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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-22-2020 EDA Minutes ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA) MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF June 22, 2020 The meeting was called to order at 6:01pm by Chair Szurek. Members Present: Novitsky, Buesgens, Schmitt, Herringer, Williams, Murzyn and Szurek. Staff Present: Kelly Bourgeois (City Manager) and Christy Bennett (Recording Secretary). CONSENT AGENDA 1.Approve the minutes from the meeting of June 8, 2020. Motion by Novitsky, seconded by Buesgens to approve the minutes from the June 8, 2019, meeting as presented. All ayes. MOTION PASSED. Public Hearing – Approve Land Sale to Alatus LLC for Redevelopment of EDA owned Property and Approval of TIF Agreement for Same BACKGROUND: Bourgeois explained that the EDA opened a public hearing on June 8, 2020 to consider the sale of EDA owned property and final approval of the tax increment financing agreement for the EDA’s redevelopment site located at 3989 Central Avenue. At the time of the hearing, the final purchase, redevelopment, and TIF agreements were not ready for review and approval. Therefore, the hearing was continued to June 22 at 6:00 p.m. Due to the complex nature of the project, the contracts remain unfinished and staff needs more time to prepare. Therefore, staff recommends that the EDA continue the hearing to July 13, at 5:30 p.m. Comments from Members There were no questions from members. Motion by Buesgens, seconded by Williams, to open the public hearing and continue the hearing to July 13, 2020 at 5:30 pm. All Ayes. MOTION APPROVED. Public Hearing Opened There were no questions from the public. Public Hearing Closed Redevelopment Project Updates: Bourgeois shared that staff is in continual discussions with multiple parties. They are working on the quick take process regarding the lease for the cell antennas that were located on top of 3989 Central Ave. The antennas for both carriers, Sprint and AT&T, are physically off the building and all related accessory equipment has been th decommissioned. There had been a court date set (July 10) for the public purpose portion of the quick take, the condemnation hearing, but there was a request by AT&T for a new judge. The new judge has been appointed, but the new court date has not been scheduled yet. Staff is continuing to work with all of the parties on a resolution outside of court. Bourgeois said that staff continues to work diligently with Alatus and their architects, as well as the City’s architects. Leo A Daly is designing the City Hall portion of the project, while Doran is working with Alatus on the overall design and construction of the building as a whole. Demolition is tentatively scheduled to occur in th mid-July if the closing date for the sale of 3989 Central Ave can be completed by July 15. That date is contingent on some of the title pieces being resolved which depends on the date of any court action. Staff is still hopeful this can happen, but we are closing in on that date quickly. Staff is discussing how demolition can th still occur if the closing does not happen on July 15. There are a couple of ways to provide for that, but the developer would pay for the demolition, no matter how it is done. Alatus already has their contract lined up for the demolition, for both the office building and the ramp. The demolition will require the closing of a lane on Central Ave, which requires MnDOT approval. Kevin Hansen, the Public Works Director, is working with Doran on making contact with DOT to obtain the demo permits and the lane closure permits from DOT for that th to happen. The construction itself will also likely require closure of a lane on 40 Ave long-term. Hansen is working on that with Anoka County for permitting for the on-going construction to occur. Bourgeois said various legal documents are being reviewed by two attorneys on the City’s behalf and Alatus’ attorneys, which include the TIF Agreement, the Development Agreement, and the Condo Agreement. The Condo Agreement will detail how on-going expenses and maintenance of the property would be split between Alatus and the City. The Condo Agreement must be executed before we can approve any of the other final agreements: the Development Agreement, the Purchase Agreement, and the TIF Agreement. Bourgeois stated that we are getting close to completing the final design for City Hall. Staff’s goal is to get to 95% complete and then the plans would be put on hold until the shell is up and the space is ready for staff and the architects to actually finish the interior layout. Staff, Leo A Daly, and Doran are moving along very quickly and coordinating with one another, as there are so many components that are shared and are reliant on each other. We likely would have waited awhile to finish our design plans if this were not the case. Bourgeois shared that we are saving money by doing them concurrently. Bourgeois said that there is an Xcel electric line that is running underneath where the new building will sit that needs to be moved. The City needs to get into the queue to have it moved, as it will be months till it can be moved once in the queue. Bourgeois shared this will be going before City Council later this evening, as the City will need to pay for the work up front to even get in the queue. Alatus will be paying the city back for this work. The amount to do the work came in around $19k, which is lower than expected. The line services the strip mall across the street from 3989 Central Ave. Bourgeois shared that staff is working on the exterior design currently. Doran had a base price for the design and now we are waiting on them for pricing on some higher end materials, like limestone, to see how much extra it will cost. There will be a difference that will need to be considered or we will need to look at alternative materials to try to make the renderings work. Staff is also looking at landscaping and safety along especially th Central and also along 40 Ave where all the windows are. Crash protection will likely be mostly stone benches th with some bollards on the 40 Ave side. Trees, the little parklet, and the area to get into City Council chambers are all being planned for right now. Staff is still working with Doran on signage for the sidewalk and driveway into the parking ramp. We are hopefully going to go to MWMO to see if we can get some assistance with heated sidewalks and heated ramp that goes into the parking area. They provided that assistance at the library and it works extremely well. It helps with ice and is a lot less maintenance to maintain during the winter. th Buesgens asked if this would be for the sidewalks on 40 and Central, too. Bourgeois said that they are th planning to ask for is all along Central, on 40 Ave up to the driveway that goes into the ramp, the ramp entrance, and along Gould where the coffee shop area is. Past that area would be up to Alatus to determine if they want to do that as well. Bourgeois said that Doran provided a draft landscape for the entire area, which is very nicely done. It is very heavy on plants, which will add a lot of greenery to that area, which staff was happy to see. Herringer asked if the hearing will be in Anoka County. Bourgeois said that it would be the venue, which is th good for the City. Herringer asked if it was on the 10. Bourgeois explained that the date had been set for the th 10, but with the change in judge, it will likely be a different date. Herringer asked if we know who the judge is. Bourgeois said that staff does know who the judge will be, but could not recall the name. She said that the City’s attorneys were happy with the judge that was chosen. Buesgens asked what the reason was for changing the judge. Bourgeois said we can only speculate, but we do not know the actual reason that AT&T made this request. Herringer asked who is representing Crown Castle. Bourgeois explain that each party has their own representation. Crown Castle is represented and attorney with Fredrikson & Byron, while AT&T is represented by Faegre Drinker. Sprint is a party, but they have not been as actively involved, because Brandee L. Caswell at they solely decommissioned their equipment. Due to Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile providing them access to a T-Mobile antenna on Parkview Villa, there was no need to re-locate them. Szurek asked how soon Chirpich will be available. Bourgeois said that he should be back in the office tomorrow. Szurek shared that the sound on Zoom was terrible and that she would connect with Chirpich to get a review of the update shared. Motion by Buesgens, seconded by Novitsky, to adjourn the meeting at 6:20 pm. All Ayes. MOTION PASSED. Respectfully submitted, Christy Bennett Secretary