06-19-2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

EDC Minutes June 19, 2009 Page 3 of 4 Commissioner Belting agreed and said he would like to see a timetable for the redevelopment of the road itself (the infrastructure) because County Road 10 is the gateway to the City. He concurred with Commissioner Entsminger that TIF should never be off the table and that the terms of agreements are important. He said that although the terms of Medtronic’s TIF are longer than normal, Medtronic created thousands of jobs in tough economic times. He concluded that TIF is a great tool, is useful and is needed. Commissioner Entsminger stated that she truly appreciates the Council because they are fiscally responsible but sometimes “you have to spend money to make money”. She said that if developers hear that Mounds View is against TIF, they will move on to New Brighton, Arden Hills or Blaine. Commissioner Johnson said that TIF should be one of the many tools available, that all the tools should be on the table and that the City should promote all the available tools. She added that the City is in a competitive environment and cannot act otherwise. Commissioner Belting agreed and said that it does not make sense to use only some of the available tools when other cities are using more (if not all) of the tools. The consensus of the EDC was that the redevelopment of County Road 10 should remain the priority and that redevelopment cannot happen without the use of TIF or other public financing tools. The EDC shifted its discussion towards code enforcement & housing. Commission Entsminger mentioned that she had watched two other cities’ meetings regarding code violations and Mounds View is no different. She felt that residents have blasted Jeremiah Anderson without cause. She said that he does a great job for the City of Mounds View. Commissioner Johnson agreed. The EDC agreed that if the amount of code violations continues to rise, the City would need to hire a part-time code enforcement employee to assist Jeremiah. Regarding housing, the consensus of the EDC was that the City should get involved in extreme cases, however since there are housing programs already available to Mounds View residents, the City should stay focused on the redevelopment of County Road 10. Mr. Roberts said that City staff would forward today’s discussion to the EDA. 7. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Entsminger stated that a resident spoke at a recent Council meeting about how the Police Department is not tagging cars for overnight parking. She said that she takes exception to that because she lives on a busy street and whenever there is an accident or someone speeding, the police are there within a nanosecond. She said that the police are dealing with deaths, abuse, drugs, etc. and if they happen to see an illegally parked car, then they tag the car. She concluded by suggesting if people have enough time on their hands to create a time log of illegally parked cars, then maybe they should volunteer with the Police Department.