Minutes - Council - 01/25/2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

expenditures of the Ramsey Town Cente~ Project and the Municipal Center Project, prior to bonding and bid letting of the project. Further discussion: Councihnember E!vig indicated he and Councilmember Strommen spent time this morning with the consultants and laWyers going over different types of bondings. He thinks thc lease revenue bond is the type of bond ~hat should be utilized due to the advantages to the City. Ifc stated he is all in agreement With t, lie Municipal Center project, and it is correct to do it in Town Center. He has seen the financial Statement about the current City Hall site, and it would require building a structure three, or foUrltimes the size of the current building. His only concern is the timing and where the revenue comes in the timing, The time to bid and bond for this project is now as opposed to lateri and :his only quandary is the timing standpoint. Councilmember Strommen stated the difference between the lease revenue bond and the GO bond was about $600,000, which is minimal ove~r the life of the bond. There are additional costs associated w/th the GO bond, which would hav~ a greater burden on residential homeowners. Mayor Gamec stressed the need to go out for:bid this spring to bring in lower bids. He stated the fiscal impact needs to be reviewed again, but his qpinion is if they do not get this done and out to bid belbrc April they will be better off to wait until the next construction season. The Council has studied this as to what is in the best interest for the City as a whole. Councilmember Cook comm. ented he does not think the timing will get any better than this. To put this off for another building season would be a detriment and these are the best rates they will probably see. Cotmcilmember Jeffrey indicated he agrees With a lot of ~vhat has been said regarding constructing a new Municipal Center versus something on the existing site. He also agrees they need to keep their eye on the ball with: the revenue projections. Councilmember Pearson commented the City Hall is needed. It is sOmel~hing of a gamble but they have to look at the projections and hope things work Out. . Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec~ ~ouncilmembers Cook, Pearson, Elvig, Jeffrey, Olson, and Strommen. VotingNo: None. Further discussion: Mayor GameC stated this is a big thing for the City. There is a need for the facility and they will be able to operate in a more professional way with the new City Hall. He is encore'aged that the Council fully agrees on thiS_. Councilmember Elvig stressed the issue of timing. He stated the City is facing a lot of grOwth now. The Municipal Center is a great project but they have to look at the growth that is paying for it. Case/48: Consider Author~ation to COnt~ract for Legislative Consulting Services for Tax Increment Financing SPeeia! Legislation City Administrator Norman explained as the City and the Ramsey Town Center (RTC) complete the first amendment to the Master Development Agreement, it is time to begin discussions on the development within the core areaof the Town center. There have been a considerable amount of discussions concerning the possibility of an "ExCelsior-Grand" project that would have a mixed use of residential and retail space development ~:ompletely surrounding the structured parking f'acility, l~le explained the mixed-use/struotured parking project would potentially include retail on the first floor and up to tWo floors of residential development above the retail space City Council/January 25, 2005 Page 20 of 24