Agenda - Planning Commission - 10/06/2005

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Further discussion: Councilmember Elvig noted there has been discussion about going back to 8-foot sidewalks as opposed to 1 O-foot sidewalks. This could be a mistake and he would like to revisit this issue. Councilmember Cook concurred. He noted the paver that will be purchased by the City should be 10 feet as well. Mayor Gamec directed staff to add this discussion to the next Public Works Committee agenda. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Elvig, Jeffrey, Cook, Olson, Pearson, and Strommen. Voting No: None. Case #14: Schedule Public Hearing for Acquisition of Highway #10 Adjacent Properties City Administrator Norman stated the City has been aggressively pursuing acquisition of properties on the north side of Highway gl0 as part of the Official Mapping process. The acquisition of properties had been made through the av.ailability of the Right-of-Way Acquisition Loan Fund (RALF) Program. The RALF Program has 'a limited amount .of dollars that can be spent each year on tight-of-way acquisitions State-wide, so Ramsey is limited to an allocation of acquisitions each year. He explained not only has the City closed on four properties, there are an additional seven projects that are in the appraisal or final stages of acquisition. In order to expedite the acquisitions so that property sales do not go to other buyers, staff proposes to initiate a program of property acquisitions along Highway #10 that may be eligible for RALF funding at some future date. The designated properties would be leased out to tenants and the property would eventually be reimbursed by the RALF Program at some future date. City Administrator Norman advised staff proposes to begin this process by acquiring the former NAU building and Anchor's Away building located on Lots 2 and 3, Block 1, of the Deal Industrial Park. Both of these buildings were formerly owned by Jim Deal and have been since purchased by Ramsey Town Center LLC. Staff has already identified building tenants and a lease management company to manage the buildings until they are sold as part of the RALF Program. He explained financing of the buildings would be performed through lease revenue bonds. Paul Donna of Northland Securities has prepared a financing schedule to begin the bonding process. Council would need to adopt a resolution initiating the process before adoption of the redevelopment plan and a resolution initiating the process for adoption of a redevelopment project area calling for the public hearing. City Administrator Norman advised the HRA met earlier this evening and reviewed this same case. The HRA adopted a resolution initiating the process for the adoption of the redevelopment plan. Council must now adopt a resolution initiating the process for adopting of the redevelopment project area and also a resolution calling for a public hearing. Finance Officer Lund explained these bonds will include the same financing method as was taken with the Municipal Center project; however, the financing will be through the HRA rather than the EDA. The first step in the process is to adopt the redevelopment plan, which was completed at the HRA meeting. The next step would be for the Council to adopt the resolution initiating the process for approval of the redevelopment project area and calling a public hearing. The public heating date will be October 11, 2005. This would become a project at the time of P66 City Council / September 13, 2005 page 22 of 33