07-26-06 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JULY 26, 2006 a small site, depending on the type of development. The Administrator anticipated some type of fast food development, although McDonald's will require no hamburger restaurant as a condition of land transfer. The Administrator noted that McDonald's is willing to do the property exchange to improve their redevelopment opportunity. He also noted that the County is working with MN DOT on the transfer of excess right-of- way that they would then vacate to the City. The County is also looking into the potential use of turn-back funds to assist in Viking Drive realignment costs. The Administrator reported that he has asked McDonald's if they were willing to demo the Oasis building. McDonald's would prefer not to and indicated that many times in purchase agreements the requirement is added that the seller demo the structures on the property. The Administrator noted that the seller would be responsible for the clean up of any hazardous waste. The Administrator noted that if an environmental assessment was done on the property and the potential for hazardous waste was low, the City could agree to conduct The clean-up for a dramatically reduced price. The consensus of the Council was that the Administrator should proceed with drafting purchase agreements for 85 and 91 West Viking Drive as well as continue working with McDonald's and Oasis. MATTHEWS The City Administrator reported that John Matthews has not been able to PROJECT assemble the properties for a redevelopment project in the Rice Street area, and given the changes in the eminent domain laws and the exorbitant asking price for one of the sites, this project appears to be dead. The Administrator noted that the Trobec property is for sale and the Bordsen property is likely available. He stated one option would be to pursue purchase agreements for these two sites at this time. The City would then hold the properties for future redevelopment. The Administrator estimated a purchase price for the two properties between $700,000 and $800,000. The Administrator also noted that the property is zoned PUD; therefore, the City has some additional control over the development of these sites. As a result, the City may not need to own the property to exercise adequate control over its redevelopment. He also noted that once the Sherman development is completed and occupied, it may encourage more redevelopment of the Rice Street area. The Council noted that the City maybe faced with continuing code enforcement issues on this property. However, the consensus was that the PUD zoning would provide the City the control it needs for redevelopment