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EDC Minutes March 21, 2003 Page 2 were interviewed, and next week the four finalists will be interviewed a second time. Backman also participated in various meetings, including the Gaming Oversight Committee (2/26/03), the Board of the Directors Meeting and the Membership Gaming Meeting on 2/28/03. Helgemoe noted the Chamber’s Spring Golf Tournament occurs on May 20th. D. Report of Staff: 1. Edgewood Regional Pond—Grant Request to Ramsey Co.: As part of the Mermaid expansion, a regional drainage pond was constructed west of the Mermaid complex and east of the Edgewood Middle School. The total cost of the project was approx. $494,000 with the great majority paid for through grants. As the EDC is aware, the State of Minnesota (DTED) provided $333,333 that has been fully drawn down. Other funding sources include Ramsey County and Rice Creek Watershed District. Ramsey County’s policy is to contribute to regional pond projects based on the relative contributing drainage area (in this case, 15.5% of the final construction cost of $375,459.64 (excluding engineering and administrative expenses). Backman has submitted a request for reimbursement of $58,196.24 to Terry Noonan, Water Resources Project Manager (Ramsey County). He expects that to come in the next couple of weeks. Following that step he will proceed with the Rice Creek request. 2. EDA Approval of 5 TIF Developer Payments for 2nd Half 2002: Backman indicated that on March 10th the EDA approved developer payments for five projects in the City—C.G. Hill, Building N, Silver Lake Pointe, Midwest I.V. and Zep Manufacturing. These payments reflect the tax increments collected for the last half of 2002 and for this time period totaled approximately $75,000. 3. Developer Activities—Community Dev. Group (Amoco): Community Development Group (CDG), the developer from Michigan continues to push ahead with the retail project at the corner of Silver Lake Road and Co. Highway 10. This project is moving slower than what Backman would like. The problem is not the local landowners or price but rather with getting the necessary approvals and documentation from BP Amoco. URS, the architects for the project, have done a primarily layout of what the site could look like. It shows the 13,000 sq. ft. building for the national retailer, a smaller area for additional retail, and 106 parking spaces. CDG has not released the name of the end user at this point. Field asked about any environmental issues on the Amoco site. Backman responded that studies have not indicated anything hazardous at this point. He believes that this redevelopment will have a positive effect in the neighborhood and will lead to other spin-offs in the western portion of the City. For example, Steve’s Appliances is looking at possibly expanding or remodeling its facilities on Co. Hwy 10. Helgemoe inquired about the intended use of the vacant lot used for Christmas trees. Backman stated that Integra, a Twin Cities developer, with the intent of building town homes, acquired the property. There are several hurdles with that concept, including zoning changes, neighborhood concerns, and access onto Co. Hwy 10. 4. City of Mounds View received I-35W TCBM Insert & Chamber Resource Guide: Backman handed out copies of the insert and the resource guide. Both of these marketing pieces were delivered to the City on February 21st after our last EDC meeting. Copies have been distributed to major employers in the community, at the Home & Garden Show, and to other groups. Backman indicated that he did not have a lot of editorial input regarding the Resource Guide. While he wrote up a narrative more focused on business development, the section describing Mounds View ended up discussing more the history of the City. One error he noticed was the total number of housing units in Mounds View. It should be 5,130, not 11,504. Field asked about the lower median home price for Mounds View (vs. other cities). Backman mentioned the higher proportion of manufactured homes and other lower cost units