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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4. Approval of Minutes: April 15 and May 06, 2003 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION April 15, 2003 Members Present: Link:, J008, He1kamp and Chair Lehman. Members Absent: Mars Staff Present: Mark McNeill, City Administrator; Judith S. Cox, City Clerk; R. Michael Leek, Community Development Director; Bruce Loney, Public Works Director/City Engineer; Jim Thomson, City Attorney; Mark Themig, Facilities and Recreation Director; Gregg Voxland, Finance Director; Paul Snook, Economic Development Coordinator, Tracy Schaefer, Assistant to the City Administrator: and Jerry Poole, Deputy Police Chief. I. Roll Call: Chair Lehman called the meeting to order at 7:24 p.m. Roll was taken as noted above. II. Approval of the A~enda: Link/Helkamp moved to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. Approval of the Consent A~enda: The following item was on the Consent Agenda. item # 4 Approval of Minutes for March 4,2003. Joos/Link: moved to approve the Consent Agenda as written. Motion carried 4-0. IV. Approval of Minutes for March 4, 2003: Joos/Link: moved to approve the Minutes for March 4,2003. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda). V. Recommendation from Economic Development Advisory Committee: Resolution No. 03-02, Approvin~ the Execution and Delivery of a Preliminary Joint Powers A~reement with the Scott County Housin~ and Redevelopment Authority for development of the proposed Northrid~e Court Apartments: Mr. Snook reported on the recommendation from the Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) Resolution No. 03-02, Approving the Execution and Delivery of a Preliminary Joint Powers Agreement with the Scott County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) for development of the proposed Northridge Court Apartments. Mr. Snook described the 57-unit senior housing complex proposed by the Scott County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Mr. Snook stated regarding the financing of this project the Scott County HRA would issue bonds for the project, with housing lease revenues to pay debt service. Mr. Snook Official Proceedings of the April 15,2003 Economic Development Authority Page -2- noted security for the bonds would be 1) a lien on net revenues, 2) an operating reserve fund, 3) a debt service reserve fund of six months maximum annual debt service, 4) a pledge by the Scott County HRA of up to$70,000 of its special benefits tax levy annually, and 5) the full faith and credit of the City. Mr. Snook noted that the preliminary joint powers agreement was similar to what was done with River City Centre. Mr. Snook noted that the preliminary joint powers agreement would be replaced with a more detailed joint powers agreement when it became available. Mr. Snook had a map and referred to some possible parking sites. He noted there would be a possibility of 177 parking spaces with all of the parking scenarios. Mr. Snook stated that the senior housing units would be constructed on a site where a 50- year ground lease was proposed to the City. After the fifty years was up, the City would have ownership of the 50-year old building. Commissioner Helkamp questioned what the City would do with a 50-year old building. Barbara Portwood, representing Scott County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, approached the podium. She noted that the building would probably be paid for in 35 years and then the building would be extensively updated. Ms. Portwood also noted that when the land lease was up in 50 years that lease could be renegotiated with the Scott County HRA. Another possibility would be selling the property/building. Commissioner Joos noted that a look had been taken at a second floor for a parking lot but to add a second floor was extremely expensive. Commissioner Link asked about the current vacancies at River City Centre. Mr. Jaffa, Executive Director, Scott County H.R.A., addressed this question. He noted that these few vacancies were caused by some unusual circumstances. Mr. Jaffa stated that right now the market is very good for this type housing. He also noted the difference between this type housing and open market housing. Chair Lehman noted that this was a preliminary joint powers agreement and if/when there was a final joint powers agreement he and other commissioners would like to see more protection for the City in the final joint powers agreement. Ms. Portwood noted that this preliminary joint powers agreement was being done to see if the City had any interest in moving forward with this project. The HRA was spending a lot of money and they wanted some idea from the City if they should continue to spend money or should they give up on the project. Mr. Snook noted that a developer had expressed interest in the property but many of the costs of that development would come back to the City. Mr. McNeill noted that there was not a lot of interest shown for this piece of property. However, Mr. McNeill noted Official Proceedings of the April 15, 2003 Economic Development Authority Page -3- that no advertising had been done noting this parcel was for sale. That was a policy decision that the Economic Development Authority (EDA) would have to make; whether to advertise the property and seek Request for Proposals. The question that the EDA would have to answer is: "Is this the highest and.the best use of the property?" Mr. McNeill noted that Scott County HRA would not pay taxes but the Scott County HRA did suggest doing a payment annually to the City of $70,000 in lieu of taxes. Commissioners Link and Lehman thought there were many unanswered questions regarding this project. Cncl. Link was really concerned about the parking issue downtown. Chair Lehman felt the only way to get answers to the questions was to go ahead a get a more in depth study; to get that study done, the preliminary joint powers agreement needed to be accepted. The City Attorney noted the preliminary joint powers agreement signaled general approval of the project but it was the final joint powers agreement where the details were hammered out. If the preliminary joint powers agreement was approved, it did not mean that the project was unconditionally approved. The City Attorney noted a preliminary joint powers agreement was not a unique step. Commissioner Helkamp felt it would be prudent of the City to get the information first that they were concerned about (having the City's consultant look at the City's protection and what the City was going to get) before the HRA spent another great sum of money on this possible project. There was discussion of the State tying the County's and the City's hand regarding the financing of the project. Mr. McNeill noted that staff would follow-up on the cost to get parking on one side of Levee Drive along with two-way traffic on Levee Drive, what the signal cost would be for the Fuller Street signal, what the cost of the 39 space parking lot would be (old park and recreation building site), what the worst case scenario annual debt service levy payment would be for the City and what the parking situation would be for the City when Huber Park was built. Staffwould do this follow-up before the HRA spent any more money. Commissioner Joos noted the parking for the whole downtown area was the main problem. The City needed to understand the parking downtown. Mr. Jaffa stated that he understood that technical questions needed to be answered by the City. Official Proceedings of the April 15, 2003 Economic Development Authority Page -4- Link/Joos offered Resolution No. 03-02 Approving the Execution and Delivery of a Preliminary Joint Powers Agreement with Scott County Housing and Redevelopment Authority and moved its adoption, with the understanding there were no guarantees of final approval at this time. Motion carried 4-0. VI. Other Business: There was no other business. VII. Adjourn: Joos/Link moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Motion carried 4-0. r1~J.8;L ldith s. Cox, EDA Secretary Carole Hedlund Recording Secretary OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SHAKOPEE,MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION May 6, 2003 Members Present: Link, Joos, Mars, Helkamp and Chair Lehman. Members Absent: None Staff Present: Mark McNeill, City Administrator; Judith S. Cox, City Clerk; R. Michael Leek, Community Development Director; Bruce Loney, Public Works Director/City Engineer; Jim Thomson, City Attorney; Gregg V oxland, Finance Director; Paul Snook, Economic Development Coordinator; Jerry Poole, Deputy Chief of Police; Terry Stang, Fire Chief; Mark Themig, Facilities and Recreation Director and Tracy Schaefer, Assistant to the City Administrator. I. Roll Call: Chair Lehman called the meeting to order at 8:40 p.m. Roll was taken as noted above. II. Approval of the A~enda: Mars/Helkamp moved to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried 5-0. III. Approval of the Consent A~enda: The following items were on the Consent Agenda. Item # 4 Approval of Minutes for March 4 and April!, 2003. Item # 6 Approval ofthe Bills. Item # 8 Small Cities Development Program - April Update. MarsILink moved to approve the Consent Agenda as modified. Motion carried 5-0. IV. Approval of Minutes for March 4 and Aprill, 2003: Mars/Link moved to approve the Minutes for March 4 and April 1, 2003. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda). V. Financial: There was no business. VI. Approval of the Bills: Mars/Link moved to approve the EDA bill list in the amount of$1,145.65. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda). VII. Online Business Retention and Expansion Survey: Mr. Snook reported on the online business retention and expansion survey. Mr. Snook noted that at the April 8, 2003 meeting of the Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC), they recommended that the Economic Development Authority (EDA) endorse the Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Program and related survey. Official Proceedings of the May 6, 2003 Economic Development Authority Page -2- Mr. Snook noted that this BRE survey would be online with some of the funding to come from the Telecommunications Commission. He noted the survey would be structured in a way that the needs and concerns of the business community as well as the direction of/for current businesses would be recognized. Mr. Snook noted the objectives of the project would be to: 1) confirm the basic company information, 2) to let the companies know that they are appreciated in town, 3) identify specific problems 4) have companies rate their satisfaction with the community [community services] 5) identify trends regarding demand, 6) gather information regarding markets, activity and plans, 7) explore growth, and 8) assess relationships with key customers. Mr. Snook noted that the survey would be done in two ways. One way would be on a paper form - interview and the other way would be an online (website) version. He proposed that the budget impact be shared equally with the Telecommunications Commission and the EDA. Mr. Snook stated that this project would not exceed the amount of $500.00 for each partner and the EDA Funding to come from the Professional Services Fund. Chair Lehman noted that the EDAC had looked at this survey possibility for a long time. They had an estimate from the University of Minnesota and that was quite expensive ($10,000). Mars/Link moved the endorsement of the Business Retention and Expansion Program (BRE) and approved the funding up to $500 for the online BRE survey as a cost-sharing effort with the Telecommunications Commission, contingent upon the Telecommunications Commission's funding approval at the their May 12th meeting. Motion carried unanimously. VIII. Small Cities Development Pro~ram - March Update: Action was taken under the Consent Agenda. IX. Other Business: There was no other business. X. Adjourn: Link/Mars moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:47 p.m. Motion carried 5-0. i1~,J~ J. Of Judith S. Cox, EDA Secretary Carole Hedlund Recording Secretary