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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 23, 2003 Page 2 Ms. Baker referred to a newspaper article that discussed the City's redevelopment project and asked why an"up and coming"community with a good location needed to spend so much 3 money to have someone come in to develop. She asked who was carrying the paper on the 4 property and felt, from reading the article, the City was giving the developers a tax break"on top 5 of it." 6 7 Ms. Baker indicated she was attending the meeting not only for herself but also for other people 8 who had been discussing these issues. She asked if anyone in the City Council was involved in 9 the bidding process, as that was a question she had been sent to ask. Councilmember Sparks 10 responded no one in the City Council was involved in the bidding process. 11 12 Ms. Baker quoted from the newspaper article and asked why taxpayers were being charged for 13 prime property. Mayor Hodson replied the funding for the redevelopment was extremely 14 complex and would be addressed later in the meeting. Ms. Baker indicated it should be 15 presented in a simplified form. 16 17 Fern Ostberg, 2704 Murray Avenue, stated she felt privileged to call St. Anthony Village her 18 home. She indicated the Work Force Housing Group was thrilled the developer was planning 19 rental units in the Apache Plaza area, as she felt work-force units should be available for lower- 20 income families. She added this segment of the population was as interested in buying a home 21 as she had been when she bought her first home. 22 Ms. Ostberg indicated the development would be more attractive with less landscaping. She added simplified roof lines and fewer cosmetic details would provide more money for the work- 25 force housing. She suggested "Big Box" supply some of the money as many of their employees 26 would come from this segment of the population. 27 28 Ms. Ostberg stated there was still time before final approval and she urged Council to include 29 some work-force housing that could be sold. 30 31 Mary Stevenson, 2912 Silver Lake Court, indicated she also was a part of the St. Anthony 32 housing group. She cited a young couple that had not been able to find comparable housing in 33 St. Anthony Village and had moved to the Coon Rapids area, which meant the loss of a nice 34 family and children for the school district. She stated affordable housing was a concern as the 35 City wanted to attract young families. 36 37 George Marks, 3424 Silver Lake Road, stated he had lived in St. Anthony Village for 32 years 38 and remembered when redevelopment was initiated for Apache Plaza. He gave a brief history of 39 Apache Plaza's"heyday"and the beginning and continuation of decline. He added the current 40 redevelopment plan, in his opinion,was in good condition with one possible exception. He 41 indicated concern that there was a proposal to bring in Wal-Mart, as he felt Wal-Mart had a 42 reputation for destroying the downtowns of cities. He stated he did not want to see Wal-Mart in 43 such an important part of the City, as it would not blend with the type of city St. Anthony has 44 been and still is. 0 Mr. Marks indicated he did not want to see any tax money used to help Wal-Mart. He stated he 47 did not want Council to allow that part of the plan to move forward and did not want any