05-13-1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 5 . May 13, 1996 Mounds View City Council C. On April 29, council authorized the hiring of an architectural firm to help gather information about possible uses. Staff raised concerns about the need to plan before a purchase was made. Council has not yet received this information. D. On May 1, Mr. Jambor refused to sign the option to buy agreement. Staff requested a meeting with Mr. Jambor. A meeting was arranged for that day, May 1. Mayor Linke and Council member Blanchard attended. Council member Quick nor I were told of the meeting. I found out about it 30 minutes before it took place because I happened to have called the administrator about another issue. He told me about Mr. Jambor. E. On May 2, I called the administrator and was informed of intimidating comments made by Mr. Jambor's lawyer to staff. I was informed at that time that the mayor had called an "emergency" meeting for May 3 at S: 30 p.m. Council member Quick questioned the legality of notice of the meeting. On May 3, the meeting was cancelled. F. On May 6, the council called to order in a work session and took action to buy the Bel Rae. Work sessions are known to be a time when the council does not take action on business. Work sessions are only discussion sessions. On rare occasions, minor items are taken care of. Emergency -Crisis??? There is a claim of an emergency and a crisis. It appears that there was a drummed up crisis and certainly no emergency. The health and safety of residents was not at risk. The following is other information that may help to understand the situation. - According to staff, Mr. Jambor refused to negotiate with staff. For months he and the mayor held their own private talks with no notification to arryone and without sharing information with the council. - From Mr. Jambor's side of the debate there has been only hearsay. No written evidence of other purchase offers was provided to the council. Hearsay was that Mr. Waste was ready to buy now at a substantially higher price. Weeks ago Mr. Waste had told me that he was interested in the facility and that Mr. Jambor told him that he could have second chance at a purchase if the city did not buy it. A major developer talked to me about its interest in the property and I told the council and asked staff to follow up. To my knowledge there has been no follow-up. - It was reported that Mr. Jambor told many people that the city was buying the facility. He said he had a handshake deal with the mayor. - According to staff, Mr. Jambor and his lawyer, at the one meeting in city hall, complained that the city was not treating him very well. Mr. Jambor and his lawyer said that my comment about the city being able to have the option to get out of the deal was terrible. However, the fact is the agreement allowed the city to do just that if the city determined the purchase was not in the best interest of the city. • Results