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Mounds View EDA January 14, 2005 Special Meeting Page 4 opportunity, and that the Council should fully pursue it to whatever means they can. He stated 130 that the whole purpose of TIF money is for economic development, and what larger project could 131 there be in Minnesota right now than this particular project. 132 133 President Marty stated that that was true, but they had had that experience with NCR where the 134 City had spent a lot of money when they didn’t have a purchase agreement, and NCR had gone 135 elsewhere. He stated his concern that Medtronic would go elsewhere if the State decided they 136 couldn’t expand the bridge from two to four lanes going across 35W. 137 138 Commissioner Stigney stated that it was important to get this appraisal for any potential 139 development on this site, whether it was Medtronic or another company. 140 141 Commissioner Flaherty stated that this was being done for Medtronic. 142 143 Commissioner Stigney stated that the AUAR would be good for 20 years. 144 145 Commissioner Flaherty stated that he had no problem with the AUAR because they needed to see 146 what the potential of that area was. He stated he was looking for something concrete. 147 148 Commissioner Stigney stated that what is concrete is how much this project would increase the 149 tax base for Mounds View. He stated that right now they are getting absolutely nothing. 150 151 Commissioner Flaherty stated he was not against this project; he just wanted to see more 152 information on it. 153 154 Economic Development Director Backman stated that they are trying to get that information as 155 quickly as possible. He stated that other developers have approached the City, and he has 156 interacted with them and provided them with information. He stated if the project with 157 Medtronic didn’t go through, he would be negotiating with others. He stated that the State is 158 seriously looking at the interchange of 35W and County Road J, and they have awarded a 159 $100,000 contract for doing additional evaluations encompassing that intersection. 160 161 President Marty stated that the increase in City taxes was due in large part to the government 162 assistance cuts and the referendum for the police officers. He stated that there are hard decisions 163 that the Council has to make, and they are trying to figure out ways to ease the tax burden in 164 Mounds View. He stated that if this particular deal doesn’t work, probably just an update on this 165 appraisal would need to be done in the future at a nominal cost. 166 167 City Administrator Ulrich stated that this is an action that is more specific to Medtronic because 168 it’s at their request. He stated that the meeting on January 3rd was really the first time the 169 Council had had an opportunity to hear about this proposal in more detail. He stated that this 170 may or may not be valuable for a future project. He stated that they want to know what their risk 171