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City Council Minutes 02-20-1990 SpecialMINUTES SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL Tuesday, February 20, 1990 - 7:30 a.m. Members Present: Ken Maus, Fran Fair, Warren Smith, Dan Blonigen, Shirley Anderson Members Absent: None Assistant Administrator, Jeff O'Neill, reported that 80 acres of land near the site of the existing Pilot's Cove Airport is available for sale and that Council might wish to consider purchasing this land in anticipation of potential development and expansion of the existing airport. O'Neill noted that the existing airport land area is too small to qualify for State funding. In order for the airport to expand, a portion of the land north of the airport must be purchased. At this time, Council has the opportunity to buy 80 acres north of the land needed for purchase and then attempt to work a trade with the owner of the property directly north of the airport. O'Neill went on to note that the State will fund 50% to 75% of the land cost purchase if the airport development plans qualify for funding. The City must provide up -front money with reimbursement from the State of Minnesota when the project is funded by the State. In reviewing the proposal to purchase the land, O'Neill noted that there is considerable risk involved. For instance, there is no guarantee that the airport would qualify for State funding; the State does not generally fund airports with north/south runway alignments; there is no guarantee that the City could work out a deal with the owner of the property directly north of the existing airport; in order for the airport to expand, rezoning must occur, and there is no guarantee that an application for rezoning acceptable to the State will be approved by the local jurisdiction. To mitigate the risk, the City could rent the land and resell it if the airport did not get funded; however, the total cost of the land might not be recovered. In addition, there would be considerable staff and consultant time and expense necessary to see the project through without any guarantees. Mayor Maus noted that development of an airport represents an investment in the City's future and that the City should seriously consider development of the airport; however, he was not sure if it is the right time to purchase the land that is now available given the numerous unanswered questions regarding airport development at the site. 1 Special Council Minutes - 2/20/90 Dan Blonigen mentioned his opposition to the idea of investing significant money into a facility that is not used by the general public and that benefits a small group of fliers. He also noted that it is not clearly demonstrated that the presence of the airport would encourage economic development. Fran Fair agreed that significant research needs to be conducted prior to a major investment by the City. Shirley Anderson agreed that we should look at development of the airport carefully and make sure that we have support from the local jurisdictions before investing a significant amount of money toward the development of the airport. It was the general consensus of Council that staff, working with the airport development advisory committee, should prepare additional information as follows: 1. Determine the true potential of development and expansion of the airport at its existing site. 2. Obtain a clear idea of who is using other municipal airports in an attempt to determine the economic development benefit of an airport in Monticello. Jef f1 AssisratAdministrator 2