06-08-05 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL LITTLE CANADA, MINNESOTA Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a workshop meeting of the City Council of Little Canada, Minnesota was convened on the 8th day of June, 2005 in the Council Chambers of the City Center located at 515 Little Canada Road in said City. JUNE 8, 2005 Mayor Bill Blesener called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and the following members of the City Council were present at roll call: CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Mr. Bill Blesener Mr. Jim LaValle Mr. Rick Montour Ms. Barbara Allan Mr. John Keis ALSO PRESENT: City Administrator Planning Comm. Planning Comm. Planning Comm. City Clerk Mr. Joel R. Hanson Mr. Dan Knudsen Mr. Gary Rheaume Ms. Katie Socha Ms. Kathy Glanzer REDEVEL- The City Administrator indicated Chat the purpose of tonight's OPMENT workshop meeting is to review possible redevelopment initiatives INITIATIVES within the City. The Administrator noted that this was identified as one of the City's 2005 Goals. The Adminisri•ator reviewed his memo dated June 3, 2005 which outlines why as a first-ring suburb Little Canada needs to pay attention to redevelopment opportunities. These reasons include the following: o Little Canada has limited, vacant land available for development. o Underutilized parcels limit the City's tax base. o Blighting influences can grow and spread without a plan for eradication. o Blighting influences lead to lower property values, higher crime rates, lower property tax receipts, and possible undesirable land uses. o Redevelopment is not likely to occur without City involvement due to high acquisition and demolition costs. o Assembly of multiple parcels is very time consuming and may require City involvement in the form of eminent domain, where appropriate.