Laserfiche WebLink
Mayor Gamec called for public input. <br /> <br />Jim Deal, Highway #10 NW, Ramsey, stated that if the City wants to buy his land at market price <br />it is available. The time frame is a State issue not a City issue, He expressed concern that the <br />City has the cart ahead of the horse. He thought that the State should be coming forward with the <br />time frame. Mr. Deal thanked the Council for having the Tinklenberg Group meet with the <br />property owners to explain the process. He stated that if they are looking at t~n years before the <br />Highway will be improved, the City needs to look at the economic impacts of officially mapping <br />the property. <br /> <br />Jim Corn, CPA Management Consultant, stated that he has been working with Mr. Deal on the <br />development of his property since he purchased the land. He explained that he was provided a <br />copy of Mr. Tinklenberg's report and he thought the information and background data was very <br />good for the Council to-see, but when looking at the economics of what the report says it states <br />the City does not want to purchasing the land ten years from now because of the increase in land <br />costs. What the report fails to consider is the loss of tax revenue. If the City purchases the <br />property now they are taking 26 million in tax base off and the project is 10 years out. Secondly <br />if the City stops future development they are stopping future revenues to the City. He contends <br />that the cost of waiting 10 years is less than the rate of inflation. <br /> <br />Councilmember Cook stated that the idea after the property is officially mapped is to buy out the <br />landowners that are interested in selling their land. He did not believe that the City would be <br />purchasing every business. The other option for the City would be buy out a business and then <br />lease it back to the business owner to run their business until the project is in place. <br /> <br />Mr. Corn replied that he was going off the numbers included in the Tinklenberg Group report. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that the City does not have to purchase any properties at the <br />end of this process, but it does provide them information as to what the future may be for the <br />area. The moratorium provides the City with some time to research the options. <br /> <br />Councilmember Kurak stated that she would be abstaining from voting on the issue, but she felt <br />that it was very important for the property owners to not be in limbo. She felt that the <br />moratorium would allow the City to determine how they are going to handle the issue so that the <br />property owners are not in limbo. She noted that the City Council did give the issue a lot of <br />consideration. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec inquired after the six-month period if a property owner along Highway #10 <br />wanted to sell their property for development what would the City's response be. <br /> <br />Mr. Tinklenberg explained that they would contact staff to talk about zoning issues and <br />requirements and then they could move forward with receiving approvals for the building. Over <br />the next six months they will be doing an analysis to provide tools to the City to work with the <br />different property owners. If the Council were to choose to purchase property they would be <br /> <br />City Council/July 8, 2003 <br />Page 13 of 30 <br /> <br />P73 <br /> <br /> <br />