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TWIN LAKES COMMENTS 9/04 My name if Harlan Smith, 1706 Ryan Ave., a Roseville taxpayer for 38 years. Fact: ALL FIGURES FOR FUTURE COSTS AND FUTURE REVENUES ARE ESTIMATES, none are certain because the future is unknown, & EACH ESTIMATE IS MADE TO SUIT SOMEONE'S PURPOSE. I would expect developers to underestimate costs or subsidies to be provided by the city. underestimate the revenues they tell the city they expect to receive and overestimate the costs they tell us they will bear. That is the only sensible thing for them to do. Our mayor expects that the developers in this case will create at Twin Lakes an ideal new community of housing, offices and retail, and he is willing therefore to accept the big box retailer that he doesn't like as the price of getting that sort of development. It remains to be seen whether the contract that the city will be asked to sign will actually guarantee the sort of development that our mayor hopes for and will do so at no cost to the city of Roseville and no temporary or long-run subsidy by Roseville. I think our mayor, our city manager and our city council should not and probably would not sign any contract that does not meet those conditions. The estimate that worries me the most is that for pollution cleanup that must meet governmental standards. Those costs are usually higher than advance estimates. If a developer will bear all the costs of pollution cleanup, whatever they may turn out to be, and all other maior costs before getting TIF financing, that would be a good sign. Otherwise the developer will not be bearing all the risks of development but passing some risks on to the city. I even question whether TIF financing will not involve some risk to the city. Roseville taxpayers should not be put at any risk to promote a private profit making project. Copies available on my Website: www.tc.umn.edu/.....smith097