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Councilmember Elvig stated that he is not advocating that the City come up with its own solution, <br />but similar to an RFP process, see what can be done internally and what can be contracted out. <br />Councilmember Dehen asked why developers were not looking at this land. <br />Mr. Lasher stated that they have looked, but they cannot develop what they want on the property <br />as it sits today. <br />Public Works Director Olson stated that the bank is not willing to sell the land for the price they <br />are offering either. <br />City Administrator Ulrich noted that he is aware of some offers that have been made by the Beard <br />Group and Opus, but they were contingent on coming to an agreement with the City, so the bank <br />did not accept their offers. He stated that Jim Deal also put in a $5 million cash offer that was <br />turned down. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that the City is really the only one that can walk in with a non - <br />contingent offer. He stated that if this goes to the point of tax foreclosure, the County will step in <br />and trump everybody, there will be no development agreement, no assessments and the City will <br />have no rights, so the bank will get exactly what they want. <br />Councilmember Dehen asked if this was true. <br />Community Development Director Miller stated she is unsure about Minnesota law, but this was <br />the case in both Missouri and Wisconsin. <br />Public Works Director Olson stated that the first thing the County would do is ask the City if there <br />were any public needs in the area. <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated then at that point, the City could acquire the park land and some <br />drainage and utility easements. <br />Mr. Lasher stated that he cannot imagine that the bank would let it get to tax forfeiture, because a <br />lien would be placed on the property which just overly complicates the situation. <br />Councilmember Strommen asked if MinnWest was sufficiently isolated from the problems <br />Community National is having. <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that he thinks MinnWest is fairly "clean" and has separated from <br />the Community National issues. <br />Councilmember Elvig reiterated that he feels this would be a proactive way for the City to move <br />this forward because there will be great value to the City if this project moves forward. <br />Councilmember Dehen stated that he feels that the City should let a developer decide whether this <br />project should move forward or not. <br />Ramsey Town Center City Council Subcommittee Work Session / July 22, 2008 <br />Page 5of10 <br />