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respectively. She added businesses who have already received a loan of $2,500 and $2,900 could request additional funds to total the new maximum amounts. She advised Option 2 would amend the program to provide larger loan amounts and expand the eligibility for businesses with 11-25 employees and would include $10,000 total for businesses and would no longer be limited to retail and restaurants. She advised staff recommends approving Option 2. In response to Councilmember Testa's inquiry, Deputy City Manager Ott reported applicants were appreciative but advised it was simply not enough for their need. In response to Councilmember Brown's inquiry, Deputy City Manager Ott advised staff did investigate a three-year loan repayment partly because staff did not want to extend the time businesses would have to continue to pay back the City. She reported applicants have not complained about the 24-month loan repayment period. Councilmember Brown expressed concern that more businesses were not taking advantage of the loan. Deputy City Manager Ott could not offer any reasons for businesses not taking advantage of the loan but felt it could be because it was not a grant and requires repayment. In response to Councilmember Narum's inquiry, Deputy City Manager Ott reported anybody who is already in the program and has received a loan or is even in process will not need to reapply and would simply need to sign a new promissory note. She noted staff will reach out proactively to those who have received loans to offer the additional funding. She still recommends excluding home-based businesses since they do not have the overhead of a traditional business but adding professional service providers to the eligibility list. Lastly, she noted the number of employees can be full or part-time. In response to Councilmember Pentin's inquiry, Deputy City Manager Ott advised part of staff's thinking for 24-months repayment was to ensure businesses were able to repay the loans. Mayor Thorne opened the item for public comment. Nancy Allen expressed support for expanding the program, encouraged City Council to consider increasing the amount to $15,000 and does not support including professional services. Jack Balch expressed support for expanding the program and would like to see funding amounts increase. Mayor Thorne closed public comment. Councilmember Pentin motioned to amend staff's recommendation to increase funding for business with 2-10 employees to $10,000 and increase funding for businesses with 11-25 employees up to $20,000 and make them three-year loans. Councilmember Testa seconded the motion. In response to Councilmember Brown's inquiry, Councilmember Pentin clarified that he is happy to amend his motion to $10,000 ($10,800 for downtown business) and $20,000 ($21,600) for downtown businesses) if the City Council supports it. Councilmember Brown expressed her support for increasing the amounts and increasing the repayment period to three-years. Councilmember Narum expressed her support for the item. In response to her inquiry, Councilmember Pentin clarified he supports staff recommendation to include professional services. Councilmember Testa expressed her support for the item and requested a friendly amendment to round up the numbers for consistency. Councilmember Pentin denied the amendment. City Council Minutes Page 13 of 14 August 18, 2020