Minutes - Council Work Session - 02/26/2008

Home

the City to absorb the $1.753 million purchase price and also find capital dollars to build a new building. City Administrator Ulrich stated that this is why the purchase agreement was structured so that the City could acquire this property 10 acres at a time and move onto the property incrementally, in phases, rather than doing everything at once which would be a shock in terms of capital costs. Public Works Director Olson reminded the Council that the City cannot sell the current Public Works land until they move over to the new site. Councilmember Look stated that there are budget shortfalls at the State level and he hesitates to approve this because the City already took $1,000,000 to keep the levy rate down and now it seems as though the plan is to take more money out of different funds. He stated that he does not think it is prudent to start liquidating funds without a financial storm hitting the City. He stated that he would like to lock up the ability to purchase property like this and asked if the City had pursued a possible "option" on the property. City Administrator Ulrich stated that if Councilmember Look means whether the City asked for a 10 year option to buy the property for the $1.753 million dollars, then the answer is no. He stated that, as a side note, this property surrounds a small cemetery that contains the remains of a Civil War veteran. City Attorney Goodrich stated that if the Council approves this, he would like to add the provision that it is subject to final approval of the City Attorney. There was a consensus to bring this to the Council meeting for discussion. MAYOR, COUNCIL AND STAFF INPUT None ADJOURNMENT The Work Session ofthe City Council was adjourned at 6:57 p.m. Respectfully submitted, hbL:D Kt:ktis G. Ulrich City Administrator City Council Work Session / February 26, 2008 Page 3 of 4