Minutes - 2005/06/20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council June 20, 2005 Special Meeting Page 4 • schools needed additional funding in order to have educated students. She noted the City already had two schools that were considered low income schools and believed a good company coming into the City would benefit the schools. She stated she was in support of this project. Daniel Hall, 2200 Highway 10, asked if the golf course was self-sufficient and what was the revenue trend. He noted a three percent a year growth was unrealistic. He stated it was probably a three percent negative growth during the past five years. He stated Blaine had never turned down Medtronic to go into that City and Medtronic had not been turned down by a lot of cities. He complimented Jim Ericson for his paper and noted it was a very thorough report. City Administrator Ulrich replied the golf course was self-sufficient with the three percent revenue growth and the billboard revenue. However, if there was no billboard revenue, the golf course would not be self sufficient. Mr. Hall noted the golf course was still being funded by the taxpayers. Ms. Kvilvang replied Mr. Hall was correct because the operating of the golf course did not cash flow annually and that was the reason for the billboards. She noted the City was required to put additional funds yearly to make sure the reserve was maintained. Phil Sipe, President SYSCO, 2400 County J, stated he had an emotional tie to the golf course, but as a business person, it made sense to do this development project. He stated they presently employ 639 jobs with benefits and their employees made use of the facilities in Mounds View. He stated they supported this because of the additional tax revenue, high paying jobs, it was a • clean industry, it resulted in badly needed improvements in County Road J and the bridge over 35W, and this might be the only opportunity to improve the road in the near future, the project included trails and the wooded land dedicated to the City by Sysco. He noted their employees enjoyed walking during their lunch hour, but had to cross the street to access trails. He stated their employees patronized the Mounds View businesses. He stated the Medtronic project was an important improvement to the City and encouraged them to go forward with the development. Ken Glidden, 5240 Edgewood Drive, stated he has lived in the City for 37 years and supported the Medtronic proposal. He questioned how they had reached this point in the discussions with respect to TIF financing and it being an inherit part of this proposal. He asked if this was a deal breaker and who initiated the discussion regarding TIF financing. He stated he would like to welcome them as a corporate tax paying neighbor, but he did not understand why they got this type of a tax break. City Administrator Ulrich replied this was a Medtronic request and Medtronic needed that to make the site work for their business requirements. Torri Johnson, 7730 Long Lake Road, stated she was a 14 year resident of Mounds View and lived on the north side of County Road 10. She expressed concern about the increase in traffic and she had every reason to not support this project, but she wholeheartedly did support it because the schools would benefit from this proposal, the City would get an immediate benefit from the sale and the reduction of the debt, the tax base would increase, as well as $800,000 for the parks. She stated she was excited for Medtronic to be part of the community. She urged the • Council/EDA to approve this project and do what was right for the City and its residents.