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. . . ~ ~~LLS Executive Summary On October 11, 2004, the Arden Hills City Council directed the newly formed Economic Development Commission (EDC) to study the following charge, "Does the Twin Cities Anny Ammunition Plant (TCAAP)' project need economic development assistance and what types of issues does this present to the City as a whole." The EDC's initial review centered on the issues of public financing (non-private funds necessary to assist in financing portions of the redevelopment) and how future TCAAP redevelopment business transactions could be constructed to ensure that existing residents will not have additional tax burdens. However, after a number of meetings it became clear that the TCAAP project redevelopment, which has been looked at with caution and concern on how it may affect the City, can also act as positive catalyst in tenus of capitalizing community redevelopment funds, recreational funds, and a number of other benefits. The second issue that was raised was the cost of local government services in the TCAAP area. All of the aforementioned issues have been addressed within the policy statement. Before summarizing the committee's recommendations regarding public financing participation in the TCAAP project, the issue of "why should the City of Arden Hills redevelop the TCAAP property" needs to be addressed. Although no official City document states a "development value" for the community, it is commonly understood that many Arden Hills residents view the City as village and maintaining a rural character is important. Others in the community view that the City is in transition between a village and hecoming a city. The difference hetween a village and a city is difficult to quantify and articulate but it appears that some of the issues rest with the questions of appropriate levels of community service, the desire to pay for those services, the purpose, and function of local government and how future development/redevelopment within the community should be valued and designed. The EDC views that the TCAAP redevelopment, as illustrated III the city's Framework Vision, IS beneficial to the City as a whole based on the following: 1. Based on Congressional action, t:fle U.S. .'\rm)' :flas BeeR ordered te aiSJ'lose t:fle TC.,,"A~D property thr81igh an early transf"r proeess property. The EDC 'liews !flat this proeess, whioh is ROW in progress, mandates that the sale ofthe property from tfle U.S. ,\rmy to the private market oeeurs 1 In this summary, TCAAP refers to the apprCtximate 585 acres as illustrnted in the "TCAAP Framework Vision" dated January 13,2005. Page 1 of5 llEarthlPlanning'Misc FileslEDClexecutive summary - Copy with Council and EDC Strikeouts and Bold Text.doc