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Member Johnson commented that she does have empathy for the business and would favor the <br />refund as the business went through all the steps and attempted to make things work only to have <br />the rug pulled out at the end. She stated that this could be a cautionary tale for others in spending <br />this level of money only to not move forward. <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan stated that one of the missteps with the earnest money <br />standpoint is that the business could have waited for the Council approval to issue the notice to <br />proceed, as that is what triggered the earnest money to be nonrefundable but recognized the timing <br />constraints. He stated that there were a lot of issues with timing, with a lot of time put in for both <br />City staff and the bank. He noted that the Planning Commission is only a recommending body <br />and therefore the notice to proceed should have been delayed until after the Council decision. He <br />stated that he does support the refunding of that earnest money for that reason, and this will be a <br />learning experience for Cor Trust. He stated that there are project costs, and some projects move <br />forward while others do not. He believed that refunding project costs would set a negative <br />precedent moving forward. He commented on changes that have been made to the City process <br />moving forward when presenting a purchase agreement to the City Council. <br />Mr. Suchy stated that it was frustrating that it felt that there was not communication between the <br />City Council and staff. He stated that their design was based on the recommendation of staff and <br />some of those elements then seemed to be penalized by the Council. <br />Chairperson Wiyninger stated that he is empathetic to the business and is fully supportive of <br />returning the earnest money but could not support reimbursement of development costs. <br />Member Riley commented that he also supports the return of the earnest money as that was <br />unfortunate with the issue of timing. He stated that he does not support reimbursement of other <br />costs and there are projects that are regularly reviewed that do not move forward. He stated that <br />the City Council stated that they did like the project, but not in this location. He stated that if the <br />business chose a different location, they could take into consideration the development costs when <br />considering the cost of land in that alternate location. <br />Member Howell agreed with the comments of Member Riley. <br />Member Wiyninger recognized that there are costs a business spends without knowing whether a <br />project would be approved. He stated that he likes the comments of Member Riley related to <br />potentially finding another location in Ramsey. <br />Mr. Suchy stated that this time the business is not interested in Ramsey based on their experience <br />and the review of other sites that they completed prior to submitting the application. <br />Chairperson Wiyninger appreciated the pain of site selection and welcomed the opportunity to <br />potentially work together in the future, should the business be interested. <br />Motion by Member Johnson, seconded by Member MacLennan, to recommend to City Council to <br />return $10,000 in Earnest Money to COR Trust Bank, N.A. <br />Economic Development Authority/ February 8, 2024 <br />Page 7 of 9 <br />