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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 />