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<br />Motion by Member Steffen, seconded by Member LeTourneau, to approve the following <br />meeting minutes as amended: <br /> <br />1. Economic Development Authority regular meeting minutes dated January 11, 2007. <br /> <br />Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Riley, Members Steffen, LeTourneau, Schindel, and <br />Strommen. Voting No: None. Absent: Members Elvig and Kiefer. <br /> <br />Member Kiefer arrived at 7:36 a.m. <br /> <br />EDA BUSINESS <br /> <br />Case #1: <br /> <br />Cost of Doing Business in Ramsey <br /> <br />Economic Development Coordinator Sullivan stated Mr. Dennis Sharp of Sharp and Associates, <br />LLC is here to make a presentation and to prompt discussion from the Board regarding the cost <br />of doing business in Ramsey. Mr. Sharp has compiled information that compares two similar <br />buildings he owns in Maple Grove and Ramsey. <br /> <br />Mr. Sharp stated Sharp and Associates, LLC is a family business. They ovm buildings that are <br />leased out to industrial properties. It has been brought to his attention that there are quite a few <br />empty spaces in Ramsey. It used to be that he was able to entice quite a few people to come up <br />to Ramsey because it was actually cheaper. Mr. Sharp presented a comparison of costs in the <br />following areas based on similar buildings owned by Sharp and Associates, LLC in Maple Grove <br />and Ramsey: taxes; electrical service costs; water costs; City fees; commercial contractor's <br />lic,ense required in Ramsey; escrow requirement in Ramsey in addition to costs related to staff <br />time. <br /> <br />Mr. Sharp stated Sharp and Associates needs to consider these costs when they determine what <br />to charge for rent, and they now have to charge more- for rent in Ramsey than in Maple Grove. <br />Sharp and Associates pays the electric, gas, and so forth for vacant space, and the vacancy costs <br />in Ramsey are getting to be very expensive. Mr. Sharp stated he has enjoyed working in <br />Ramsey. There is a lot of TIF on some of his projects, and some of those would probably not <br />have developed without that little extra help. However, there have been people commenting that <br />TIF is corporate welfare, which concerns him. What Sharp and Associates has done with the <br />incubator base to bring people to Ramsey has been a benefit to their business, but also to <br />Ramsey. Sharp and Associates owns five buildings in Ramsey, and of those five buildings they <br />pay 776 dollars short of Y2 million dollars in taxes. TIF does get paid back pretty quickly. He <br />believes Ramsey and his family business have really benefited by Sharp and Associates being <br />located in Ramsey, and he appreciates what the City has done, but he would encourage the City <br />to review these costs. <br /> <br />Chairperson Riley stated Mr. Sharp's presentation has been helpful to consider all of these costs <br />together. <br /> <br />Economic Development Authority/March 8,2007 <br />Page 2 of9 <br /> <br />2 <br />