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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, July 26, 2010 Page 26 ing to approximately 2.5 acres of land at a market purchase price of approximate- ly $450,000 to the City, in addition to additional significant park dedication fees. Mr. Carey requested the City's support of the use of this TIF tool to bridge the gap to help this project proceed. Councilmember Ihlan spoke in opposition of a road cutting through the secluded and wooded area of Langton Lake, changing the area's aesthetics; and suggested ways to scale the project down as opposed to seeking TIF funding; opining that it provided no future guarantee by putting public monies toward something that may not be ultimately successful. Councilmember Roe clarified that if the project was not built, the City did not re- ceive any money anyway, and was not giving up existing tax monies. Discussion ensued among Councilmembers and Mr. Carey related to land dedica- tion to access this building and the City park; financial viability of the project from the developer's standpoint and remaining challenges even with TIF; reduced profit margin proposed by the developer to help close financial gaps; clarification that reduced construction costs didn't indicated reduced quality from the concept designs provided earlier, but only that contractors and subcontractors were bid- ding lower on projects; and the number of units sold to-date for Phase I (28 or 29 of the necessary 30 units sold at this time); and review by the developer of the ini- tial reservation agreement showing interest by buyers; reservations versus signed subscription agreements with additional non-refundable moneys; and sale of a buyer's existing home not being a contingency of going forward with this project. Mr. Carey advised that the developers met on a regular basis with prospective buyers; and when asked by Councilmember Pust why they had not included an af- fordable living component as part of this ,project, responded that the project's price range was extremely affordable to begin with, and that the buyers being served consisted of a group earning less than the area median; and clarifying that the 60% units sold rather than 50% was a HUD standard. Councilmember Ihlan noted that one reason she had originally voted against this project was its scale relative to the neighborhood and her concern that it was too massive and tall against the adjacent residential neighborhood, as well as its en- croachment on one of wooded areas of Langton Lake Park due to access require- ment for enough turnaround room for emergency vehicles. Councilmember Ihlan advocated that the project be scaled back to mitigate those impacts that were an original stumbling block for her, and that would also allow the project to work fi- nancially without TIF assistance; and opined that she could then look favorably on the project if the developer made the gesture to solve those problems with the neighborhood and park.