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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-13-2004PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOUNDS VIEW EDA CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA Regular Meeting September 13, 2004 Mounds View City Hall 2401 Highway 10, Mounds View, MN 55112 6:30 P.M. 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL: Stigney, Gunn, Marty and Linke NOT PRESENT: Quick. 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION/SECOND: Gunn/Stigney. To Approve the September 13, 2004 Agenda as Presented. Ayes – 3 Nays – 0 Motion carried. (Commissioner Marty not present for this vote.) 4. APPROVAL OF EDA MINUTES A. August 23, 2004 Minutes MOTION/SECOND: Stigney/Marty. To Approve the Minutes of August 23, 2004 as Presented. Ayes – 4 Nays – 0 Motion carried. 5. CONSENT AGENDA None. 6. EDA BUSINESS A. Resolution 04-EDA-194 Authorizing Staff to Arrange for a Commercial Appraisal of the Bridges of Mounds View Golf Course Site. President Linke stated that they are looking at a cost not to exceed $2,000, and Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that it is $2,300. Mounds View EDA September 13, 2004 Regular Meeting Page 2 MOTION/SECOND: Marty/Stigney. To Approve Resolution 04-EDA-194, Authorizing Staff to Arrange for a Commercial Appraisal of the Bridges of Mounds View Golf Course Site, with a cost not to exceed $2,300. Ayes – 4 Nays – 0 Motion carried. B. Resolution 04-EDA-195 Authorizing the Selection of a Professional Services Firm to undertake an Alternate Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) for the Bridges Golf Course Redevelopment Project. President Linke stated the staff reports were good. Economic Development Director Backman gave an overview of the three proposals submitted by RLK, Bonestroo, and DSU. He stated that BSU’s proposed cost is $75,000-$125,000; Bonastro’s is $55,300, but if staff undertakes Items 6 and 27, the price would drop to $50,300; and RLK’s cost was $55,00. He stated he felt it was pretty close between RLK and Bonastro. Commissioner Gunn asked whether staff felt they could do the two items for Bonastro. Economic Development Director Backman stated that they are dealing with a lot of issues right now, so he would choose to go with the $55,300. Commissioner Marty asked what Economic Development Director Backman’s opinion was regarding the two copies versus the 60 copies of the draft and final report. Economic Development Director Backman stated that that was not an inconsequential thing because these are books with large color diagrams inserted into them. Alan Duff from RLK stated that they would provide more copies as a reimbursable expense. He stated the cost is $25-$35 per book if you were to ship out the entire thing. Economic Development Director Backman stated that that would add $1,000-$2,000 to the cost. Commissioner Stigney asked whether the copies could be made by the City, and Economic Development Director Backman stated that the larger plans would need to go to a printer. Commissioner Stigney asked where the scale would tip as far as working with the vendors, and Economic Development Director Backman stated that he would give the edge to RLK, but he would be open to Bonastro as well. Commissioner Stigney asked if time was of a concern, and Economic Development Director Backman stated that it was. Comment [JE1]: Bonestroo – change throughout Comment [JE2]: DSU – change throughout Mounds View EDA September 13, 2004 Regular Meeting Page 3 President Linke stated that by expending another $55,000, that would bring the total spent on this to $88,647, without knowing if there would be a sale to the end user. Economic Development Director Backman stated that he had met with the end user, and it had been a very positive meeting and that they are very interested in the location. He stated he couldn’t give a specific date on when they would have a signed letter of intent, but he felt they were getting closer. Commissioner Stigney asked if he could get a commitment from RLK on the time estimates. Joe Rhein from Bonestroo stated that if they received authorization to proceed, they would begin work on September 20th, and they would have the draft completed by Thanksgiving. He stated it would take until February 28th to arrange the necessary notifications, publications, receiving the comments, and responding to the comments. He stated the City is in possession of the information needed for Items 6 and 27, and that is why they gave that flexibility to the City. President Linke commented that staff had already stated that they were already booked. Mr. Ryan stated it would be a 20-hour task spread over an eight-week period. President Linke stated that they are short staffed the way it is. Mr. Ryan stated they had wanted to give that option if they were able to take advantage of it. Commissioner Marty stated it was his opinion that the Comprehensive Plan would have to be modified somewhat, so it wouldn’t seem that that comparison would be too extensive at this time until the plan is modified. Director Ericson stated that the Comprehensive Plan currently indicates the property for golf course use, so there is a little bit of an inconsistency. He stated they could certainly come up with some narrative language as to what the intended use would or could be in relationship to the zoning and make those two compatible. Commissioner Marty asked how long it would take to modify or amend the Comprehensive Plan. Director Ericson asked the consultants to comment on whether the Comprehensive Plan needs to be consistent with what the maximum development potential is and whether the Comprehensive Plan needed to be updated. Mr. Duff stated that he would have to check with the rules, but if you are looking at a higher, more intense use than what your Comprehensive Plan calls for at this time, and if you identify Mounds View EDA September 13, 2004 Regular Meeting Page 4 that in your AUAR and you perform your analysis based on that description, that would cover your environmental impacts should that development occur on that site. President Linke stated that if we say we are going to, and we plan on this, therefore, that is what the AUAR is based on. Commissioner Marty asked what RLK’s opinion was. Alan Duff of RLK stated that he had worked with Big Lake where the Comprehensive Plan amendments were done in conjunction with the AUAR. He stated if the copy costs were a sticking point, they would provide the copies at no cost to the City because they want to work with the City of Mounds View. Mr. Deter of RLK stated they are committed to the schedule, and that seven to eight weeks is an extremely aggressive timeframe that they are willing to commit to. Commissioner Stigney asked for clarification on the copies, and Mr. Duff stated that they were willing to absorb the cost of 50 copies for the opportunity to work with the City of Mounds View. Commissioner Marty asked for clarification on the Comprehensive Plan and whether that could be worked out as long as the City is in a mode to alter or amend the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Duff stated that he remembered working on both at the same time in Big Lake. He recalled working on them side by side, and that it did not affect the schedule. Commissioner Stigney asked when a draft would be available. Mr. Deter stated that it would be mid-November, and they would be able to publish at the end of November. Sara Schlictingpanner from DSU stated that the Comprehensive Plan will be amended to be consistent with the preferred development scenario, and that won’t have to happen until later on. She stated that they could approve the final plans without sending that Comprehensive Plan into the Met Council, so it doesn’t have to be done with the AUAR. Commissioner Stigney asked Economic Development Director Backman what his recommendation was now that RLK will be providing copies, and Economic Development Director Backman stated that the advantage would now go to RLK. MOTION/SECOND. Marty/Stigney. To approve RLK to undertake the AUAR at the cost provided in Staff’s summary, together with the 50 free copies. Mounds View EDA September 13, 2004 Regular Meeting Page 5 President Linke stated that he thought they were being premature here, having gone down this road once before. He stated he would vote for it, but with reservation. He stated there were three other options for the golf course that they hadn’t heard anything about for awhile. Commissioner Gunn stated that sometimes you have to spend money to make money, and she believes that this is one of those instances. Commissioner Marty agreed, stating that this type of thing doesn’t come along every day. He stated that if they didn’t get this deal, this would have a 20-year life or time line. Commissioner Stigney stated he agreed with all of those statements. He stated this could potentially create up to a thousand jobs, and he couldn’t see a higher potential economic place to spend these funds. Ayes-4 Nays-0 Motion carried. C. Discussion of the City Attorney’s Recommendation regarding the Title Work completed by Old Republic pertaining to the Bridges Golf Course. Brian Shirley indicated he was sitting in for Mr. Riggs as City Attorney, and Nancy England, a paralegal, was present as well from Kennedy and Graven. President Linke stated several questions had been raised as to at least two parcels of land, and that a lot of it hinged on getting it back or getting it removed from the reverter clause. He stated that this doesn’t deal with the Sysco property and that the City was continuing to use that. He stated they are primarily dealing with the 50 acres from MnDOT. He stated he had a hard time believing this is a public purpose because usually public purpose has to do with government operations. Economic Development Director Backman stated that he has had some discussions with the Governor’s office, and that he had had two questions of them. One of them was regarding the former MnDOT parcel consisting of 55 acres, which is now controlled by the City. He asked them if we redevelop this for a corporate office campus, would they view that as a public purpose. He stated he had been told that they would likely view that as a public purpose. He stated he asked them if the Administration is open to removing the reverter clause, would the best course be to do it legislatively or administratively. He stated the response to that question was that they did not view this as a major problem, and they would have their attorneys pick apart the legal opinion from Kennedy and Graven and determine which course would be better. President Linke stated he had never heard of anything being removed administratively. Mr. Shirley stated that in the letter, in order to be air tight, it would have to be done legislatively. Comment [JE3]: Instead, I’d indicate “Kennedy & Graven” Comment [JE4]: Sysco Mounds View EDA September 13, 2004 Regular Meeting Page 6 He stated in term of potential exposure, they have to be concerned with possible taxpayer suits as well. He stated he would push it to be done legislatively. Commissioner Marty asked what would be the time line to get a legal opinion back from the lawyers. He also asked whether if they get the legal opinion back, if that would potentially help the cause as far as legislatively. Economic Development Director Backman asked if he was referring to the legal views from the Administration, and Commissioner Marty answered yes. Economic Development Director Backman stated that it was his sense that they were going to expedite things, but he didn’t know the timeframe yet, but the sooner they got a response, the better. Commissioner Marty stated if they got a legal response administratively, he felt that would probably help carry more weight legislatively. President Linke asked whether it would be better to have the Attorney General’s office look at it. He stated he felt that would carry more weight than a partisan group. Mr. Shirley agreed with that and felt that wasn’t a bad idea. President Linke stated that that way they would have their bases covered, unless they came back opposite each other. Mr. Shirley stated that they would be inviting that by doing that. President Linke stated that he would feel better with the Attorney General because he is outside of the bickering between legislative and the Governor’s office. Economic Development Director Backman stated the corrected updated map is the one that has Parcel 2 with two different arrows. Commissioner Stigney asked if it could be construed by increasing the tax base and lowering the taxes for residents that it could be a public purpose. Mr. Shirley stated absolutely, and he didn’t want them to get the impression that he was saying this wasn’t a public purpose. He stated one option would be to go ahead and take the Governor’s office word for it, and if push came to shove, they could litigate whether or not it was a public purpose. He stated the judicial climate for what is a public purpose is very narrow and worsening by the day. Mounds View EDA September 13, 2004 Regular Meeting Page 7 Commissioner Stigney asked what his recommendation would be. Mr. Shirley stated the he thinks the best option is to try to get a legislative determination that the reverter clause won’t apply, because if they didn’t do that and something were to happen, they would still have these arguments that this is still a public purpose. He stated the safest course would be to try to get that, and if the Governor’s office is in agreement, it’s his belief that they would go to bat for the EDA in order to get that legislative change done. City Clerk Ulrich commented that they want to minimize the risk for the City and don’t want to put the City in a position where it’s going to be sued, and they would check with the State and see what the options are for getting either legislative authorization early in the session or an opinion that would steer them in the right direction. He stated there may also be other ways in terms of how the title is transferred and how much money changes hands for which parcels to try to minimize the risk. He stated they do want to minimize risk, so they will check out the legislative option and try to come up with a more definitive answer. MOTION/SECOND. Linke/Marty. To pursue the Governor’s office and their legal staff for an answer, and to also go through the Attorney General’s office. Ayes-4 Nays-0 Motion carried. 7. REPORTS None. 8. NEXT EDA MEETING: September 27, 2004 9. ADJOURNMENT President Linke adjourned the meeting at 7:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recorded and transcribed by: Sheree Theobald TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.