Minutes - 2005/12/12 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council December 12, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 23 • 1 2 None. 3 4 B. Reports of Staff 5 6 1. County Road J Improvement Project Agreement 7 8 City Administrator Ulrich reported that a meeting was held this morning and it was discussed 9 that the original language in the grant was missing to get the money to the County at the right to time to purchase property along County Road J. There was a complicated discussion about how 11 to get that cash available. City Administrator Ulrich advised that a commitment was made by 12 Commissioner Bennett that the County would cash flow the project for land acquisition in the 13 amount of $5 million that would be paid back by grant monies once the language is worked out 14 with the Statute during the next legislative session. He explained that the cash is not available 15 now so it is hoped the County will step up to provide the funding and then the language will be 16 amended during the next session. 17 18 City Administrator Ulrich advised that this road project is on a tight time schedule so the County 19 needs to rush to get money forwarded. It is proposed to open this road in 2007 in conjunction 20 with the Medtronic project so it would condense a four year road project into two years. He 21 commented that it is very important to keep it on track and moving along. 22 23 Mayor Marry stated there were a number of minor problems and sub-issues in acquiring the 24 different properties. As far as acquiring properties, the $5 million given to the City of Mounds 25 View was to be passed on. But, the City of Mounds View cannot buy property located in Blaine 26 or Anoka County with those funds so there was discussion of a joint powers agreement 27 arrangement. Then the issue of relocation costs came up and where funds would come from 28 since it is covered by State and Federal law. Mayor Marty stated that issue v~~ill also have to go 29 back to the Legislature. 30 31 City Administrator Ulrich stated there is another $1.5 million for relocation benefits that are not 32 covered by bond money, to allow the right-of-way to be purchased by Ramsey County. A lot of 33 solutions were discussed but the most simple option would be if the County up-fronts the money 34 and allows time for the Legislature to correct the problems. 35 36 Mayor Marty stated the money needs to be 100% available to be paid out by March 20 but the 37 next Legislative session will not start until the beginning of March. 38 39 Councilmember Thomas stated she deals with this type of issue on a regular basis and the level 40 of aggregation is elevated by the shortness of time. However, it is not uncommon to have to 41 modify language to accommodate what is needed. It is an issue of finding language to allow 42 some things to occur. 43 44 C. Reports of City Attorney • 45