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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, June 08, 2009 Page 10 cordance with municipal contracting State Statute 412.311 referencing any con- struction work undertaken by a City, and meant for everyone's best interest. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the General Obligation Bonds were backed by the full faith and credit of taxpayers, and therefore, the City was obligated to en- sure that the lowest responsible bidder or best value contractors were used; and further opined that the bids should be structured accordingly. Councilmember Pust asked legal counsel, Mr. Bubul, for his interpretation of State Statute 412.31 1, and whether it was applicable in this case, and if not, why. Mr. Bubul advised that the Statute was not applicable, as the contract was not be- tween the City and a contractor, but between the Homeowners Association and a contractor. Mr. Bubul further advised that the entire HIA process was for the City to provide financing, but that expectations of the HIA did not indicate public bid- ding by the City; and that any such ambiguities had been clarified during the most recent legislative session. Mr. Bubul noted that, is the City were doing the im- provements, then it would be required to follow competitive bidding Statutes; however, the City's role in the HIA was only to assist with financing. Mr. Bubul further noted that unless the City had used its own reserves, any way it provided financing would have been through General Obligation Bonds, even if Bremer Bank had continued their involvement; that this was how a municipality borrowed money. City Attorney Scott Anderson concurred with HRA Bond counsel, and his inter- pretation of language of the municipal bid statute. Councilmember Ihlan questioned who was paying for the services of the HRA At- torney. Councilmember Pust, as liaison to the HRA, advised that HRA funds were paying for their legal counsel; with Community Development Director Patrick Trudgeon noting that the Homeowner's Association would be billed by the City for Mr. Bubul's time for reimbursement of all administrative costs, as per stipulations of the Development Agreement. Acting City Manager/Finance Director Miller concurred that all administrative facts had been taken into consideration in establishing the interest rate to cover those fees up to this point and ongoing throughout the term. Acting Mayor Roe noted that this was similar to other types of Bond issues, with the cost of bond counsel factored into administrative costs. Mr. Miller concurred with Acting Mayor Roe's observation