05-22-2024 Workshop Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL LITTLE CANADA, MINNESOTA MAY 229 2024 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a Workshop meeting of the City Council of Little Canada, Minnesota was convened on the 22nd day of May, 2024 in the Conference Room of the City Center located at 515 Little Canada Road in said City. Mayor Tom Fischer called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and the following members of the City Council were present at roll call: ROLL CALL: In attendance were Mayor Fischer, City Council Members T. Miller, Gutierrez, Kwapick and D. Miller. Absent: None. ALSO PRESENT: City Administrator Chris Heineman, Community Development Director Corrin ---W--endel-1,--PVblic-W--orks-Director Bill -Ducks -and City-Clerk/HR-Manager-Heidi Heller. —Paul --- Keaton, Reuter Walton, Mikaela Huot with Baker Tilly. DISCUSS RICE STREET & DEMONT AVENUE MIXED -USE DEVELOPMENT The Community Development Director reported that Reuter Walton Development, a Twin Cities developer who is currently finishing a multi -family development on Twin Lake Boulevard, is proposing to build a 160-unit multifamily apartment project on land at the intersection of Rice Street and Demont Avenue. She stated the project will be -a 5-story apartment building over one level of underground parking, with one, two and three -bedroom units. She reviewed the timeline of Council planning approvals and neighborhood meetings that were completed for the project. The Community Development Director explained that Reuter Walton is working on pulling together funding from various sources but anticipate that they will still have a gap and are asking the City to consider tax increment financing. Paul Keaton, Reuter Walton, explained that this project will involve a land swap with the adjacent restaurant location and the restaurant would then be relocated to the building on the corner. He stated that they are now first in line for some grant funds, but there are some extraordinary costs such as a sidewalk along Rice Street and the acquisition and remodeling of the corner building for the Flameburger that do not qualify for grant funding. Mikayla Huot explained the project will have rent and income levels at 60% AMI (area median income). She noted that the 2024 metro area median income is $124,200. She stated that the total project cost will be about $53.8 million and the estimated financial gap is about $1 million. She noted there is no risk to the City for this. Kwapick stated that he is not against the project, but wanted to note that this building would be in the Little Canada Elementary School boundary and they are already concerned about the growth in Little Canada and their ability to serve additional students. He explained his biggest concern would be if the school needs to physically expand but they are not receiving the additional taxes for 26 years while the TIF District is being repaid. Ms. Huot replied that the school district would continue to receive the same current tax amounts, and more students would increase the per pupil