Minutes - Council Work Session - 11/09/2004 - Special

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Mr. Nedegaard stated RTC has never been involved with the county. They have done checking on their own and do not believe those numbers are correct, which is why they have come back with the current amount. Councilmember Elvig stated the AUAR improvements were going to be paid for by the county and whatever other agencies they could get involved, and the developer would take care of it fi'om there. The point was not to put a tax on the general tax levy. He noted there has been 2.2 million dollars included on a park that was not agreed to previously, and he appreciates that. However, the three million dollar deficit needs to be addressed. Councilmember Cook stated the Council keeps asking for more money, and it just keeps getting shifted around. In the last six months they have shifted the numbers back and forth and during that time they have wasted a year of construction on the property. The developer has spent money on stop-gap funding to keep the money going and nothing is being done to work it out. At the end of months the developer is worse off and the City is worse off, and the another three million dollars is now being asked for. Councihnember Elvig stated three million dollars is not being asked for at the last second on the table. This is the first time the Council has seen this without the land being involved. Every time there is a ripple in this agreement it makes a large effect. His question is that there were stop-gap measures for cash, and they were very strong about that. He does not know why they would give that when the benchmarks are not released. He would propose abandoning Paragraph No. 2 and keeping the rest of the agreement as it stands. Mr. Bray explained the $800,000 in Paragraph No. 2 was money put into escrow because the assessments contemplated under the original Development Agreement did not get levied. The original Development Agreement said to the extent that land is sold prior to the time that the City has its lien in place, by levying the assessment they are to escrow the amount of that. In Paragraph No. I they are accelerating the dates by which the City levies the assessments so they are levied and in place, and the City's lien is on the land. Once the City's lien is on the land they release the escrowed fund. He explained it is an economic wash to the City. Councihnember Kurak noted the developer is taking a loss on the property by giving it to the City for $1. Mt'. Lasher advised there is a significant tax advantage to this entire project. Councihnember Strommen indicated she can agree with this if the City is covered on the AUAR roadway improvements according to the financial analysis. Councihnem. ber Elvig indicated he is comfortable moving forward. City Council Special Work Session/November 9, 2004 Page 10 of 11