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.
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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
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