Laserfiche WebLink
Mounds View EDA June 27, 2005 <br />Regular Meeting Page 16 <br /> <br /> 634 <br />Motion failed due to lack of second. 635 <br /> 636 <br />Vice President Stigney noted that Medtronic is also paying the $314,000 in expenses for the 637 <br />AUAR and water testing. He stated that Medtronic would be transferring positions with a 638 <br />growth potential of 300 jobs per year. He referenced the Economic Development spin-off 639 <br />opportunities stating that it is his belief that it would be unequal noting that as far as increasing 640 <br />values of the homes in the area because the demand for housing could be a big advantage. He 641 <br />noted that 80-percent of the residents do not play golf and he is here to represent their interests 642 <br />too. He noted that the golf course is a cash strain and has been from the beginning. He stated 643 <br />that from May of last year to May of this year there has been a 27-percent decline and the golf 644 <br />course has brought in $70,000 less than last year, which means city is subsidizing course. 645 <br /> 646 <br />Commissioner Thomas stated that the revenues were compared from this year and last year 647 <br />noting that it is not a fair comparison. She stated that it is not the fault of the golf course that 648 <br />there has been a decrease in play due to these discussions and weather. He stated that this is not 649 <br />a fair comparison noting that they have a good enough history to compare that they do not need 650 <br />to take this into account. 651 <br /> 652 <br />President Marty stated that he agrees that the residents should have the right to vote on anything 653 <br />of this magnitude in the city, as they are all part owners. He stated that to have five people vote 654 <br />on an issue that is a hot button topic concerns him. He stated that Springsted did an independent 655 <br />evaluation on the golf course in 2000 for bonding and to determine why it was losing money. He 656 <br />explained that it was revealed in the report that it was due to the lawsuits and legal fees after the 657 <br />golf course was constructed due to construction shortfalls. He stated that he would like this 658 <br />entered into the record and pulled forward. He stated that Springsted found that the golf course 659 <br />was making far more money than the conservative estimates it was projected at and if it hadn’t 660 <br />been for the lawsuits after construction the golf course would have been self-sufficient with 661 <br />estimates that were made setup for the bonding and payments. He stated that the amount of 662 <br />revenue it had generated far exceeded the estimates. He asked if there is anyone on the Council 663 <br />that has anything they would like to disclose before taking the vote. He noted that Commissioner 664 <br />Thomas has mentioned to him at the House Subcommittee meeting that she knew Donn 665 <br />Hagmann and that he is her cousin’s father. 666 <br /> 667 <br />Commissioner Thomas confirmed that he is her aunt’s ex-husband and pointed out that this was 668 <br />the first time she had seen him in twelve years. 669 <br /> 670 <br />Commissioner Gunn stated that there is no conflict of interest and the City Attorney has also 671 <br />clarified that there is no conflict of interest. 672 <br /> 673 <br />President Marty asked City Attorney Riggs to clarify the process of transferring the property to 674 <br />the EDA and why they are doing this. 675