 a.m. at the Mayo Civic Center in Meeting Room 101.

For more information about the meeting, including links to the meeting agenda, board packet, and live streaming of the board meeting, click here.