09-19-18 JDA Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Huffman clarified the County and the City would still have conversations negotiating the SAC fees from Met Council over the coming weeks prior to the final MDA being considered for approval. Mr. Jambois reported this was the case. Commissioner Huffman asked if it was possible for someone to vote yes this evening on the MDA and vote no in the future if negotiations did not go as planned. Mr. Jambois stated this could happen as the MDA was still in draft form. Commissioner Ortega commented negotiations would continue between the County, the City and the developer. Commissioner Grant reported the City does not vote on the MDA. Mr. Jambois commented the City votes on the cooperative agreement, which was an attachment to the MDA. He explained the JDA was a proxy for the City. Commissioner Grant discussed the amount of time that had passed (two months) to move the MDA from a framework to a draft form. He thanked the County for their efforts on this document but noted he feared the document had taken 10 steps backwards based on the redlined document provided by the developer. He anticipated there was a great deal of work left in order for this document to be completed. He feared the County was proposing a tight timeline if this document was to be in its final form by October. He asked what the County’s deadline was for the MDA. Mr. Jambois stated the County was working to have the MDA in final form by October 1st or shortly thereafter. Chair Wicklund requested the conversation turn to dialogue at this time. He summarized the comments and areas of contention within the MDA. He stated he supported the JDA meeting twice a month going forward to allow for greater discussion regarding the MDA. Commissioner Grant stated the $500,000 placeholder for City planning expenses was premature. He commented this number was way off and should be eliminated. He indicated the SAC charge issue was a concern and he couldn’t understand why the County was asking the City to give away its assets. He recommended both of these items be removed from the MDA. He questioned what the value was of approving the draft MDA or Executive Summary except to present the City of Arden Hills with a bill. Chair Wicklund indicated the value of the summary was stated to be to provide staff with feedback on the issues that still need to be addressed. Commissioner Grant recommended the points of tension be removed from the document. Commissioner Huffman supported the placeholder number and SAC fees being removed from the MDA. He noted for the record this was a preliminary or draft document that still had items that needed to be negotiated on.