09/13/12 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

4. EDA BUSINESS 4.01: Guest Speaker — Don Haller, Connexus Energy City Administrator Ulrich stated the City has been working with Greater MSP to attract a data center to the former municipal center site. He added Connexus Energy has indicated this site is the best data center site in Anoka County and advised that both Connexus and Greater MSP would like to speak to the EDA at its October 11 meeting about the benefits of a data center and how both groups can work to promote the site. He indicated Connexus wants to pursue a State program called "Shovel Ready" and if successful this would be the first shovel ready data center site in the State. He stated the City will incur significant costs in relocating Fire Station #2 but noted this relocation is currently in the City's capital improvement plans. He stated a data center brings the potential of a high value project to the City that would not require a lot of City services and would provide a significant tax base. He added this item will be on the EDA's October 11 agenda and will include an analysis of fire station relocation costs. Management Analyst Brama advised the original proposal for a data center on this site was to use the existing building but it is logical to demolish both buildings. He stated that Connexus is proposing to work with DEED on a shovel ready project, which would provide a lot of the early work that a developer takes on, e.g., soil borings, land survey, and getting the zoning in order. Member Skaff requested further information regarding the number of employees that would be working in the data center. City Administrator Ulrich stated the site could house a number of companies that would use the building for its corporate data center or the site could serve a number of different companies, but the number of employees would be relatively low and 40 employees seems possible. He added these would be well - paying high tech jobs with 24 hours /day coverage. Member McGlone indicated the City Council has discussed the fire station on this site and was moving ahead with a plan to trade the land in lieu of someone building a new fire station on the two -acre parcel. He stated the City Council directed staff to put together a cost analysis and the estimate was more than $4 million. He stated the plans for the fire station have not been confirmed and would have to be part of this plan if the City moves forward with a data center. He indicated another item to consider is the value of the land as well as what it will cost the City to relocate the fire station and what the payback would be to the City. He stated this is a big project and definitive work needs to be done to analyze all the costs before moving forward. City Administrator Ulrich stated the City would expect Connexus to pay some of the costs such as the environmental review work or demolition costs; once the numbers are refined, the EDA and City Council can determine what it is willing to pay. He indicated another option would be to sell this property and subdivide it for single - family homes and agreed to prepare an analysis of that scenario for the EDA. Member Wise asked if there were other grant opportunities that might be available to the City. Economic Development Authority /September 13, 2012 Page 2 of 9