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City Administrator Ulrich commented that the PACT school proposal with the football field would <br />not fit onto the city site. He stated that this site would have never fit the entire school and football <br />field and would involve the privately owned property to the west as well. <br />Chairperson Cords commented that he likes the idea of retail development and has nothing against <br />the school expanding but would prefer this site to be focused on retail and something that would <br />be taxable. <br />Member Riley asked if Member Steffen has input. <br />Member Steffen stated that he echoes the comments of the Chairperson. He stated that the <br />northwest corner of The COR already has a grocery store, Caribou and Mexican restaurant and <br />would be cautious against adding the same things that already exist in The COR. <br />Mr. Krogh stated that in the long-term COVID has changed things in terms of retail development. <br />He believed that more people would continue to work remotely. He referenced the recent events <br />in Minneapolis and Saint Paul over the past year as well and believed that would cause people to <br />move outward and Ramsey would only continue to grow. He stated that many communities have <br />multiple retail corridors with duplication of tenants. He stated that Caribou would keep both <br />locations, Coborn's would provide different grocery offerings from the other tenant and the <br />Mexican fast casual business would be different than the full -service restaurant. He stated that <br />nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd and more retail usually brings in more business for existing <br />retail. <br />Member Howell stated that it would be nice to see another grocery store as many people go to Elk <br />River for groceries as not everyone shops at Coborn's. She stated that this would bring more <br />options for the community members. <br />Mr. Krogh commented that his family uses a combination of different grocery retailers. <br />Member Riley commented that before the problem Coborn's had been that the other grocer was <br />going to be located in their parking lot, whereas this concept puts distance between the two. <br />Chairperson Cords stated that he would like to see staff continue to negotiate a two phased <br />program, keeping in mind PACT and whatever they may have in mind. He stated that he would <br />like to more aggressively pursue this opportunity and the phased approach seems reasonable. <br />Mr. Krogh stated that they are excited to work with staff and had a great experience working with <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan and his team on the O'Reilly's project. He stated that <br />if PACT does need help finding a site, he would be happy to help them as he also has experience <br />working with charter schools. <br />Member Riley stated that he wears different hats within the City and his job today is to act as a <br />member of the EDA with those goals in mind. He stated that from an EDA standpoint, this <br />proposal makes perfect sense as it is retail and creates jobs. He stated that at the same time he <br />does not want to create a bigger decision or cause turmoil later if this conflicts with other plans on <br />Economic Development Authority/ October 14, 2021 <br />Page 4 of 7 <br />