Agenda Packets - 2000/02/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council March 22, 1999 Regular Meeting Page 29 Mayor Coughlin stated he would be agreeable amend the motion as indicated. Ayes – 4 Nays – 0 Motion carried. D. Resolution 5323 Authorizing Application for DTED Redevelopment Grant Economic Development Coordinator Kevin Carroll stated he had provided the Council with a memorandum that summarizes the background of this item. He explained that the Department of Trade and Economic Development has grant funds that are available as a result of action taken by the Legislature the previous year. He indicated these funds were a total of four million dollars, divided up into two grant cycles, the first of which, ended last fall. Economic Development Coordinator Carroll stated the previous Council had authorized him to submit a grant application to DTED seeking financial assistance with respect to the Mermaid Project which was pending at that time, and is currently pending. He presented the Council with a copy of the grant application that was previously submitted, which consisted of a number of questions that were required to be answered with regard to the project. He explained that staff had also provided a number of exhibits including maps, letters, and other relevant information. Economic Development Coordinator Carroll stated staff had requested a $500,000 grant from DTED, which was a substantial amount of money, however, they had been uncertain regarding the amount of funding DTED was considering awarding. He noted DTED did not indicate in advance the number of grants they would award, and what the amounts would be, and since this was a new program, staff thought it best to aim for a large amount. He stated out of the top twenty applicants, the City finished tenth, and DTED funded the top six. He indicated the amounts of these grants were referenced in the staff materials he had provided the Council. Economic Development Coordinator Carroll advised that although the Mermaid Project has not reached any form of resolution, the City was facing an April 1 deadline in connection with this redevelopment grant. He stated this was the deadline for submitting applications for the second phase of the redevelopment grant application process. He indicated that one of the options available was to update the previous grant application, and resubmit it. He stated a substantial amount of work was involved with the first application, however, updating the application would involve the addition of information regarding the progress of the project since the original submittal, possibly updating some of the exhibits, and would require approximately 2 or 3 hours of his time. Economic Development Coordinator Carroll pointed out that the fact that the project has not been formally approved could possibly be used as an argument in favor of the grant. He explained that they could continue to maintain that in the absence of grant funds from the State, it might not be financially feasible to proceed with the project. Economic Development Coordinator Carroll stated staff might fine-tune the application by scaling back on the amount of money they are requesting. He explained that of the six grants that were previously authorized, only was for an amount over $500,000, therefore they might trim their request back a bit.