2005.12.19 EDA Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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For Immediate Release Date: December 14, 2005 From: The Office of the Community Development Director City of Hugo,Minnesota Contact: Mr. Bryan Bear EDA Executive Director bbear@ci.hugo.mn.us 651.762.6320 THE CITY OF HUGO, MINNESOTA BEGINS IMPLEMENTATION OF DOWNTOWN PLAN Hugo,Minnesota- In 1998 the City of Hugo,Minnesota, established a downtown plan and preliminary design guidelines to address redevelopment of the downtown commercial core. The original plan needed to be revisited to consider the impact of the future realigned County Rd 8 and Hwy 61 intersection. After a series of workshops and open houses to engage public input, the updated plan was finalized in July, 2004. The Hugo City Council and Economic Development Authority (EDA) are in unanimous support of moving forward with implementation of the plan. Mayor Fran Miron stated, "It would be a waste of taxpayer dollars for this plan to just sit on the shelf and collect dust—now is the time for implementation of the downtown plan." EDA vice president, Phil Klein, echoed the Mayor's statement and added that"Implementation is a challenging phase of any downtown plan,but Council and EDA leadership have helped to put in place the proper mechanisms to gain public input into this process." As with any downtown redevelopment project, there are a number of costs involved including property acquisition, relocation, demolition and possible environmental remediation. In order to make implementing the downtown plan more financially feasible to private sector developers, the City will be utilizing tools available to it such as tax increment financing (TIF)to assist with some of these costs. A significant part of the public input process includes discussions centered on the mechanics of this tool and how it may be used for the benefit of property owners in the downtown core to facilitate redevelopment. EDA members agree that sometimes TIF can be controversial,but as EDA member Nick Skarich states "It is one of the only tools remaining today that can provide significant enough resources to address the specific issues of downtown redevelopment." Implementation of the Downtown Plan began with a series of meetings with key property owners in the downtown area. The process will also include several meetings with neighborhood residents, downtown business/property owners, and the general public. The next scheduled meeting is an informational public open house on Wednesday, January 18th 2006, at 7:00 p.m. in the Oneka Room at City Hall. Throughout this input gathering and implementation phase the public can stay informed by going to the City website at www.ci.huQo.mn.us and reading the City newsletter, as each will contain regularly updated information on implementation of the plan. Currently the City website contains an introductory question/answer page describing TIF and the implementation plan in greater detail.