Minutes - Economic Development Authority - 04/19/2007

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· Possibility of the EDA initiating an RFP for the commercial node o Concern was expressed that participation with this would be in addition to the City's current involvement with the Ramsey Town Center and Ramsey Crossings developments. It was noted that the 16th Avenue/Highway 47 Commercial Node would be a small node as opposed to a larger development. The EDA could act as a facilitator between the landowners and a developer, rather than being involved in the project · Trade area of the 16th Avenue/Highway 47 Commercial Node · Value of the property in this type of redevelopment project is close to the raw value of the land due to the redevelopment costs involved / the alternative would involve subsidies or marginal tenants with low rents Consensus of the Board was to direct staff to set up a meeting with the landowners involved with the 167'h Avenue/Highway 47 Commercial Node west of Highway 47 with EDA representatives present to open up the discussion of redevelopment of the commercial node. Case #4: Staff Update The EDA reviewed the new business prospects included in the Staff Update. Chairperson Riley asked if there is space available for all of the new business prospects. Economic Development Coordinator Sullivan replied not likely. The Board discussed the possibility of acquiring the 14 acres owned by Connexus for industrial land. The EDA reviewed the Staff Update, including business grand openmgs, business communication initiatives, and the TH 47 Alignment meeting. Member Elvig stated there are four alternatives for the TH alignment. Consensus is that the best route for TH 47 is going down Thurston Blvd, but there is resistance in Anoka regarding that, and they want to plan every detail before making a decision. He expressed concern regarding the process in Anoka with some of the businesses in Enterprise Park being under the impression that TH 47 will be a six lane freeway with Thurston Blvd going through the industrial park. He stated with the Thurston alternative the Ferry Street interchange would remain open, and there is no reason for a six lane freeway if the interchanges remain open. He stated strong reinforcement will be needed to apply the pressure for Anoka to make a decision to get this moving. He stated he had conversations with Ramsey's legislative representatives in Washington D.C. regarding his proposal for the reroute of TH 47 down Thurston Blvd. The alignment would take out Thurston as an overall exchange, as well as Fairoak, which would become an overpass and a local frontage road. This would take a lot of the pressure from Ferry Street. It would address one of the big interchanges on Hwy 10 and the bottleneck on TH 47, and it would fix about 120,000 cars per day with that one project. He stated Anoka Enterprise Park has not been told that MnDOT will move the interchange to Sunfish if the Thurston interchange does not proceed, and if that occurs Thurston Blvd will be sh.ut down. Economic Development Authority/April 19, 2007 Page 5 of7