05-02-2016 Council Work Session Minutes

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION May 2, 2016 APPROVED 134 - Mr. Moriteza then filed an appeal to the Anoka County district court asking for relief on 135 the matter; 136 - The assessment issue arose again when a restaurant requested a liquor license and back 137 taxes were identified; 138 - A court hearing is now scheduled for next week on the matter. 139 140 Mayor Reinert asked about the court process and heard that the city is likely to be allowed 141 to have the assessment stand; of course both sides would incur court costs. He thinks the 142 path coming here today is ridiculous and, being pragmatic, he'd suggest splitting the 143 difference and avoiding the court costs. 144 145 Council Member Kusterman asked Mr. Moriteza about the status of Anytime Fitness, and 146 heard it is still operating with the showers in question. 147 148 Mr. Moriteza argued that he already paid for the properly and doesn't feel he owes 149 additionally for that purchase. He purchased the building six months after the charges 150 came up so they are owed by the previous owner. He has paid the taxes and due to lack 151 of tenants at one point he almost lost the property. 152 153 Council Member Kusterman argued that the city didn't benefit from the improvements as 154 far as he can see. 155 156 Council Member Manthey noted that it seems that Mr. Moriteza has done his due 157 diligence with the property and tried to work it out. 158 159 The council asked about the possibility of seeking payment from the previous owner; Mr. 16o Grochala explained that he can't respond on the legal possibility. What the city could 161 possibly do is look at the SAC amount determination and, since the Met Council's 162 parameters have changed, there could be a lesser amount of SAC owed to the city in the 163 form of credit and he could check on that possibility by the court hearing next Tuesday. 164 The mayor suggested that the council look at two solutions — one being taking a lesser 165 amount into consideration and one that doesn't. GO 167 The council discussed the involvement of title insurance and Mr. Moriteza explained that 168 despite the fact that he purchased title insurance, the company providing it will not take 169 responsibility since it involves a government mistake. 170 171 Council Member Maher explained that she sees government mistakes leading to this issue 172 and it appears that Mr. Moriteza wasn't able to know about the charges. She is leaning 173 toward abating the charges. If the city must hold someone responsible, there should be a 174 course to follow the trail to the person who really should be paying. 175 176 The council will have additional opportunity to discuss this prior to the court date. Mr. 177 Grochala suggested delaying the hearing so that attorney preparation doesn't cause 178 additional costs to be incurred while more study occurs. 0