Minutes - Council Work Session - 05/20/2014

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Assistant to the City Administrator Brama asked if the appraised land values should be listed with a note that pricing strategy would be a separate process. Mayor Strommen stated that is good information to have and suggested the appraised land values remain with a note saying the price specific to proposed users will be refined. Councilmember Riley asked if it is expected the City would demolish the building. He stated that may be another question for CBRE. Assistant to the City Administrator Brama stated it is shown as an expense today but regardless of whether the City completes the work or not, a buyer would consider it in the offer price. Mayor Strommen suggested CBRE be asked whether it is better to show those costs on the expense or revenue side and if the City would otherwise be setting or imbedding an expectation that it would demolish the building or offer a subsidy. Councilmember LeTourneau stated it is usually expected that the value of the land will go up if the building is already removed, but then that also increases the expense. City Administrator Ulrich stated that is correct and it would also address environmental issues, should there be any. Should the City demolish the structure, it could offer a pad ready property. Councilmember Riley stated the final issue is what a $220,000 Fire Station will look like. He noted the Fire Station question also needs to be answered. Mayor Strommen stated it was not expected that the sale of this property would pay the entire cost to construct a new Fire Station. Councilmember LeTourneau noted there would also be a tax value of the property. City Administrator Ulrich stated the final design and financing for a new Fire Station will be presented to the Council in the future. In addition, the debt on the current Fire Station will come off in 2016. He noted the decision has already been made that Fire Station #2 needs to be replaced fairly soon. Following discussion, the Council expressed no objection to bringing forward the Comprehensive Plan Amendment. The consensus of the Council was to approach CBRE for input on land value and options to attract a data center and for staff to tweak the Report based on tonight's discussion to add disclaimers to better reflect the City's expectations. Al Kempf, OMC Study Group Member, asked what happens should the property be rezoned residential and a developer then comes in to build houses. He stated he is concerned about the neighborhood and 20 -foot wide Highway 47 frontage road that all will use. He asked whether there is any way to stop that type of project. City Council Work Session / May 20, 2014 Page 6 of 8