05-23-2016 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION May 2, 2016 DRAFT 4 - Mr. Moriteza then filed an appeal to the Anoka County district court asking for relief on 134 the matter; 135 - The assessment issue arose again when a restaurant requested a liquor license and back 136 taxes were identified; 137 - A court hearing is now scheduled for next week on the matter. 138 139 Mayor Reinert asked about the court process and heard that the city is likely to be allowed 140 to have the assessment stand; of course both sides would incur court costs. He thinks the 141 path coming here today is ridiculous and, being pragmatic, he’d suggest splitting the 142 difference and avoiding the court costs. 143 144 Council Member Kusterman asked Mr. Moriteza about the status of Anytime Fitness, and 145 heard it is still operating with the showers in question. 146 147 Mr. Moriteza argued that he already paid for the property and doesn’t feel he owes 148 additionally for that purchase. He purchased the building six months after the charges 149 came up so they are owed by the previous owner. He has paid the taxes and due to lack 150 of tenants at one point he almost lost the property. 151 152 Council Member Kusterman argued that the city didn’t benefit from the improvements as 153 far as he can see. 154 155 Council Member Manthey noted that it seems that Mr. Moriteza has done his due 156 diligence with the property and tried to work it out. 157 158 The council asked about the possibility of seeking payment from the previous owner; Mr. 159 Grochala explained that he can’t respond on the legal possibility. What the city could 160 possibly do is look at the SAC amount determination and, since the Met Council’s 161 parameters have changed, there could be a lesser amount of SAC owed to the city in the 162 form of credit and he could check on that possibility by the court hearing next Tuesday. 163 The mayor suggested that the council look at two solutions – one being taking a lesser 164 amount into consideration and one that doesn’t. 165 166 The council discussed the involvement of title insurance and Mr. Moriteza explained that 167 despite the fact that he purchased title insurance, the company providing it will not take 168 responsibility since it involves a government mistake. 169 170 Council Member Maher explained that she sees government mistakes leading to this issue 171 and it appears that Mr. Moriteza wasn’t able to know about the charges. She is leaning 172 toward abating the charges. If the city must hold someone responsible, there should be a 173 course to follow the trail to the person who really should be paying. 174 175 The council will have additional opportunity to discuss this prior to the court date. Mr. 176 Grochala suggested delaying the hearing so that attorney preparation doesn’t cause 177 additional costs to be incurred while more study occurs. 178