Minutes - 2005/08/08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council August S, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 6 • intention of purchasing the 72-acres with the thought of land trading or profit by selling. He stated that at the same time the contract gives Medtronic a free hand to the extent that they can, under certain conditions, sell the property. He stated that he knows that there are provisals that the EDA would be involved in adding that there are also provisals that the EDA cannot unfairly or unnecessarily withhold the approval of the sale of the property and under at least two of the conditions Medtronic could sell the property. He suggested that if subdivision and sale is going to be allowed the City should break it up and convey the land by section/subdivision. He stated that if Phase 1 comes to be, that is fine, but Phase 2 would require renegotiation because the City would still own the land and the City would gain from the increase in value. Mr. McCarty summarized stating that the job issue very clearly shows, by testimony from Medtronic, that the jobs in Phase 1 would come from two facilities in Shoreview that would be closed, two facilities in Arden Hills that would be closed, and the facility in Spring Lake Park. He stated that Medtronic has stricken the exclusion verbiage in the contract that excludes existing jobs from the job commitment of 1500, which simply means that Medtronic is not tied to this number and they are now hearing that Phase 1 would not bring very many new jobs and nothing is guaranteed beyond that for Phases 2 and 3. Mr. McCarty concluded by stating that in presenting the amount of money that Medtronic claimed they would bring to the City of Mounds View, they put in $46,000.00 for administration costs noting that these are TIF related administrative costs and it does nothing for the General • Fund. He noted that they are calculating their taxes a bit higher at $43,000.00 per year, but in the face of this year's $S.I3 million dollar budget, the $43,000.00 doesn't impress him. He stated that was does impress him is Medtronic's claim that their franchise fee would be $80,000.00 a year to the City of Mounds View noting that as all of the Council knows the last Council he served on tried to get rid of the hidden tax and bring it to floor so the residents would know what they are getting. He stated that the last Council incorporated a provision in the last budget that 25-percent of this would be taken away and replaced with the property tax and over a period of four years would be gone. He stated that he understands it is back to the original 4-percent and expressed concerns about the future when future Councils see $80,000.00 a year in franchise fees at the very start. He stated that the business community and residents should know this noting that if the franchise fee is such a plum for the City then they should consider how long it would lock the rest of us in for the same situation. He stated that they would never see the hidden tax come into the light of day on the property taxes it should be. David Jahnke, 8428 Eastwood Road, stated that he would like to comment on the last speaker noting that he has never seen a tax that went away in the City of Mounds View. He stated that he does not understand what all the comments were about adding that he is very disappointed that nothing was mentioned about all the pluses the Medtronic project would bring to the City of Mounds View. He stated- that only the negatives were mentioned, which he found very disappointing. He indicated that a resident did come down and shared honest information with the City noting that there should have been a mass mailing to the community that included the true facts of this .project. He expressed concerns regarding the information that is being provided • to the community noting that there has been considerable miscommunication from the start. He expressed his doubts about signing the petition when the information on the petition is not clear