Minutes - Council - 04/19/1983 - Utility Information Meeting

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4) Benefits of development to the City. Sponsored by a group of owners of undeveloped land within the City. Presented by Mr. Bob Pulscher. Mr. Pulscher stated that he was formerly a City Manager for Coon Rapids and his title now is a financial planner. There has been a great deal of public apprehension with the initiation of public utilities and that is not uncommon. I have spent most of my adult life in public finance and my firm represents many cities in the Country and have seen results of both good and poor planning. With no municipal utilities a city will continue to grow slowly and will result in no critical commercial/industrial growth and expansion of tax base and low land values. Scattered large lot development will increase cost of major services such as fire and police protection. This increase in cost of services and limited property tax incoming will lead to deteriora- tion. Eventually, on-site system failure and demand for more effective land use will force City to a municipal system and then the following problems occur: a) capital financing for a short period of time; b) weakening of City credit rating; c) need created to interconnect utilities to scattered developments; d) large special assessments against owners of undeveloped property; e) excessive assessments (which will require a number of meetings with angry residents). This can all be avoided at this time by having municipal system planned and paid for by developers. Mr. Pulscher has been told that there is a great concern that bonds mean higher taxes and he stated that this does not have to be the case. He sited a tax comparison article that was published last week in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune and noted that Coon Rapids is very low and that his firm has sold many bonds in the City of Coon Rapids. Mr. Pulscher stated that he has nothing to gain or lose in Ramsey's case, but if Ramsey does delay installation of a municipal system, especially in those areas abutting the CAB interceptor, Ramsey will be making a serious mistake. 5) Ramsey Economic Development Commission's recommendations on utilities - Presented by Mr. Darryl Fults, EDC member: Mr. Fults stated that he has lived in Ramsey for 10 years. An Economic Development Commission was implemented in January of 1982 for the purpose of furthering economic development of Ramsey, promote growth of business and industrial concerns and contribute to economic well being of Ramsey. On Friday, April 15, 1983, EDC recommended to Council that they adopt the utility ordinance by way of the following motion: Motion to adopt the proposed utility assessment ordinance with the following guidelines: 1) That the adoption of the utility assessment ordinance be an amendment to the subdivision code. 2) That the EDC supports the installation of municipal utilities Utility Information Meeting April 19, 1983 Page 5 of 11