Agenda - Council - 10/11/2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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pia CONSIDER YOUTH FIRST PROGRAM AT FORMER NAU SITE By: Heidi A. Nelson, Asst. City Administrator Background: Over the past year, Youth First has been providing programming to the youth that live in Oak Terrace Estates on Highway 10. Over the summer months, the youth were provided opportunities to attend various programs at the NWYMCA, Ramsey's Safety Camp, as well as programming that was provided within the Oak Terrace neighborhood. As fall approached, Youth First began to offer an after -school homework program in the afternoons in the storm shelter on site. As the cooler temperatures arrived, the need to find an alternate site for the after -school program became apparent, due to the lack of heat in the storm shelter. Several options were explored, including a mobile home within the neighborhood and the old Hamilton house located to the west of the neighborhood. Both options were wrought with difficulty due to the condition of the structures. In recent months, the City has been in the process of purchasing properties via funds available through the state within the Highway 10 Corridor for the eventual reconstruction of Highway 10. One of the properties recently purchased is the former NAU site, During the work session of December 4`h, Council considered the request to allow Youth First to utilize the south east office space at the former NAU site to continue its programming for the Oak Terrace neighborhood as well as other youth in the Ramsey area. There were several issues discussed with Council that will require support from community organizations; Youth First is working to pull resources together to address those issues. The following is a brief summary of the issues addressed during the Council work session of December 4: • Utilities. Are estimated to be $250 a month, conservatively. The Ramsey Rotary has made a commitment of $1500 to Youth First to assist with the payment of utility costs at the site. • Snow plowing. A solution is needed to provide a path from Oak Terrace to the east end of the NAU site. Options could include asking the city to plow this path or to ask a neighboring business if they would add this to their plowing routine. • Lighting the path. It was suggested that the path between NAU and Oak Terrace be lit. Heidi Geiss of Youth First will be contacting Connexus Energy to request assistance with this. • Insurance for the site. Currently the City insures the property; any leasor of the space would need to provide liability insurance for its operation and contents. Youth First does carry liability insurance for its programs and would extend their coverage to this site for the operation of the after -school program. • Demise office Space. There is a potential need to demise the space into two separate office spaces. The cost to perform this work is estimated at $7,000-$9,000. Youth First and city staff are continuing to work on options for this need. • Foregoing lease revenue and taxes to the City. Staff recognizes that with this arrangement, the City would be foregoing any lease revenue and property taxes that might have been collected from the lease of the space. The lease revenue, minus the administrative expenses, would be returned to the Met Council RALF program, Staff met with the EDA on November 30 and the EDA expressed support for the use of the space for this purpose. During the work session of December 4, Council concurred with