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Councilmember Steffen asked the question again when we last sat down in face to face <br />negotiations. <br /> <br />Mr. Norman stated that the last time was in November. <br /> <br />Councilmember Steffen asked if the developer would be responsible for extension of services to <br />the site. <br /> <br />Mr. Norman responded in the affirmative. <br /> <br />Councilmember Steffen noted that the property has been on the market for approximately ten <br />years, by her recollection. She questioned the other members as to why they would want to wait. <br />It seemed to her that the doubling of the asking price comes from the knowledge that the Anoka <br />Hennepin Technical College may move there and that the City is interested in purchasing the <br />property. She went on to say that, in her opinion, the legislator looking at a multi-million dollar <br />bonding bill for an improved technical college would look at the cost and constraints of the <br />current site in Anoka and see it as prohibitive. The offer of land to the technical college for free <br />from Ramsey would be attractive to the current Dean and probably more likely to gain support of <br />the legislature. She also stated that the condemnation process is much more fair now than it has <br />been in the past and $11,000 per acre is so far away from the asking price and it seems that the <br />land owners are negotiating backwards because the original asking price was $1,500,000. From <br />there it went up to $2,000,000 and then to $3,500,000 and now they say they will not go below <br />$3,000,000. <br /> <br />Mr. Hardin asked Mr. Norman where he anticipated the bottom line would be through the <br />condemnation procedure. <br /> <br />Mr. Norman stated that it would be much closer to the $11,000 per acre amount offered by the <br />City and probably not more than $12,000 to $14,000 per acre. He said that it would not be less <br />than $11,000 per acre because all of the public record, which included previous offers from the <br />City, would be used in the process. According to Mr. Norman, apparently the City had offered <br />to have a partnership relationship as we do with Connexus Energy (formerly known as Anoka <br />Electric Cooperative) in developing the land, but they were not accepting of that concept due to a <br />lowered price. Mr. Norman said that it was also possible that the threat of condemnation would <br />bring them back to the negotiating table. <br /> <br />Mr. Riley asked if beginning the condemnation process would "kill" negotiations. <br /> <br />Mr. Norman replied that it would not, but he would want to begin the process because of the fast <br />approaching spring construction deadlines. Also, the legislative session has begun which relates <br />to the technical college. Current negotiations with industrial business are halted until <br />negotiations for the land have been concluded. <br /> <br />Councilmember Haas Steffen requested clarification for Mr. Riley as to whether the City can <br />continue to negotiate condemnation. <br /> <br />Mr. Norman replied that we could negotiate right up to the minute that they go before the judge. <br /> <br />Economic Development Authority/January 12, 1999 <br /> Page 4 of 11 <br /> <br /> <br />