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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION <br /> APPROVED <br /> 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES <br /> 2 MINUTES <br /> 3 <br /> 4 DATE : November 7,2022 <br /> 5 TIME STARTED : 6:00 p.m. <br /> 6 TIME ENDED : 10:15 p.m. <br /> 7 MEMBERS PRESENT : Councilmember Stoesz,Lyden (part), <br /> 8 Ruhland, Cavegn and Mayor Rafferty <br /> 9 MEMBERS ABSENT : None <br /> 10 Staff members present: City Administrator Sarah Cotton; Finance Director Hannah <br /> 11 Lynch; Community Development Director Michael Grochala; City Planner Katie Larsen; <br /> 12 Director of Public Safety John Swenson; Public Services Director Rick DeGardner; <br /> 13 Rookery Activity Center Manager Lisa Lamey <br /> 14 1. Woods Edge/Silver Creek Equity Purchase Agreement—Community <br /> 15 Development Director Grochala reported. The council has previously authorized <br /> 16 execution of a purchase agreement with this group for land that the City owns in the area <br /> 17 across from City Hall. A price and terms of purchase were established, including a <br /> 18 requirement for construction of retail or restaurant prior to or concurrent with <br /> 19 construction of residential. At this point the group has not been able to come up with a <br /> 20 retail commitment and they are coming upon the deadline for doing so. They request an <br /> 21 amendment to allow them to move forward on the multi-family component and that <br /> 22 would allow them to continue seeking commercial on the site for three years after which, <br /> 23 if none is secured,they could move to residential development. Mr. Grochala introduced <br /> 24 representatives of Silver Creek Equity who provided information on the elements of <br /> 25 residential development they hope to develop. They spoke on the difficulty of securing a <br /> 26 restaurant in the current economy and the proposal they have developed that would allow <br /> 27 them to move forward. Option one would be to end the contract based on the inability to <br /> 28 locate a commercial element; option two would be to move forward with an amendment <br /> 29 to the contract. High level architectural renderings were shown as well as two site plan <br /> 30 options. <br /> 31 <br /> 32 Councilmember Cavegn received more information on the restaurants that were <br /> 33 approached and the rationale for not moving ahead, such as high expense building,post <br /> 34 COVID economy. The developers are uncertain of the timing of economic changes in <br /> 35 the future but would like a window to continue those discussions. Councilmember <br /> 36 Cavegn said he could support moving ahead with the first residential development but <br /> 37 would have difficult removing commercial completely—this is the downtown that the <br /> 38 City envisioned. <br /> 39 <br /> 40 Councilmember Ruhland said he's okay with amending the contractual obligation. He <br /> 41 doesn't like the look of a four-story building next to the street. He would also like some <br /> 42 type of commitment to commercial long term. <br /> 43 <br /> 44 Councilmember Lyden noted that he has had concern with this development concept <br /> 1 <br />