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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDA MIN 01-21-04ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA) REGULAR MEETING MINUTES January 21, 2004 CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALI, President, Murzyn called the meeting to order at 8:58 p.m. Present: Absence: Don Murzyn Jr., Patricia Jindra, Julienne Wyckoff, Bobby Williams, Tammera Ericson, and Bruce Kelzenberg Bruce Nawrocki PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Murzyn stated Bruce Nawrocki was unable to attend the meeting as he had a meeting at the Suburban Rate Authority and was disappointed the EDA meeting wasn't switched as he had previously requested ELECTION OF OFFICERS MOTION by Ericson, second by Williams, to nominate and appoint Don Murzyn, Jr. for President; Patricia Jindra as Vice President; and Bruce Kelzenberg as Secretary/Treasurer. All ayes. Motion Carried. CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes, Financial Report and Payment of Bil!.~ MOTION by Jindra, second by Williams, to adopt the consent agenda items as listed. All ayes. Motion Carried. ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Potential Acquisition of NEI Streetar stated the report provided in the packet outlines the work staff has been doing to fulfill the obligations of the purchase agreement. In December of 2003, both parties formally signed an agreement to purchase the property. On December 31, 2003 the building was vacant. The agreement calls for the closing on or before February 6th. The property includes approximately 5.5 acres of land and a 120, 000 sq. ft. building. Staff'has determined the following: $600, O00 for acquisition, the demolition and asbestos abatement will not exceed $550,000, which could be lower as four bids were received, with the lowest at $286,500 and includes salvaging the archway and balusters. NEI would not allow the asbestos testing, as that would require breaking into chases in the building. The maximum amount expected will not exceed $300,000. S£H, engineering inspected the building and stated it qualifies as substandard, which allows the use of tax increment financing to promote redevelopment, and based on the review ora Phase 1 report by Peer Environmental and Engineering Resources, Inc., and consultations with ProSource Technologies, Inc., there does not appear to be any contamination on the site. Streetar also stated there is a fuel oil tank that would need to be removed for approximately $8,000 by Peer Environmental and that the property was appraised at about $1.1 million based on 98 housing units on the property using the current zoning status orR4. Staff recommended accepting the report and recommending at the City Council meeting on January 26, they loan the EDA $600, O00 from fund 390. 00-131 O0 to purchase the property. Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes January 21, 2004 Page 2 of 3 Streetar introduced Stacie Kvilvang from Ehlers who has been wonderful in getting bids, quotes for demolition, working with Tax Increment people and inspections of the building and asked her to give the board a little background on her experience. Kvilvang stated she is currently with Ehlers and Associates, prior to that she worked with the City of Brooklyn Park for l O years, where they did public rental partnership with a lot of the multi-family communities and went to the Legislature to get taxing rights, which is used to provide funds for their townhome associations that could not obtain private financing to major improvements on the complex. She worked on the Village Creek Redevelopment, which was 140 acres of mixed use property used for redevelopment, andjust finished negotiating the Apache Plaza redevelopment for the City of St. Anthony. The property was purchased the end of November by the developer, Hergerber's will vacate by the end of March, Cub Foods will stay,. Walmart will be one of the main backers, there will be a $600, O00 face lift to the building, 50, 000 sq. feet of small commercial space, 256 owner-occupied units, called stacked flats with an average value of $240, 000, there will be some higher end townhomes in the $350,000 range and 220 market rate apartments. She also negotiated the St. Anthony Liquor Stores. Streetar indicated that if the board was ready, we should probably move forward on using Stacie's services to develop properties as quickly as possible. Wyckoff stated we should move forward with the purchase of the building and asked Stacie to explain the brick she brought with her. Kvilvang stated she worked for the City of Brooklyn Park for l O years and has been involved with tearing down many buildings and one of the things they did with some of their significant projects was to take one brick and replace it as a plaque. Fehst felt there is no reason for the City to hold off on the process of redeveloping various sites in the City. Murzyn suggested staff.put together something with the cost involved for board review next month, g~lliams stated he agreed, but wants Mady's to be informed, as they have told him they haven't been notified of anything. Streetar stated there hasn't been any negotiations or meetings. Williams stated if the City Council has any inten} of giving this land away like they did the 40th and University property, he would be voting against it. He felt the City should be able to get a potential amount for the property. Streetar stated the agreement has expired on the sale of 40th and University and the City could do whatever they want to at this point. Murzyn stated he agreed we shouldn't give the property away and could use that property for many other uses. It won't hurt to hold onto the property until the Industrial Park starts to see what we can get out of it. MOTION by Wyckoff, second by Ericson, to accept the report and request from the City Council at their January 26, 2004 meeting a loan for $600,000 from fund 390.00.13100 to purchase the NEI pi'0perty. All ayes. Motion Carried. Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes January 21, 2004 Page 3 of 3 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Industrial Park Schumacher stated last year it was determined it would be very expensive to clean up the environmental issues in Phase 1 of the Industrial Park. The City applied and received grants in the total amount of $1,233, 3 71; $1,001,640from the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)for Contamination Clean-Up and $231, 731 from the Metropolitan Council to correct contamination in the Industrial Park. These funds will be used to address the soil, water and asbestos contamination in Phase 1. On January 26th there will be a formal presentation before City Council by State Commissioner, Matt Kramer transferring the grant proceeds to the City Council. In Addition, Anoka County Commissioner, Jim Kordiak, Metropolitan Council Member, Tony Pistilli, and State Senator, Satveer Chaudhary, will be recognized for their active roles and support in the prbject. Streetar commended Schumacher for the great job he has done obtaining grants and putting this project together. Commissioners also thanked him. 37th & Stinson Redevelopment Streetar stated the Planning and Zoning Commission met for the first time on January 13th to discuss options for the site. Some of the ideas brought up were a community center, relocate one of our City Liquor Stores and also there have been two different firms interested in medical office buildings in the area. Staff.will keep the board informed, as this was the first of many meetings to be held. Wyckoff.stated she would like to see more restaurants in Columbia Heights, was pleased with the housing going into the Kmart site, suggested the NEI building would be a great spot to build a City Hall and combine it with a Community Center, and also asked about the money being given out by Mrs. Ray Cross for youth centers, can Columbia Heights apply for the funds. Streetar stated the money was designated for low-income housing communities. Anoka County Rail Authority (ACRA) Streetar stated the Anoka County Rail Authority' is proposing to expand their mission to include assisting City's in their redevelopment and economic development activities. Funding would be generated through their existing rail levy. ACRA is levying $2.8 million to expand their powers, which would let Columbia Heights receive some of the funds. Streetar and Murzyn have volunteered to be on the committee. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Williams, second by Sin&a, to adjourn the meeting at 9:47 pm. All ayes. Motion Carried. Cheryl Bakken , -. Community Development Secretary HSEDAminutes2004\ 1-21-2004 LI,I II II Ii