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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-24-2005PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOUNDS VIEW EDA CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA Regular Meeting January 24, 2005 Mounds View City Hall 2401 Highway 10, Mounds View, MN 55112 6:45 P.M. 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL: Stigney, Gunn, Flaherty and Marty NOT PRESENT: None. 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION/SECOND: Gunn/Stigney. To Approve the January 24, 2005 Agenda as presented. Ayes – 4 Nays – 0 Motion carried. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. January 10, 2005, Regular EDA Meeting Minutes. President Marty made a correction to page 2, line 87, where it should read “President Marty”. He stated it should be added to that paragraph: “President Marty questioned the 820,000 square feet because he had previously heard 500,000 square feet, and Mr. McCombs stated that they had determined for what they needed that they had increased it to 820,000 square feet. MOTION/SECOND. Stigney/Flaherty. To approve the Minutes of January 10, 2005 as amended. Ayes-4 Nays-0 Motion carried. B. January 14, 2005, Special EDA Meeting Minutes. President Marty stated that beginning at page 2, line 67, Commissioner Stigney should be referred to as Vice President Stigney throughout. President Marty stated that at page 9, line 205, it should state that, “President Marty stated he would like it communicated to Medtronic that they had amended the resolution and expended more city funds in order to speed up the timeframe.” Mounds View EDA January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 2 MOTION/SECOND. Gunn/Flaherty. To approve the January 14, 2005 Special EDA Minutes as amended. Ayes-4 Nays-0 Motion carried. 5. CONSENT AGENDA A. Consideration of EDA Resolution 05-EDA-200, a Resolution Establishing the 2005 EDA Meeting Calendar (Backman) Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that the calendar is paralleling the City Council meetings that occur during the course of the year. MOTION/SECOND. Stigney/Flaherty. To approve EDA Resolution 05-EDA-200, Establishing the 2005 EDA Meeting Calendar. Ayes -4 Nays -0 Motion carried. B. Consideration of EDA Resolution 05-EDA-201, Appointing Two Members of the Economic Development Commission (Backman) Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that there are seven members that are traditionally on the Economic Development Commission, and that is composed of four resident representatives and three business representatives. He stated one of the business representatives, David Fox, has decided that he will not renew. He stated that an application had been received from Jerry Jaker, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Institute of Public Health, which is located on County Highway 10. He stated that another member, Tom Field, whose term had finished on December 31st would like to renew. He is a past Chair of the EDC and served two years in that capacity. MOTION/SECOND. Marty/Flaherty. To appoint Jerry Jaker and Tom Field to the Economic Development Commission. Vice President Stigney asked if MIPH was a nonprofit organization. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that it is a nonprofit organization that does pay property taxes to the community. He stated that Mr. Jaker has a strong interest in participating in economic development discussions, and in essence he runs the business because he has various people that answer to him. Vice President Stigney stated that his concern is that he is working with government dollars, and he asked whether in Coordinator Backman’s view he would be the best person to represent the City as far as business development. Mounds View EDA January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 3 Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that a good chunk of his dollars are from the insurance side of things, and that he deals with a variety of worlds in terms of that. He stated that this is a bit different than the Planning Commission in that those members need to be a Mounds View resident. He stated that a lot of people that run businesses in Mounds View don’t live in Mounds View. Vice President Stigney stated that most businesses in Mounds View are trying to make a profit, so they would be more interested in business development. He stated that Mr. Jaker’s willingness to serve is wonderful. He stated that if Coordinator Backman felt that Mr. Jaker would be a good fit for this position, then he didn’t have a problem with it. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that he had full confidence in Mr. Jaker. President Marty stated that he was impressed by Mr. Jaker’s application, resume, and background. Ayes-4 Nays-0 Motion carried. 6. EDA BUSINESS A. Resolution 05-EDA-202 Authorizing Payment of Pay-As-You-Go Developer Payments to Red Cent Management, L.L.C; Heartland-Mounds View Common Bond; Bridges Leasing Company; and Kenmark Partnership, L.L.C. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that twice per year there are payments that go to various projects, and these are developer payments for TIF projects. He stated that they are typically paid the 1st of February and the 1st of August annually. He stated that two of these payments are the final payments, so they will be down to two projects after this payment. Vice President Stigney noted that for ZEP Manufacturing, it’s listed as $8,123.39, yet in the Just and Correct Claims on page 21 he sees Kenmark at $3,886.24, and he asked why there was that discrepancy. Finance Director Hanson stated that that was part principle and part interest, and that the interest is on the next page. Commissioner Flaherty asked how much longer it would be on Heartland-Mounds View and the Century Bank. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that in terms of Silver Lake Point, that goes until the year 2012. He stated that in terms of Bridges Leasing, that would go until February of Mounds View EDA January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 4 2006. He stated that the good news is that certainly frees up TIF dollars for other projects that they can use, so from a TIF financial standpoint, they were pretty strong on that. MOTION/SECOND. Gunn/Stigney. To approve Resolution 05-EDA-202 Authorizing Payment of Pay-As-You-Go Developer Payments to Red Cent Management, L.L.C; Heartland-Mounds View Common Bond; Bridges Leasing Company; and Kenmark Partnership, L.L.C. Ayes -4 Nays -0 Motion carried. 7. REPORTS A. Discussion regarding the Hardee’s Restaurant Redevelopment and Caribou Coffee (Backman) – verbal report. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that the volunteer representatives on the Economic Development Commission had ranked various projects in order of importance, and that they had ranked the Medtronic Corporate Campus as number one. Number two is the Skyline Motel Acquisition and Redevelopment. Number three is the Pak Building Redevelopment. Number four is the Hardee’s Restaurant Redevelopment and Caribou Coffee. He provided the Commission with a full list of the other projects. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that Hardee's is no longer having an interest in their location, and there has been a buy-out that was accomplished during the last week of December. He stated that there has a settlement regarding termination of Hardee’s lease. He stated that the western half of the building will be leased by Caribou Coffee. He stated that it would take a total of $376,000 to bring the building up to the standard they would want to have. He stated if you subtract out the Hardee’s buyout amount of $226,000 and you look at the pay back period, they are calculating that to be about six years. He stated that Caribou Coffee would like to have a payback period of three years. He stated that the cost difference or gap is $109,000. He stated he had brought this topic up to the EDC last Friday, and they had adopted a motion unanimously to move ahead and pursue all options, including potentially TIF and other types of assistance, but there was no dollar amount. Vice President Stigney stated it sounded to him like Caribou wanted to come in, but they want some assistance. He asked why they couldn’t work with their own money. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that without assistance, he thinks they would end up with very little enhancement to the building and the site. Vice President Stigney asked who was to say whether they wouldn’t do more things without assistance. Mounds View EDA January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 5 Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that he had seen another location in Vadnais Heights that was a converted Hardee’s restaurant, and it still looks like a Hardee’s restaurant. Vice President Stigney stated he had some reservations, and he asked how it was going to be paid back; whether it was going to be a pay-as-you -go or a tax abatement or a grant. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated they hadn’t gotten down to specifics, but they have discussed a low interest loan as one option, and there could possibly be a combination of abatement or a small grant in there. He stated they hadn’t settled on what the development agreement would look like, but they have been having discussions, and they are interested in some assistance. Commissioner Gunn asked whether TIF dollars were supposed to be used for helping new businesses. Economic Development Coordinator Backman indicated that they were. Commissioner Flaherty stated he had a problem with going back to the people and asking them for $109,000 when they just had a tax levy that was double digits. He stated that this is an empty building sitting in a prime location, and they need to do something with it. He stated he thought they needed to take all avenues they can to see what they can do as far as alleviating any tax burden on the taxpayers. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that they are not talking about General Fund dollars, but TIF dollars, and that TIF monies are ZEParate and accounted for in a different way. He stated that in terms of TIF funds, there is a good fund balance. Vice President Stigney stated that he would be more inclined if they were going to borrow it from the City and pay it back. President Marty stated that a three-year pay back period had been brought up, and he thought this should be brought back to the EDA after they had talked to Caribou Coffee more, and possibly look at using TIF funds with a three-year payback period. He stated that by giving some assistance with pay-as-you-go with a three-year payback period, they would open the door to get some redevelopment and upgrade and similar upgrade in Mounds View Square. Commissioner Gunn stated that she agreed. Bill Werner, 2765 Sherwood Road, stated that he was there when Paster Enterprises opened that operation, and one of the things that they had promised was that the north end of the property was going to be attractive to the residents on the north side, and they never did a thing with it, Mounds View EDA January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 6 and had put garbage cans out there and so on, so he didn’t have much faith in him doing anything more than he had done in the past. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that No. 5 was the Mounds View Square Redevelopment Market Feasibility Study, and he thought there would be other things that happen this year that may encourage them to look at redevelopment. He stated that it had been bantered about at the EDC level of what the highest and best use would be or market feasibility study. He stated it would be nice to have a niche grocery store or other services that they do not have in the community. He stated that he agreed that there has not been a lot of attention in terms of the exterior of the facility. He stated that perhaps this is one way to get the foot in the door and get them motivated to do some other things. President Marty stated perhaps Coordinator Backman could convey some of this discussion at the EDA meetings. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that he would. President Marty stated that No. 8, Exploration of Hidden Hollow Development Phase Two, was new to him. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that a number of the things on the list may be new to everyone, and they were trying to think out of the box a little bit about different ideas of what might happen both in terms of commercial, industrial, as well as residential. He stated he wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of the 17 homes planned were either under construction or built by the end of this year. He stated that Pro Craft Homes has been a good developer to work with. He stated that there is some other land in that area, and he thought Velmier would love to do a phase two, whether it’s adjacent there or elsewhere along the corridor. He stated they had received a letter from them stating that they had enjoyed working with the City and would like to do further work here. President Marty asked if it wasn’t Don Norquist who was the developer there. Economic Development Coordinator Backman stated that there were several people that were part of the team that was working with Procraft Homes, including Gary Nordness being one element of the team. Commissioner Gunn said not to lose this one. 8. NEXT EDA MEETING: Monday, February 14, 2005 Mounds View EDA January 24, 2005 Regular Meeting Page 7 9. ADJOURNMENT President Marty adjourned the meeting at 7:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recorded and transcribed by: Sheree Theobald TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.