04/05/11 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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he suggested delaying the ramp contract award until such time that the rail project is approved. We have 60 days in the bid advertisement now, and it could easily be increased to 90 days — or if the rail station doesn't happen, you do not award the ramp contract. His recommendation is use the schedule of May 10 to June 28 — make our bids go for 60 days, which will give them time to bid. There are two options: 1) Base bid with entire deck by January 1, 2012; (they talked about all the MnDOT approvals needed) or 2) Include alternative one that allows for the later date of August 5. There is the possibility of rejecting all bids. The only thing we could argue about is losing that grant. If the bids come in well under the estimated cost, it might be a hard sell. Development Manager Lazan stated that in January 2011, both Flaherty and Collins and the HRA had a date to waive off. In January, we said we will build a ramp regardless. This sliding of 30 and 45 days — that gets you into the road of maybe more expense. We kind of mapped out what a slide would look like. Commissioner McGlone inquired what incentive we have. Mr. Lazan replied we have a huge one in the TIF dollars. They know they cannot get financing without us. Commissioner Elvig stated we have no earnest money to pull our expenses from. We have a lot of money invested in Darren and Heidi's time as well as Tom Bray's. He stated he disagrees that we dragged these people in from Chicago. He does not have an issue trying to get something out of this but when we talk about any conflicts with the ramp — what is the mitigating factor on this. We had a small little grace period — now we will not. If there is no construction until July, that puts us behind another year for taxes too. What do we need to do to help. We are in this a long ways. Mr. Lazan stated that he and the Mayor made the first contact — we were the instigators on this project. The July date was for just being in the ground and he wasn't sure that really makes a difference. He stated that his hope is we have the ramp belowground work in and then they could start with their belowground work. Commissioner Elvig stated he is a bit timid that our staff is involved. Mr. Lazan stated that F & C want a ramp. We can start on the north side. He added he is comfortable we can work this out and he wanted the HRA to feel that comfort too. With regard to what can we do — we are asking that of them daily. Commissioner Ramsey stated he did not know if we will get any money out of this. We kind of went into this as a partnership. He did not have any comfort level in beating them over the head for $50,000 or so. Commissioner Wise asked have we thought about helping them get positioned to receive better financing — like maybe change the timeline. Housing and Redevelopment Authority / April 5, 2011 Page 4 of 6