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ARDEN HILLS EDA MEETING — April 22, 2024 2 <br />He specifically referenced the Pace site and stated that while proposals for redevelopment have been <br />submitted, for one reason or another, the site was still sitting vacant today. <br />Secretary Perrault described the various tools that could be utilized which include engaging directly <br />with the Pace site owner, its representative or developer, and financing options such as TIF. He asked <br />if the EDA would like City staff to be proactively involved regarding pursuing redevelopment of the <br />site and noted the Comprehensive Plan calls for a small area plan to guide future development. He <br />then indicated that City staff did not have the bandwidth for a large-scale project due to other workload <br />but conversations regarding smaller scale tactical projects could be had. He stated he could work with <br />the City's financial advisor to provide options for the EDA to consider. <br />Commissioner Holden indicated there is a white paper that was adopted by the City Council which <br />outlined options, and she asked if there was a copy of that available. <br />Secretary Perrault stated he did not have a copy of that document in front of him. <br />Commissioner Holden asked if he knew of such a document. <br />Secretary Perrault stated yes, he believed there was such a document. <br />Commissioner Holden commented about why recreate the wheel if that information already exists? <br />President Grant said since there is already a document in existence, that should be distributed to the <br />Council. <br />Secretary Perrault replied he certainly could do that. He stated also the point of tonight's discussion <br />was to possibly take a more proactive approach by having City staff engage with the site owner or <br />developers to spur development on the site, or did the EDA wish to wait for requests to be submitted to <br />the City from an outside parry. <br />Commissioner Holden reiterated the white paper referenced the different tools available to the City, <br />noting the problem with the Pace site was the property's ownership. She asked when the current lease <br />with Pace was going to be up because right now the owner was collecting monthly rent from them. <br />She noted the lease ending could be as early as this fall and said the property owner has no incentive to <br />fill the site as long as they are receiving monthly rental payments from Pace. She stated there would <br />be more opportunities once the lease expires because right now, the owner will not let anyone perform <br />a study to see how much pollution was on the site that needs to be remediated. She said it would be <br />irresponsible to send interested parties in that direction without knowing what the remediation costs are <br />as that would be like a bait and switch. She agreed this was a wonderful project location but it seemed <br />irresponsible to her to move forward until the Pace lease was done. <br />Commissioner Rousseau noted the parcel was 2.3 acres and she stated that she also was interested in <br />knowing the lease end date. She said the EDA could then come up with a plan and see if there was <br />greater interest and also the City could see if the owner or developer would be interested in working <br />with the City. She stated that in the meantime, the white pages could be reviewed. <br />Commissioner Monson commented that the timeline seemed to line up well for the EDA to catch up <br />on the white paper. She noted there were questions such as does the EDA want to be proactive? What <br />