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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/04/2001 EDAC Minutes 1 APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES DATE: Thursday, October 4, 2001 MEMBERS PRESENT: H. Juni, K. Hansmann, R. Jensen, D. Gorowsky, T. Vacha, J. Schwartz, J. Milbauer MEMBERS ABSENT: F. Chase, B. Hicks OTHERS PRESENT: D. Carlson, M. Divine, M. Grochala GENERAL/MINUTES Due to F. Chase’s absence, Vice Chair Gorowsky chaired the meeting. Minutes were approved with corrections. COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD Ms. Divine informed the board that three candidates all received awards this year: John Sullivan, outgoing chair of the Charter Commission and active in Earth Day; George Lindy, a long-time Park Board member; and Andy Cardinal, past council and P&Z member, also on the board of the Rice Creek Watershed District. MARKETPLACE DEVELOPMENT Ms. Divine updated the committee regarding the Target/Kohl’s tax abatement. Council voted in favor of a $519,300 abatement, or a maximum of five years, whichever came first. A waiver of $105,000 in surface water management fees was also approved. The subsidy will be divided between the parties based on the square footage of the two projects. Ms. Carlson corrected Ms. Divine’s error regarding the council vote. The tax abatement vote was 4 to 1, with Councilmember Dahl voting no, and the waiver of fees was a 3 to 2 vote, with Councilmembers Dahl and Carlson voting no. Mr. Gorowsky questioned if the lower abatement had an impact on the project. Mr. Grochala stated that the project is moving forward. They had held firm with their earlier request for subsidy, but recognized it would not be adopted. Site preparation should begin in September and Target is still anticipating to open July 2002, although all the contingency time is gone. Kohl’s is looking at a fall 2002 opening. 2 Ms. Schwartz asked if the lesson learned is that if a developer comes in asking for something because they say they need it, but if the city gives them less, do they still do the project? Mr. Grochala responded that in reality the subsidy was cut in half over the last couple months. Mr. Gorowsky said it might not be possible to learn a lesson from one project, because there are so many different factors. Mr. Milbauer stated he had information that Target has said it never had a more difficult time putting a project in a city. Going forward, developers are going to be cautious about developing in Lino Lakes, and that it does nothing to improve the image of the city. Mr. Gorowsky said that was more consistent with the preexisting image. While this project succeeded, it may not improve development for the future. Ms. Carlson talked about the Target in Minneapolis, where the city kept committing more money to the project. The city opened two doors, commercial development asking for abatement, and one for companies asking for waiver of fees. Mr. Milbauer noted that TIF and abatement are incentives for development to come in, and the TIF door had been open before. Ms. Carlson responded that the city supported an abatement policy that had not been in place. She believes there was some financial need because of the cost of the road, but there was never a firm number established because financial information from the developers never was submitted. Mr. Vacha said the project caused deviations from policy, such as the road, so there were problems that made it a more difficult project. Ms. Hansmann said she hoped that the city had policies in the right order and dealt with issues up front, before a development proposal came in. Mr. Milbauer said the development on Lexington spurred Target to move faster than it would have, and any project will spur issues that have to be dealt with. Ms. Schwartz noted it was important to discuss lessons learned and remember the common threads in future development. Ms. Divine noted that the development agreement was on the next council agenda, along with two purchase agreements. Mr. Grochala explained that acquisition of right-of-way from JADT involved the city buying everything from the south right-of-way, which includes a remnant piece that will result from the road construction. Another purchase agreement will be on the agenda so that the city, once it owns the piece, can sell it to Ryan Companies for the price the city pays for it. The cost to the city for purchasing the property for the road will be assessed back to the developers, JADT and Ryan. He added that staff has been working with McDonald’s, which received site plan approval in 2000. Because of some changes due to the new Market Place development, modifications were made to the McDonald’s site plan, and it will go back through P&Z and council for review and approval. McDonald’s will have an option for a temporary access in case Apollo Drive is not completed by the time it wants to open, which is four months from whenever they break ground. Ms. Divine showed the committee pictures of the retro McDonald’s that will be built in Lino Lakes. 3 VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT Ms. Divine stated the Livable Communities grant has been submitted for $1.5 million in the Village. She reviewed the market study completed for the senior housing project in the Village, noting that demographic studies can be helpful to the committee when considering broader scope economic development policies and services for the community. She highlighted the 41% growth expected in senior residents over the next five years. The income of seniors in Lino Lakes is higher than average and will continue to rise. Most of the current and planned senior developments in the market area will be lower income housing, and there is little market for more of that type. The developer has guaranteed that 20% of this project would be affordable units. The study recommends approximately 100 units with the amenities of the Village as shown in concept. With the Tagg site as it is today, the area doesn’t support the higher amenity, higher income units. She added that the information for this study is valuable when looking at proposed land use. If the Village ends up developing as a retail site, there is nowhere else under the proposed land use plan where this kind of density is allowed. Ms. Divine said she would run copies of the market study for the next meeting. Mr. Milbauer said the YMCA has reached its “break ground” goal. Andersen Windows committed to a $300,000 contribution, which puts fund raising over the $5 million mark. He said he feels confident that groundbreaking will occur next year. He added that initially the city council had approved up to 10 acres for the YMCA. Ms. Divine said 6.7 acres was committed. Mr. Milbauer said a request would be coming from the YMCA for 3 additional acres. Ms. Divine noted that the 3 acres that could be added to the YMCA site is owned by the city under Contract for Deed, which is coming due. The city expected to sell those three acres to help pay off that contract. Ms. Hansmann questioned if the second access was crucial to the YMCA. Ms. Divine said it was not critical to the Y, but was to the housing and commercial developers. Ms. Schwartz asked if the taxpayers of Lino Lakes are carrying the brunt of subsidizing the Y for people in other cities. Ms. Divine stated only Lino Lakes residents get a discount on memberships for 15 years. Mr. Milbauer added that discussions with other cities have looked at a pro rata discount for contributions to the Y construction. No cities have committed, but it’s an ongoing process. The focus in the past year has been on the east YMCA, but that is complete and the YMCA grant writer is now focusing on the Lino Lakes Y. Other foundation grants are pending. Ms. Carlson asked for a corrected copy of the September minutes. She added that a recent newspaper article talked about a North Oaks project on the Lino Lakes south border included senior housing. Meeting adjourned 8:10 a.m. 4