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<br />reworked or amended, whatever the case may be, if it stays in place or has a rebirth of some sort. <br />He finds it an interesting dynamic, the position that this Development Agreement needs to stay in <br />place, and yet it appears to have flaws; it has not worked. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated the City is starting at one point and the Bank is starting at another point, <br />and it may come together. He hopes they can reach an agreement on it without having to go <br />through all the costs, etc.; that remains to be seen. The City will work with Mr. Bray and Mr. <br />Goodrich, and will do as much as they can. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen pointed out that the Council is all present. He asked what Mr. Bushman <br />is giving them specifically to look at, other than that he wants dialogue. He stated he does not <br />perceive Mr. Bushman as a bad person at all. He understands the role is to maximize what the <br />Bank gets out of this, and that is his job. A declaratory judgment will not cost that much money, <br />and the City and Bank will both get an answer. It is cheap, quick and effective. Mr. Bushman is <br />talking about entering into negotiations, and to him that is a lot of money. He asked what it is <br />that Mr. Bushman wants to tell the City. <br /> <br />Mr. Bushman stated he would like the Council to recognize that the Bank has engaged engineers <br />for costs to finish this, and it is substantial. It is more than what it would be worth in certain <br />segments. He questioned why anyone would do that, and where the economic reality is that <br />someone will come forward and accept the responsibility of the Development Agreement and put <br />more money into it than it is worth. By the Bank's estimation it is somewhere north of $22 <br />million yet to finish per the Development Agreement. There are some things that maybe could <br />be changed or reorganized, or deferred to the extent that a different source of revenue could be <br />identified to defer that payment into the future. He gets very concerned that if Ramsey Crossings <br />will compete with Ramsey Town Center there will possibly be two failed or struggling <br />developments. Whereas, if there is focus on one, and he hopes it is Ramsey Town Center, there <br />may be the ability to get one up and running and paying for itself on its Own. The Bank has been <br />engaged in discussions with brokers, developers, and people with national reach. They are <br />saying that the one good thing about Ramsey Town Center right now, given the state they are in, <br />is that they are ahead of the game. But if they wait and spend time on declaratory actions that <br />take possibly 90 days to figure out, that will get them into another season. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey stated Mr. Bushman said he sees some development. What the City sees <br />is a vision that was cast a few years ago with parks and a walkable community, and the <br />Development Agreement protects that vision. The council members are the ones that live here <br />and are responsible to the taxpayers and citizens for the vision that was developed here. The <br />Bank financed the project on the vision that was here. That vision is near and dear to at least a <br />handful of them. <br /> <br />Mr. Bushman replied the economic reality is there is not money to pay for the vision as near as <br />he can tell. <br /> <br />Mr. Bray stated the primary basis for the recommendation of the declaratory judgment action is <br />the fact that there is the sale date coming up on July 9th, and they do not know the result of that <br />sale date. Mr. Bushman talks as though he believes the Bank will be the buyer, and if they are <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / June 5, 2007 <br />Page 8 of 12 <br />