08-24-2005 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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HIV . Ydra42aznegek 515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117-1600 (651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 766 -4048 www.ci.little- canacla.mn.us MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Blesener and Members of the City Council FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: August 19, 2005 RE: Public Works Garage Sites & MAC Properties MAYOR 13ilt Blesener COUNCIL Jim LaValle Rick Montour Barbara Allan John Keis ADMINISTRATOR Joel R. Hanson At the July 13th meeting, staff was directed to contact MAC Properties to ask if they were interested in a voluntary sale of their property. On July 27th, I received a call from Mike Hangge of McGough Construction who wanted to know about our interest in purchasing the MAC properties (McGough has storage on the site). He had read the minutes from the meeting on the 13th and was bothered by the fact I had not yet called him. He stated that I was fully aware that they (MAC) were not interested in a voluntary sale. I informed him I had made the Council aware of this fact on the 13th. Mr. Hangge then asked me to send him a letter regarding our interest in the site. I asked if they would change their mind about a voluntary acquisition if I did that. He said no. I then told him I saw no value in sending a letter. He asked me to let them know when we were going to discuss the potential acquisition so they could be present to inform us of their concerns. I said I would do that. I also made it clear that the Council had not yet decided to acquire their site. Attached is a letter that Mayor Blesener received from their attorney dated August 1st. (I did not schedule this for our last meeting given that two Council Members were out of town.) You will note their opposition to our interest in their site and that they feel the value of the site could exceed $2,000,000. You will also note a comment about staff not making MAC aware of Council discussions on this topic. For the record, a request to be informed of Council meetings when this topic was to be discussed was not received until the conversation with Mr. Hangge on the 27th of July. At that time, I informed him that I would let him know when the Council would be discussing the topic. It appears obvious that if we decide to acquire this site, it will be a contentious affair. Staff believes this is the best site for a new Public Works Garage due to the following reasons: • Current Zoning allows outdoor storage so our use would not be inconsistent with other land uses in this area.