Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-14-2005PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOUNDS VIEW EDA CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA Special Meeting January 14, 2005 Mounds View City Hall 2401 Highway 10, Mounds View, MN 55112 4:30 P.M. 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL: Stigney, Flaherty, and Marty ABSENT: Gunn 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION/SECOND: Flaherty/Stigney. To Approve the January 14, 2005 Agenda as Presented. Ayes – 3 Nays – 0 Motion carried. 4. APPROVAL OF EDA MINUTES None. 5. CONSENT AGENDA None. 6. EDA BUSINESS A. Resolution 05-EDA-199 Authorizing Staff to Arrange for an Appraisal of the Outdoor Signs as part of the Bridges Redevelopment Project. Economic Development Director Backman stated the City Administrator and himself had met with Scott Riggs and Bob Lindall of Kennedy and Graven regarding the Medtronic project and the removal of some or all of the outdoor signs at the Bridges Golf Course and the appraisal of the signs. He stated that the proposals are $13,000 and $18,000, with Patchen, Mesner & Dodd submitting the lowest bid. He stated that the estimated completion date is March 15, 2005. He stated that he has had discussions with Jason Mesner to see if they could complete the appraisals in a quicker fashion, and they were able to rearrange their schedule to be able to complete it two weeks earlier, but it would cost $14,500 instead. Commissioner Flaherty asked what the appraisals would entail besides appraising the physical Mounds View EDA January 14, 2005 Special Meeting Page 2 aspect of the signs. . Economic Development Director Backman stated that they would also be evaluating the leases. Commissioner Flaherty asked whether they would also value what Clear Channel would require of the City to get out of the lease. Economic Development Director Backman stated that they would be looking at a variety of aspects, and that is why they were interacting with Kennedy and Graven as well. President Marty asked whether the signs were being looked at individually since there was speculation that possibly all the signs would not have to go. Economic Development Director Backman stated that he had asked for proposals on one, two, and all six billboards. President Marty asked if the appraisal would look at each sign’s purported value and the cost of the signs themselves. Economic Development Director Backman stated that it would be both. Vice President Stigney asked whether Clear Channel had come out with any figures or whether they were going to. Economic Development Director Backman stated that he would have to defer to City Attorney Riggs on that issue. City Attorney Riggs stated that the discussions hadn’t gone that far. He stated that they had information from Clear Channel showing what they had spent on the signs, what they believe the income will be, and what they believe the City will received from the signs, so they had a pretty good baseline. He stated that he assumed that they would do something like that. Vice President Stigney asked what the next step would be. City Attorney Riggs stated it would be to figure out what signs could remain or be relocated so that Clear Channel is still happy, and so the City and the EDA can move forward with the project. Vice President Stigney asked whether all the bases were being covered by this appraisal or whether something else would need to be done in the future. City Attorney Riggs stated that conceivably something could come up, but that this would Mounds View EDA January 14, 2005 Special Meeting Page 3 provide a good baseline. President Marty asked whether all the signs were up yet. Economic Development Director Backman stated that there are structures on all six sites, but they are not fully done. Commissioner Flaherty stated his concern over spending $14,500 on appraisals when they haven’t received a proposal yet from Medtronic. He stated his concern over the increase there has been in the taxes for the residents of Mounds View. Economic Development Director Backman stated that Medtronic had attended and spoke at the last City Council meeting, so that had been a good sign. He stated that both sides were spending money on this project, and that the AUAR was a process that needed to be done whether it’s for this project or another project. He stated that Medtronic had hired SRF to do a traffic analysis. President Marty asked whether this cost could be put into the purchase price for the land. Economic Development Director Backman stated that a variety of things could be placed into a development agreement such as this. He stated that the expenditure was TIF eligible, and that the TIF funds are in good shape. He stated they were just beginning the process to discuss what elements could be placed in a development agreement with Medtronic. President Marty asked if it was necessary to complete the appraisal two weeks early with a higher price tag. Economic Development Director Backman stated that it was necessary, and that there are a lot of aspects to this $65 million project. He stated that Medtronic would like to begin construction in September. He stated that he was working on a chart to determine when various issues need to be accomplished. He stated that there had been discussions regarding accomplishing the development agreement by the latter part of March, so these appraisals were needed by the end of February. Vice President Stigney asked if the appraisals would be time specific. Economic Development Director Backman stated that the appraisals would be like a snapshot in time. City Attorney Riggs stated that it would be relevant for the time period they were talking about here, but in two years they would have a basis to work off of from it. Vice President Stigney stated that the size and scope of this project is a once in a lifetime Mounds View EDA January 14, 2005 Special Meeting Page 4 opportunity, and that the Council should fully pursue it to whatever means they can. He stated that the whole purpose of TIF money is for economic development, and what larger project could there be in Minnesota right now than this particular project. President Marty stated that that was true, but they had had that experience with NCR where the City had spent a lot of money when they didn’t have a purchase agreement, and NCR had gone elsewhere. He stated his concern that Medtronic would go elsewhere if the State decided they couldn’t expand the bridge from two to four lanes going across 35W. Vice President Stigney stated that it was important to get this appraisal for any potential development on this site, whether it was Medtronic or another company. Commissioner Flaherty stated that this was being done for Medtronic. Vice President Stigney stated that the AUAR would be good for 20 years. Commissioner Flaherty stated that he had no problem with the AUAR because they needed to see what the potential of that area was. He stated he was looking for something concrete. Vice President Stigney stated that what is concrete is how much this project would increase the tax base for Mounds View. He stated that right now they are getting absolutely nothing. Commissioner Flaherty stated he was not against this project; he just wanted to see more information on it. Economic Development Director Backman stated that they are trying to get that information as quickly as possible. He stated that other developers have approached the City, and he has interacted with them and provided them with information. He stated if the project with Medtronic didn’t go through, he would be negotiating with others. He stated that the State is seriously looking at the interchange of 35W and County Road J, and they have awarded a $100,000 contract for doing additional evaluations encompassing that intersection. President Marty stated that the increase in City taxes was due in large part to the government assistance cuts and the referendum for the police officers. He stated that there are hard decisions that the Council has to make, and they are trying to figure out ways to ease the tax burden in Mounds View. He stated that if this particular deal doesn’t work, probably just an update on this appraisal would need to be done in the future at a nominal cost. City Administrator Ulrich stated that this is an action that is more specific to Medtronic because it’s at their request. He stated that the meeting on January 3rd was really the first time the Council had had an opportunity to hear about this proposal in more detail. He stated that this may or may not be valuable for a future project. He stated that they want to know what their risk Mounds View EDA January 14, 2005 Special Meeting Page 5 is going into this negotiation regarding the billboard costs. He stated that this will be a good investment for going into negotiations, and it will help to protect the City. President Marty stated that they had been told how much they would get for the land from Medtronic, but they don’t know the cost of getting out of the billboard lease or removing the billboards, so until they have that piece of information, they don’t really know what it’s going to cost the City. Vice President Stigney stated that it’s geared toward trying to respond to Medtronic, but he could see further benefit to it if there were negotiations with others in the future. President Marty asked if Commissioner Gunn had commented on this. Economic Development Director Backman stated that she was aware of the meeting, but he hadn’t received any comment from her. Commissioner Flaherty stated that this project is a big opportunity for the City of Mounds View, and he understands the need for expenditures, but he wanted to get across that the Commission and Council are going to be asking these questions. Economic Development Director Backman stated that during his discussions with three other developers the signs had been mentioned, so they would need to revisit this issue if this project didn’t go through, so he viewed this appraisal as an investment. President Marty stated that the reason they brought the billboards in is because the golf course wouldn’t bring anything in until 2017. He stated he was not a fan of billboards, but they had to figure out a way to pay off the golf course without saddling the citizens. He asked if it would be appropriate to amend the Resolution to reflect a cost not to exceed $15,000 in case there were any extra last minute costs. Economic Development Director Backman stated that that would be fair. President Marty stated he would like it to be communicated to Medtronic that they had amended the resolution and expended more city funds in order to speed up the timeframe. Economic Development Director Backman stated he would communicate that both verbally and in writing. MOTION/SECOND. Stigney/Flaherty. To adopt Resolution 05-EDA-199, Authorizing Staff to Arrange for an Appraisal of the Outdoor Signs as part of the Bridges Redevelopment Project, at a cost not to exceed $15,000. Mounds View EDA January 14, 2005 Special Meeting Page 6 Ayes-3 Nays-0 Motion carried. 7. REPORTS 8. NEXT EDA MEETING: Monday, January 24, 2005, 6:30 p.m. 9. ADJOURNMENT. President Marty adjourned the meeting at 5:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recorded and transcribed by: Sheree Theobald TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.