Laserfiche WebLink
ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — June 1, 2011 <br />2.A. TCAAP /Stadium Update (continued) <br />Mayor Grant stated a March 21, 2011, letter from the City Administrator to the Ramsey County <br />Manager outlined the City's principal concerns with a stadium development. On May 10, 2011, <br />Ramsey County and the Minnesota Vikings announced that they had come to an agreement to <br />jointly pursue the development of a new multi - purpose stadium on the TCAAP site in Arden <br />Hills. Ramsey County and the Vikings released their "Principles of Agreement for the <br />Development of a New Multi - Purpose Stadium" which essentially is a term sheet outlining the <br />components of future legal documents to be executed by the County and the Vikings. The <br />Agreement addresses several of the City's issues identified in the March 21, 2011, letter, but does <br />not wholly alleviate the City's concerns. As this project may move forward at a rapid pace in <br />June, with a special session being anticipated before the end of the month, Staff recommends that <br />the City ascertain which concerns have not yet been addressed and work with Ramsey County to <br />ensure that those concerns are addressed in the final legal documents. He reviewed the City's <br />seven principal concerns and a description of whether and how these concerns are addressed in the <br />Agreement. <br />City Administrator Patrick Klaers stated the bill language that was previously introduced to the <br />legislature regarding a possible stadium in Ramsey County would be redone. The County is <br />currently working on this and the language would include the terms that were brought forward in <br />the May 10, 2011, Agreement. The Agreement is between the County and the Vikings and the <br />City is not part of this Agreement but the City would like to have their concerns included and <br />addressed in the Agreement. <br />Councilmember Holmes stated the City needed to spend more time in developing new terms and <br />language for the development of the private land that would be included in the Agreement. The <br />term sheet does not say if this land must be retained and developed by the Vikings or if this land <br />can be sold to another party for development. <br />Mayor Grant stated at this time the Agreement is between the County and the Vikings and the <br />Agreement presented at this time is brief. It does not include all of the details that the final <br />document will contain. This is the first of many agreements to come if this proposal moves <br />forward. <br />A.A. Additional TCAAP Presentation <br />Councilmember Holden clarified the TCAAP property does not border Shoreview. She <br />explained the area that is up for public auction is the area that already has buildings and roads not <br />the property that is currently considered AHATS. The development that had been proposed by <br />Ryan Companies was not what would be considered a typical Arden Hills development with large <br />open green spaces. This development included large amounts of commercial space that included <br />parking lots. The development that had been proposed by Ryan Companies was to take place over <br />a 10 -15 year period. Ryan Companies had determined that the development was not economically <br />feasible and withdrew from the project. The City has looked at several options for this property <br />and at this time the stadium proposal includes having the surrounding land developed within 8 <br />years. The infrastructure for the Ryan plan would have needed to be constructed by the City and <br />this was costly. The Ryan development proposal would have required public financing and by the <br />