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CASE #a CONSIDER PARTIAL ACQUISITION OF LOT 1, BLOCK 1 ALPACA ESTATES By: Tim Himmer, City Engineer Background: This property, located at the southwest comer of Armstrong Boulevard and Highway 10, went through site plan approval in the spring of 2008; receiving final approval from the City Council on May 13,2008. The project consists of a 7,800 square foot building, and associated improvements, on a 1.46 acre site. On July 22, 2008 the applicant was granted an extension to the substantial completion date; extending the final completion date to November of2009. The City currently has a signed development permit and improvement surety in hand and a building permit is imminent, with the only outstanding item being the payment of development fees. Observations: Through the approval process staff worked with the applicant to reserve a portion of the site along the east boundary for the then planned Armstrong Boulevard improvements that were scheduled for the summer of2009. That project has since been delayed by the City Council with the desire of securing an overpass in this location. The applicant was amenable to working with staff and revised his site plan to accommodate the request for additional right-of..;way at this intersection. The majority of delays by the applicant, and subsequent extension to the completion date, were mainly due to the need to resolve storm water issues on site since no connection exists to the regional basin on Riverdale Drive to the west. Staff and the applicant continued to work through this issue, and it was determined that the applicant would construct storm sewer along Riverdale Drive as part of their project with the City contributing to the oversizingof the pipes. Staff has now received direction that we should no longer continue negotiating for the acquisition of any parcels that would support a future project that has no definite timeline for construction;. however negotiations are still proceeding for the necessary right-of-way to construct the CSAH 116 and Armstrong Boulevard improvements proposed for 2010. Whenthis information was presented to the land owner they were extremely disappointed as they had worked in good faith with the City to reserve this area and were counting on this land sale as part of making the project work financially for them (see attached letter). The acquisition process was initiated, through a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) with Anoka County, and an appraisal has been completed. The parcel proposed to be acquired consists of 8,333 square feet at a value of $10.50 per square feet for a total compensation to the land owner of $87,500. Financing: This project was to be funded through the special assessments associated with the regional roadway improvements for Ramsey Town Center. Since these assessments are to be collected at the time of the land sale, staff recommends that this acquisition be funded out of TIF Districts #4 and/or 1. Any use of TIF District funds will require a budget modification and Council action.