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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/03/16 - ADMIN - Minutes - Economic Development Authority - Regular5C A N N E D Bn CITYOF ST. LOUIS PARK MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ST. LOUIS PARK , MINNESOTA March 16, 1998 1. Call to Order President Jeff Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 2. Roll Call The following Commi ssioners were present at roll call: Jeff Jacobs, Chris Nelson, Sue Sanger, Ron Latz, Robert Young, Jim Brimeyer and Mayor Gail Dorfman. Also present were the Executive Director (Mr. Meyer): Deputy City Manager (Ms. Kutzler); Planning Coordinator (Ms. Erickson); and Director of Community Development (Mr. Harmening); Economic Development Coordinator (Mr. Anderson); and EDA Attorney (Bob Lindall). 3. Approval of minutes of March 2 1998 meeting The minutes were approved as presented. 1 ) 4. Approval of agenda of March 16, 1998 meeting ) It was moved by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commi ssioner Nelson, to approve the agenda. The motion passed 7-0. 5. Reports - None 6. Old Business - None 7. New Business a. Golden Auto/National Lead Site; Agreement with Hennepin County Mr. Meyer, City Manager, stated that this item needed to be discussed with the EDA because the EDA, as well as the City, was a party to the agreement. He noted that based on the depth of detail anticipated and expertise needed in the performance of the noise and safety mitigation studies, staff had modified section 2.09 in conjunction with County staff, to set aside $300,000 for undertaking of the various investigative steps instead of $150,000 initially proposed. Mr. Meyer distributed a copy of a letter from the County Attorney clarifying that the EDA, City or County had no obligation to undertake the rail connection or redevelop the site as referenced in the preliminary agreement. <J Mayor Dorfman asked why only the County was listed for taking lead responsibility for action on page 6, paragraph 5. Mr. Meyer, City Manager clarified that stating one agency take lead responsibility didn't take the City out necessarily, but in terms of allocating who was going to take on the first steps, that the responsibility would be divided. Commissioner Sanger recommended the following modifications to the proposed resolution: 1. Add Blackstone to list of neighborhoods in second "whereas" on page 2. 2. Add "and easterly along the BN line" at end of first "whereas" on page 5. 3. Add third resolution on page 9: "The EDA shall not execute any final agreement as to the acquisition or remediation of the Golden site or the realignment of railroad traffic through the Lenox, Sorenson, Bronx Park, Birchwood, Blackstone, Lake Forest and Cedarhurst neighborhoods of St. Louis Park until the EDA, City, and representatives of affected City neighborhoods have agreed on a suitable noise, safety, and vibration mitigation measures for said neighborhoods, and sufficient funding for said mitigation has been procured." Commissioners discussed hesitations of adding a third resolution to the agreement which included inability of establishing a consensus of representatives of affected City neighborhoods and inability to procure funding sources. Commissioner Sanger recommended revising the language to read: "The EDA shall not execute any final agreement as to the acquisition or remediation of the Golden site or the realignment of railroad traffic through the Lenox, Sorenson, Bronx Park, Birchwood, Blackstone, Lake Forest and Cedarhurst neighborhoods of St. Louis Park until the EDA and City have agreed, with input from representatives of affected City neighborhoods, regarding suitable noise, safety, and vibration mitigation measures for said neighborhoods, and sufficient funding for said mitigation has been identified." Mr. Meyer, City Manager clarified that several provisions in the contract existed that included similar language to the proposed resolution. Commissioner Sanger was concerned that although reference was made in the contract, there was no statement in the contract that the City does not proceed with the ultimate final plan unless there was funding identified for the mitigation measures. The EDA and EDA Attorney briefly discussed the involvement and responsibility of the railroad in the final agreement. Commissioner Sanger recommended amending bullet nine of Exhibit D to read "Require sound barriers or proofing to houses next to the track North of the new junction and East of the northerly junction." It was moved by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissoner Brimeyer, to adopt the Resolution approving a preliminary agreement with the first two modifications to the contract as recommended by Commissioner Sanger, as to the Golden Property and Evaluation of Proposed 5 I Railroad Routes by and between the County of Hennepin, the City of St. Louis Park and the St. Louis Park Economic Development Authority. Commissioner Latz asked the EDA Attorney to clarify why the Blackstone neighborhood was not initially included and if there were any problem with adding language that was not in the statute. The EDA Attorney stated that no conflict would exist with addition oflanguage to the agreement. Commissioner Sanger commented on the benefit of exploring the probability of the railroad developing a southern interconnect in the future. Mr. Meyer, City Attorney stated that staff would be taking steps in the future to gain information regarding that probability of this development in the future. It was moved by Commissioner Sanger to table approving a preliminary agreement until a discussion with the railroad took place. There was no second and the motion failed. The original motion passed 6-1 (Commissioner Sanger opposed). 8. Communications and Bills ) ) } a. Vendor Claims It was moved by Commissioner Dorfman, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to approve and authorize payment. The motion passed 7-0. 9. Adjournment It was moved by Commissioner Latz, seconded by Commissioner Dorfman, to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 p.m. The motion passed 7-0. I )