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Mounds View City Council June 20, 2005 <br />Special Meeting Page 9 <br />Cynthia Winegarner, 2200 Highway 10, AmericInn and the Mermaid, stated she was a <br />stakeholder within the AmericInn and the Mermaid and believed it was rude that the Mayor <br />asked her to hold her comments and then had the Mayor of New Brighton speak before her. She <br />noted Medtronic already did a tremendous amount of business with them and their business <br />increased 25 percent year over year. She noted Medtronic created revenue in the City. She stated <br />they shuttled their guests around to local businesses and utilized the businesses in the City. She <br />stated Medtronic employees would have an economic impact in the City. She stated the <br />economic outcome to the City could be irreversible if Medtronic did not come into the City. <br />Mayor Marty apologized to Ms. Winegarner for asking the Mayor of New Brighton to speak <br />before her. <br />Peter Weinberger, 8011 Eastwood Road, student at Irondale, stated a few weeks back he made a <br />big mistake by basing his term paper on the current activities on the EDA and Council. He noted <br />he had interviewed three of the Council Members and had received some of the same <br />information. He stated he had also done a survey and came up with different results. He <br />believed the Medtronic employees would eat at their cafeteria instead of patronizing the Mounds <br />View businesses. He asked if Council Member/BDA Commissioner Gunn had a conflict of <br />interest because she worked for the Mounds View School District. Council Member/EDA <br />Commissioner Gunn replied $100,000 would not affect her job whatsoever and she doubted she <br />would ever see any of that money; it was not a benefit to her, and she did not think this was a <br />conflict of interest. <br />. Byran Griffin, 5505 Quincy Street, stated this was a big decision and the TIF financing was a big <br />question mark. He stated 26 years to go without any taxes was too long. He indicated the voters <br />should decide this question, not the Council. He expressed concern about safety and the increase <br />in traffic. He noted everyone had traffic issues and speeding problems, but the way to solve it <br />was not to add more cars. He stated they should look at some of the other options presented by <br />the Community Development Director. <br />Cindy Sebesta, 2.146 Hillview Road, stated she knew people who worked for Medtronic and they <br />liked the company, but she differed with the way this was structured and the sale price. She <br />noted the City had a lot of other options and they needed to look at this. She asked if this would <br />benefit the parcels that were included in the other TIF districts. She stated people had to look at <br />this on a personal basis and what this was costing them and they needed to reexamine the price <br />structure and TIF funding. She stated she did not want to subsidize a large business. <br />Jayne Griffith, 8778 Alamo Circle, Blaine, congratulated the Council Members for holding this <br />meeting. She noted she had lived in Fridley when the previous Medtronic proposal came in and <br />the City of Fridley did not handle it properly and hold a public hearing. She stated she was <br />opposed to this development. She indicated their quality of life would decrease due to the <br />increase of traffic, noise and light pollution. She stated it made her calm to see the golf course <br />and people out there golfing. She noted she was distressed about the major extreme in traffic. <br />She expressed concern about flooding due to the rapid development and the impervious surface. <br />She stated she believed it was highly doubtful there would be an economic benefit to the citizens <br />of businesses of Mounds View. She noted there was already a Medtronic facility very close to <br />