Agenda - Council - 02/14/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Shryock asked for clarification regarding the percentage of local communities around Ramsey that support an elected Metropolitan Council and whether Ramsey would want to support that language. City Administrator Ulrich stated that he does not know the specific number but did not believe the majority support elected officials. He noted that he will do additional research and provide the results to the Council. Mayor Strommen noted that this does reflect the position the Council took. Motion by Councilmember Riley, seconded by Councilmember Johns, to Adopt the City of Ramsey 2017 Legislative Platform. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Strommen, Councilmembers Riley, Johns, Kuzma, and Shryock. Voting No: None. Absent: Councilmembers LeTourneau and Williams. 7.11: Consider Approval of Request for Exemption to EDA Revolving Loan Fund Guidelines Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama reviewed the staff report and recommendation of the EDA to support this exemption. The EDA felt the purpose of this program was to help Ramsey businesses, noting the program is very rarely used. He stated that generally this appears to be a reasonable request/opportunity to expand the ability to use this program. The EDA will still rely heavily on the underwriting process to determine if an applicant is credit worthy. The EDA believes some level of equity is needed in any project the City was involved with, in this specific scenario, five percent appears to be reasonable. The EDA has requested staff bring back a future case to update the EDA Revolving Loan Fund Policy. Councilmember Riley stated that the EDA had a robust discussion on this topic and it was proposed to accept the five percent equity rather than ten percent. He stated that the EDA supports the change to five percent. He noted that perhaps this change will help utilization of the RLF program. Motion by Councilmember Riley, seconded by Councilmember Johns, to allow for an exemption to the EDA RLF Guidelines, to allow for minimum equity, in the amount of five percent, for American Print and Digital. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Strommen, Councilmembers Riley, Johns, Kuzma, and Shryock. Voting No: None. Absent: Councilmembers LeTourneau and Williams. 7.12: Stone Brook Academy Purchase Agreement for 1 Acre of City Owned Land Located within The COR (Portions may be closed to the public) Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama reviewed the staff report and recommendations from the EDA and Planning Commission, noting that each group had a City Council / January 24, 2017 Page 13 of 17