Minutes - 2005/01/24 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 19 not looking for any direction or action this evening, but would be bringing it back for the EDA's consideration on February 14th. He stated that if this becomes a situation where there are competing offers and the Council feels this is something it needs to consider for a possible acquisition, a special meeting could be held of the EDA on February 7th Mayor Marty stated that they have been trying to sell it off and on for the last year and a half, and they haven't had any takers. He stated that in order to fix and straighten out County 10, those properties would have to be acquired in order to do that, but it would create a larger piece of property where the road exists now just south of Jakes, so he thought they should probably direct staff to look into that. Council Member Stigney asked how much assistance the Donut Connection had received from the City. Director Ericson stated he wasn't aware that they had received any. Council Member Stigney asked if they were in a TIF District now. Director Ericson stated he didn't believe the parcel was in a TIF District. Council Member Stigney asked if he could check on the funding. • Director Ericson stated he would look into it. He stated that this property and the gas station property are on the City's list of properties that could be acquired. Council Member Stigney stated that when you buy something to speculate after a certain period of time of getting something back on it, and then when it gets time to get something back, they are willing to sell it to the City, that doesn't look like it's really a good plan. Mayor Marty stated that if they were .willing to sell it to the City for less than its appraised value by Ramsey County, that's worth looking into. Council Member Stigney stated that he wants to know how much went into it. He stated if this is the policy, these people get their money up front, and then after their use is out of it, then they want to sell and get out of there, and then the City pays them off again. Mayor Marry asked Director Ericson to report back on the history of it. Council Member Flaherty stated that his initial reaction would be to do an environmental assessment of the site since gas stations are notorious for leaky tanks, and cleanup is not the easiest and cheapest thing to do. Mayor Marty stated that that was a good point, and the City had had to clean up sites where gas • stations used to be in order to make the property marketable, so .that was something to keep in mind.