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HRA Minutes 11-06-2002MINUTES MONTICELLO HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Wednesday, November 6, 2002 - 6:00 p.m. 505 Walnut Street - Bridge Room Commissioners: Vice Chair Steve Andrews, Darrin Lahr, Dan Frie, Bill Fair and Council Liaison Brian Stumpf Absent: Chair Brad Barger Staff: Rick Wolfsteller, 011ie Koropchak, Jeff O'Neill and Lori Kraemer 1. Call to Order. Vice Chair Andrews called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. and declared a quorum. 2. Consideration to approve the October 2 2002 HRA minutes. A MOTION WAS MADE BY DARRIN LAHR TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 2, 2002 HRA MEETING. BILL FAIR SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED WITH DAN FRIE ABSTAINING. 3. Consideration of adding or removing items from thea enda. Koropchak removed item 413 and 5, stating there would be discussion on item 5. 4. Consent Agenda. A. Consideration to approve changes to _the Contract for Private Development by and among the City, the HRA and the Central Minnesota Single Family Housing, LLC. Recommendation: To approve changes to the Contract for Private Development. Koropchak advised that this will be the same amount of assistance, just given in 3 separate payments which secures the HRA's risk. Koropchak also noted that she had not been aware that the homes would be constructed in terms of modular homes, but the assessor stated it would not change the value. Jeff O'Neill advised that he would put together a packet of information on this project as well. C. Consideration to approve changing the date of the regular meeting of the HRA from January 1, 2003, to January 8, 2003. A MOTION WAS MADE BY DAN FRIE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA, WITH THE REMOVAL OF ITEM 4B. BILL FAIR SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. HRA Minutes - 11/06/02 5. Consideration to approve assignment of the Contract for Private Development between the HRA and T. J. Martin, Inc. from T. J. Martin Inc to WHL Enterprises Inc and to amend certain conditions within the Contract. Koropchak advised that this item was removed from the agenda so no action was required. Koropchak provided a copy of a letter sent to Wayne Hoglund after discovering that the business would have to be a manufacturing business in order to comply with the contract. She will be checking further with HRA Attorney Greensweig. 6. Continued - Consideration to hear an update on the progress for redevelopment of a portion of Block 52. Koropchak advised that Steve Johnson, Jim McComb, Jeff O'Neill and herself had met previously and that Johnson would present an update to the HRA on his progress. She did advise there was no preliminary agreement or deposit at this time. She also advised that she had invited Pat Sawatzke and advised that they may be interested in his project as well. Steve Johnson noted that Kevin Heaton would not be participating in Phase I, but may in Phase II. Phase I would include Johnson's properties and the HRA lot. He discussed the City's ordinance regarding parking which could be reduced to 60%. He presented a parking study which they felt would be appropriate in comparison to other communities. He noted that most parking spaces are at 20% to 30% full, other than at peak hours. They are finding a demand for approximately 2 I'2 spots per 1,000 sq. ft. In further research they noted weekday parking versus weekends. They compared restaurants, retail, and office. He then stated that the project would take,3 to 3 �/2 parking spots per 1,000 sq. ft. when combining retail and retail/office. Johnson advised of 2 alternatives. Alternative B included demolition and acquisition of land, and Alternative A would be no additional land and re -striping the existing parking spaces. Johnson stated they would have 130 parking spaces for that block and with the existing spaces there would be a total of 199, stating this was calculated at 4 spaces per 1,000 sq. ft. He stated that there had been no changes in regard to uses and sources. Phase II would require acquisition of land. He also noted that they estimated working capitol and parking lot costs. Johnson advised they had received an estimated value of buildings when complete and advised that Koropchak was calculating numbers. Johnson told the HRA he was looking for a consensus of the members that he should proceed with his project, stating that he was looking for their agreement on the number of parking spaces they feel are required for this project. Koropchak had concerns with parking counts from Johnson being different from what the City staff had determined in a previous parking study. N HRA Minutes - 11/06/02 Jeff O'Neill added that in the CCD they can accept an application with 60% of the required parking, but it would be up to the Planning Commission to approve. He noted an exception in that they typically do not count the parking on the streets, as this is generally for overflow parking. If street parking was included in the 60%, the overflow parking would have to go elsewhere, although he stated they were close with the number of spaces. Pat Sawatzke stated he also questioned whether they could count street parking , adding that he was in favor of Steve's project as long as it did not create a parking problem. He stated that the parking at his business and one other was not included in Johnson's count. Steve Andrews advised that parking is a planning and zoning issue and not for the HRA to determine. Johnson stated that he felt this does come into play, noting that if they find they are short on parking they would need to acquire more land and that would increase their costs and affect the amount of assistance from the HRA. O'Neill added that Steve Grittman had looked at this proposal briefly and they will again review it at their site review the next day, as well as reviewing Sawatzke's proposal, which would give them a better idea of parking counts. The HRA asked that staff review both proposals and report back to the HRA. It was also stated that at this time there may be too inuch parking and not enough business so this may work to balance it out. Sawatzke advised the HRA that he had several concepts to present and also that he did not have a great deal of time to prepare for this meeting. They would like to build a 3 story downtown commercial building, with the main level housing their own business, Jade Patrick Salon, as well as several other business on the first floor. He advised that the 2"' and 3'"' floors would be upper scale rental residential, possibly with balconies overlooking the River. They discussed the square footage of the building as well as parking spaces needed. Sawatzke then advised of their second concept which included underground parking which he felt would be beneficial for the residential units. He noted their advantage for underground parking due to the elevation of their site. He added that they could not provide all of their parking spaces on site and would need to utilize parking spaces in the existing lot. There was discussion regarding the timing for these projects as they relate to the TIF district and Sawatzke was advised to meet with Koropchak for that information. O'Neill asked if there was a potential for relocation of the current property owner that Sawatzke would need to acquire property from and it was stated that may be a possibility. Steve Johnson stated he felt that the parking could be worked out and that he and Sawatzke would get together and discuss. Fair added that they should not get hung up on parking and the need to move the projects ahead. Fair also asked staff to provide a HRA Minutes - 1 ] /06/02 timetable that the HRA would have in order to keep moving forward. Koropchak advised that there would be dates listed in the applicant's contracts as well. Sawatzke then clarified the reason he was against a previous proposal on this block. He stated that he is not looking at acquiring public property, would not be using up all of the parking, and not be creating a wall obstructing a view to the River, as the previous proposal had. Andrews asked if Johnson had done drillings/soils on Block 52 and Johnson stated that technically the tanks that are on this site do not exist and that back in the 1970's they were told by the City to empty them out and fill them with sand and weld them shut. The cost to take them out would be $25,000 to $30,000, but added that if there was no contamination, the cost could be as low as $10,000. No testing had been done. The HRA then asked Johnson about the $862,000 gap stated in his proposal, adding that there is only $306,000 of eligible costs, leaving over a $500,000 difference. Johnson stated that this issue needs to be discussed with McComb, but that this gap may not be entirely of TIF as there are other funds available to them through DTED. There was no further discussion. 7. Consideration to endorse the formation of a subcommittee to complete the Business Park Development 101 Exercise and to appoint a representative. Koropchak advised that this item came as a result of a conference she had attended, stating it ties in with the IDC's request for funds for future industrial development or purchasing of land. Koropchak described the process of this exercise and that she thought there should be a member from the HRA, IDC, Planning Commission and/or City Council, as well as possibly someone from Minnegaso or Exel, and City consultants if needed. Koropchak advised that the IDC had made a motion to prepare a presentation for the Planning Commission, endorsed the 101 exercise, and appointed Don Roberts of Sunny Fresh as the IDC representative. O'Neill stated he viewed this as a repeat of the Comp Plan process and that they are already working on getting a task force together to get utilities up to the North Corridor. He also questioned why they would look to the South when the Freeway is a more viable area for Industrial. He stated he also sees this as a possible benefit and that this could compliment the intent of the task force for the North Corridor. O'Neill did advise, however, that this would require resources, time and energy, noting that there are many projects happening right now and that there needs to be a balance with the work load to provide good service to the public. It was clarified that this exercise would be different from the North Corridor Task Force and Lahr stated this seemed to be a "how to build an industrial park" exercise, which Koropchak stated it was. There was discussion on the what the City's role should be in 11 HRA Minutes - 11/06/02 this. They also discussed looking long term by purchasing property to the north where the interchange would eventually be put in and deal with industrial land on a short term basis for now. O'Neill did point out that once annexation happens they would also have a portion of the Gold Nugget property for industrial. A MOTION WAS MADE BY DAN FRIE TO HAVE THE NORTHWEST CORRIDOR TASK FORCE COMPLETE THE BUSINESS PARK DEVELOPMENT 101 EXERCISE. BILL FAIR SECONDED THE MOTION. There was further discussion by Lahr that this seems to be industrial park hunting but he doesn't feel the City is ready for that. Frie asked O'Neill about a time frame for getting the task force developed and he stated it would be at least 4 months to get it all pulled together. Koropchak then stated for the record that this would not be her recommendation as they have been trying to do something for months now and nothing is happening. She stated her frustration at not seeing any progress since she started with the City 17 years ago and that she felt this was not a priority to staff. There was no further discussion. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 8. Consideration of request from IDC to re -instate the use of the HRA committed funds for purchase of land for future industrial development. Koropchak advised her recommendation after talking with Brad Barger, they felt this should be tabled until after the 101 exercise as that would tell them more. Koropchak added that the request from the IDC resulted from discussions at the Planning Commission meeting where they recommended to put dollars up for infrastructure, not purchasing of land. There was further discussion on not reinstating their previous motion as they felt it was not up to the IDC to request the HRA to do this. A MOTION WAS MADE BY DARRIN LAHR TO NOT REINSTATE COMMITTED RESERVE FUNDS OF THE HRA AND CITY FOR PURCHASE OF LAND FOR FUTURE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. There was further discussion that Resolution 99-4 already stated that the HRA committed dollars toward the acquisition or development of industrial land and therefore there was no need to reinstate this. There was no further discussion. LAHR AMENDED HIS PREVIOUS MOTION TO THE HRA REINSTATING RESOLUTION 99-4 WITH CHANGES TO THE COMMITTED DOLLARS FOR ACQUISITION OR DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL LAND. STEVE ANDREWS SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5 01 10. HRA Minutes - 11/06/02 Consideration to authorize payment of HRA bills. MOTION WAS MADE BY DARRIN LAHR TO AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF THE HRA BILLS. DAN FRIE SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Consideration of Executive Director's Report. Koropchak provided the report. Bill Fair asked if there was something the City could do to acknowledge Sunny Fresh's donation toward the Central Minnesota Housing Partnership project and Koropchak said that could be looked into. Rick Wolfsteller added more information regarding the tax abatement workshop he and Koropchak had attended. He informed them of what the City of Albertville was trying to do with road improvements and tax abatement through the County. 11. Committee Reports. None 12. Other Business. None 13 . Adjournment. A MOTION WAS MADE BY DAN FRIE TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:30 P.M. DARRIN LAHR SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. HRA Vic -Chair rel P cor er