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DRAFT provision in the legislation for communities to exercise such an opportunity. The legislation provides for all Ramsey County communities to be included with the exception of the City of St. Paul, who is specifically excluded unless they would choose to have the County levy within the City. DAKOTA COUNTY CLUSTER MODEL The Dakota County cluster model is essentially an altemative form of governance. However, in reviewing the process with the Director of the Dakota County Community Development Agency, we learned that the HRA levy decisions have not been delegated to an alternative advisory group. This model is discussed in greater detail in Attachment A. POTENTIAL USES OF HRA LEVY DOLLARS An HRA levy can be used for many housing, development, and redevelopment activities. In the area of housing the focus must be on low and middle income households. With respect to development and redevelopment activities, the blight test is commonly utilized. An HRA levy could serve as a resource for particularly difficult projects , mostly notably associated with the high cost of redevelopment, which has become a significant issue to first ring suburbs. These projects often entail acquisition, demolition, soil correction and infrastructure costs. On occasion a property comes on the open market which a community may wish to purchase knowing a broader redevelopment plan is under consideration. Such a purchase can assure that the community can hold the property while a thoughtful process of all of the aspects of the entire redevelopment plan can be undertaken. The outcome may include housing and /or commercial development. In some instances, the acquired property may be ultimately sold to a developer and the initial investment of the HRA could be recouped. A number of examples have come to our attention in recent months where this potential resource could be of value. The Housing Resource Center in Shoreview which serves several Ramsey County communities and has the capacity to serve all communities focuses on rehabilitation of properties targets households within this income range. They have specifically requested county HRA assistance with the operating budget for year 2003 because of the documented need for their services and the interest which has been shown by many communities in the work that they do. Last year the City of Shoreview designated this City owned property for the work of this entity with the County using CDBG dollars along with the City for the purpose of bringing the property up to code for this use. Another example includes assistance with the redevelopment of the southeast corner of Snelling and Larpenteur within the City of Falcon Heights. A major redevelopment plan is underway, a housing developer has been chosen and plans for significant new housing