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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002 [07] Jul 177-17-02 Page 1 of 3 CITY OF ST. JOSEPH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Meeting Minutes -Wednesday, July 17th, 2002 Present: EDA Chairman Bruce Gohman, EDA Board Members Ross Rieke, Larry Hosch, Bob Loso and Mike Deutz. Also present: Cynthia Smith-Strack of Municipal Development Group. Mike Gohman, representing St. Joe Development, LLC. Chairman Gohman called the meeting of the St. Joseph EDA to order at 4:12 p.m. Agenda: Requested addition: Budget Amendment TIF 1-4. Recommended re-organization: item 5(c) -Site Plan review for St. Joe Development, LLC moved up to first item under "Business." Moved with proposed changes by Deutz, seconded by Rieke. The agenda was approved 5:0. Minutes: Moved by Duetz seconded by Rieke to approve the minutes of the June 19, 2002 EDA meeting as presented. Minutes were approved 3:0, with Hosch and Loso abstaining. Accounts Payable: The EDA discussed accounts payable and a quarterly income statement Moved by Loso, seconded by Duetz to approve the June Accounts Payable. Accounts payable were approved 5-0. Chairman Gohman recused himself and vacated the premises. EDA Vice Chairman, Hosch assumed control of the meeting. Proposed Budget Amendment: TIF 1-4; St. Joe Development, LLC Strack provided an overview of the proposed amendment indicating the addition of `site improvements' as eligible uses of tax increments. St. Joe Development, LLC representative, Mike Gohman further explained that although the amount of land purchased was reduced from ten to eight acres, the cost of the construction had increased so market values stayed the same. Since less acreage was purchased, remaining tax increments could be used for site improvement, however, site improvements were not included in the TIF 1-4 budget. Strack added that site improvements are eligible expenses in economic development TIF districts. The proposed budget amendment would add site improvements to the eligible expenses listed in the plan for TIF District 1-4. Duetz made a motion to recommend the City Council approve a resolution modifying the tax increment financing plan for tax increment financing district 1-4. The motion was seconded by Rieke. Motion approved 4:0. Proposed Budget Amendment: TIF 1-4; St. Joe Development, LLC Strack provided an overview of the site pan and requirements of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for the St. Joseph Industrial Park where potential inconsistencies existed. Discussion centered around the park owner's failure to record revised covenants which were approved in late 2001. Failure to record said revised covenants resulted in the ambiguous portions of the original set of covenants failing to allow pre-finished steel as an approved exterior building material. Consensus was to allow pre-finished steel as an exterior material as defined in the revised covenants contingent upon the park owner's recording of the covenants prior to commencing of construction. 7-17-02 Page 2 of 3 Motion Rieke, second Los to approve resolution 02-02, recommending approval of the St. Joe Development, LLC building plans based on compliance with restrictive covenants for the St. Joseph Business Park, conditioned upon: 1. The exterior building facade containing apre-finished steel with a 20-year manufacturer colorfast guarantee, and, as illustrated on the plan over 25% of the exterior adjacent fo 15t" Avenue and Elm Street containing materials noted in Section 3.06 and 3.07 of the covenants; and that the revised covenants proposed by the Developer and EDA with this language be filed with the County prior to the issuance of the building permit. 2. Installation of an acceptable ground cover on areas not specified for landscaping, building or parking. Motion approved 4:0, with the developer (Mike Gohman) indicating the ground cover would be of a bluegrass/rye mixture. Bruce Gohman re-entered the meeting room and re-assumed his position as EDA Chairman. TIF Report Card Strack indicated at its May, 2002 meeting the EDA requested MDG review and make suggestions relative to the update of the City's TIF Report Card. Review of suggested changes was initiated. The first change contemplated was to adjust the report card to provide for retaining jobs as well as creating jobs. Retaining of jobs was thought to be an acceptable use of TIF provided it was in conjunction with the creation of new jobs and that both the retained and newly created positions were accounted for in the development/business subsidy agreement. Discussion moved to consideration of wage levels and their relationship to the appropriateness of the use of TIF. MDG had suggested the deletion of the 'Pay Level of Jobs' evaluation point because minimum wage floors for created jobs is a mandatory modification to the City's Business Subsidy Policy. Furthermore, the existing criteria requires an average wage of $45,000/year to qualify as an `excellent' use of TIF, $35,000 - $44,999/ year to qualify as a `very good' use of TIF, or, $30,000 - $34,999/year to qualify as a `good' use of TIF. Jobs created paying less than $30,000 ($14.42/hour) are `below average' or `poor' uses of TIF according to the current standard. After further discussion, it was suggested wages in central Minnesota be further studied to determine what realistic wages are in Central Minnesota. Work on the updating of the City's business subsidy criteria was suggested to be incorporated in the updating of the TIF report card. Due to time constraints the item was tabled to the next meeting of the EDA. Commercial/Industrial Zoning Standards. A special EDA meeting was called for Thursday, July 25th at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall to review proposed updates to the commercial and industrial zoning classes. Mayor Hosch left the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Commercial Redevelopment Strack provided an update on the commercial redevelopment project. Follow up calls to the owners of the flower shop have been unsuccessful. MDG toured potential redevelopment sites with a prospect. St. Joseph Beautification Project EDA Board Member Deutz provided a brief update on the campaign for financing the project. MCCF Participation A summary of a presentation by Mr. Scott Martin, representing the Minnesota Community Capital Fund (MCCF), was included in the EDA packet. EDA members questioned the number of entities pledging 7-17-02 Page 3 of 3 support to the fund and the current capitalized amount. A phone call to Mr. Martin by Rieke revealed 37 entities have filed letters of intent to join the MCCF and $700,000 of the $2.5 million required for the fund to become operational have been submitted. The EDA recommended Mr. Martin address the City Council at its first meeting in August to answer questions and provide a brief overview of the MCCF. Board Member Announcements: None. Next Meeting The next official meeting of the EDA was scheduled for August 21, 2002. Adjournment Moved by Loso, seconded by Rieke to adjourn. All present voted in favor of adjournment, the EDA meeting adjourned at 5:53 p.m. G? c2~2~~~Zr/ ~ ~'~?~ezL~