Loading...
HRA 08/02/2012 - 31338CITY OF FRIDLEY HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY COMMISSION August 2, 2012 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Commers called the HRA Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: NONMEMBERS PRESENT: ACTION ITEMS 1. Approval of Expenditures Larry Commers William Holm Stephen Eggert John Meyer Pat Gabel Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director Becky Kiernan, Accountant William Burns, City Manager Jim Casserly, Development Consultant Scott Hickok, Community Development Director MOTION by Commissioner Holm to approve the expenditures as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Eggert. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 2. Approval of June 7, 2012 Meeting Minutes MOTION by Commissioner Holm to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Eggert. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MINUTES APPROVED AS AMENDED 3. Public Hearing and Consideration for a Resolution Authorizing Sale of 381 Ironton Street NE MOTION by Commissioner Eggert to open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Holm. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 7:03 PM. City of Fridley Housing and Redevelopment Meeting of August 2, 2012 Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that on June 7th the Authority authorized the sale of 561 Hugo Street lot to Boulder Contracting. The property closed on June l lth and by June 21st Boulder had found a buyer for the proposed home. The home will be completed by early September and the new buyer is scheduled to close with Boulder on September 14tn Mr. Bolin said that Boulder Contracting has not submitted a lot reservation agreement to build and sell a new home at 381 Ironton Street. They have offered $30,000 for the lot, a price justified by comparable sales and the City Assessor. Mr. Bolin said that Boulder Contracting plans to build a 1,020 sq. ft. split level home. The home will have two finished bedrooms and 1 3/4 finished bathrooms and room for additional bedrooms and living space in the lower level. The e�terior of the home will utilize a blend of maintenance free materials and will incorporate stone and shakes on the front of the home. It is the same home design that they are building and have successfully sold on Hugo Street. Mr. Bolin said that Boulder Contracting has 23 years of building experience, mostly in the northern suburbs and e�urbs. Their contractor's license is current and there are no issues noted in the records of the Department of Labor and Industry. Staff recommends approval of the attached resolution and contract for redevelopment, authorizing the sale of this lot to Boulder Contracting for $30,000. This is a new investment in the neighborhood and the proposed home design is consistent with HRP Guidelines. Mr. Jason Wiehle, Boulder Contracting, said he is excited to build another home and already a list has been started of people who have called who may be interested in building or purchasing this home. They are scheduled to close on August 20 and plan to start this project as soon as possible. The Hugo Street property will close on September 28 and both projects should be completed sometime in November. Commissioner Meyer noted that there are no architect or engineer names on the plans. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said that the City Building Official will not accept plans without a signature. The plans submitted to the Authority are just for review purposes and a signature will be on the final plans. These plans are just for review and not for building. A different set will be submitted for building and the disclaimer will be removed. A signature will be on the permit that they understand they are obligated to follow the laws and they will sign the final plans. Commissioner Eggert added that it would be out of the ordinary for a builder to spend money on signed and sealed documents at this point. They have just provided consensual drawings and after the closing of the property detailed and signed plans will be provided. MOTION by Commissioner Eggert to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Holm. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PBULIC HEARING CLOSED AT 7:12 PM. MOTION by Commissioner Meyer to Authorizing Sale of 281 Ironton Street NE. Seconded by Commissioner Eggert. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 4. Approval of Change to Development Agreement — 434 Liberty Street City of Fridley Housing and Redevelopment Meeting of August 2, 2012 Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that in June the Authority sold the lot at 434 Liberty Street NE to Novak-Fleck Builders (NFB), for what was to be a custom built home. This home did not appraise high enough for the banks to finance the mortgage on the property. The home came in with a cost of $225,000 and the appraiser has put a value on the lot and proposed home of only $205,000. Novak's buyer was not willing/able to put the money into the property to cover the gap caused by the appraisal. Mr. Bolin said that Novak-Fleck has found a new buyer and this home will have three bedrooms, three car garage and two bathrooms. The approved plan that was submitted in June had Schedule D attached with the prior house plans, staff would like to replace those plans with the new house plans as discussed. Staff recommends approval of a motion amending the existing development agreement by replacing "Schedule D- House Plans" with the new home design plans. MOTION by Commissioner Meyer to approve the change to the development agreement at 434 Liberty Street. Seconded by Commissioner Holm. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 5. Approval of Chronology for Creation of TIF District #21 - GWNE Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that the Authority started to make acquisitions of properties along University Avenue in 2006. Demolition of the structures started in 2009 and 2011. When the demolition began, the time clock started on the Authority ability to create a TIF district; there is a three year window to create the district to recover some of the investment. The three year window date is December 16, 2012. Staff is asking tonight to take the first step to creating a TIF district and move the district forward. This item will go to the City Council on August 20th to ask to set a date for the Public Hearing in October. Mr. Bolin said that last fall the Authority approved staff to hire a broker to market the property on the Authority behalf. Over the past few months they have met with three different groups who have serious interest in the properties. Over the ne�t few months staff may bring a purchase agreement from one of these groups. MOTION by Commissioner Holm to approve the Chronology for Creation of TIF District #21 Gateway Northeast (GWNE). Seconded by Commissioner Eggert. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Chairperson Commers noted that Dr. Lemay did have an interest and asked for an appraisal to be done. Mr. Bolin said that he did contact Lake State Realty and they have taken a look at the site and should have an appraisal in the ne�t week or so. Before staff would initiate any discussion with Dr. Lemay they would come back to the Authority. Chairperson Commers asked if the addition would have a bearing on anyone who would want to develop on that property. City of Fridley Housing and Redevelopment Meeting of August 2, 2012 Mr. Bolin said that with the different parties interested he didn't think they needed a vet clinic to move forward with the project. One developer would use the properties south of the vet clinic; another developer would use everything north of the clinic. Chairperson Commers asked if they should consider breaking up the site into separate parcels for development or would staff find someone to develop the entire site. Mr. Bolin said that it has been a while since staff talked to anyone who is interested in the entire parcel. Commissioner Eggert asked if the agent had any advice on the development. Mr. Bolin said it depends on which developer they talk to. Some groups early on wanted to develop the entire site and now groups don't want the entire site. It would be nice for one to develop the entire site but not necessary. Commissioner Eggert asked what would be in the Authority's best interest. Commissioner Holm asked what the legal ramifications were whether we decide to include the vet clinic in the TIF District or not. Jim Casserly, Development Consultant, said that it would be prudent to include it in the district, whether or not we acquire the space. We don't want to amend the district and it would do nothing negative to include it in the district. The district clearly qualifies because the property is not blighted. There is no problem with including it as it meets the criteria because of the other properties. It will be included in TIF District 21. Mr. Bolin said that it is in the Authority's best interest to add the Citgo site. They are still marketing that property for sale. Chairperson Commers asked staff to check out the potential contamination on that site for the Authority. Mr. Hickok said that staff did a thorough analysis for the TOD grant application in hopes of buying that site and it was one of the cleanest staff has ever seen. It could be ready for just about any type of development. On the August 15, 2012 Planning Commission Agenda, a public hearing is scheduled to rezone this property from a C3 to C2 general commercial. Years ago the Saint Williams site was part of this district but when the frontage road was built it severed that piece and does not make sense for that property to be zoned C3. Once the zoning is right, the marketing ability will be very good. In this area we also contemplated moving the road back and offered that as an option in GWNE; to put the buildings closer to the road. If this area were developed by one developer, that road could be private. There is flexibility to move the road back if needed. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. Housing Loan Program Update Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that one RLF loan and one Deferred loan closed last month which brings the year to date total to six. There were seven remodeling advisor visits which brings the total to 16 year to date. City of Fridley Housing and Redevelopment Meeting of August 2, 2012 1. Housing Replacement Program Update Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that this is not a good time to purchase properties as the prices are rising. In the last few weeks staff has made offers on homes on Main Street owned by Freddy Mac and they would not come down on the price. Staff also looked at a property on Ironton Street owned by Fanny May and experienced a similar problem. Some houses are not in good shape and the holders think they are worth much more than they are. Mr. Bolin said that these past few years were good times to purchase homes and in the past few months things have changed. The good news is that builders are selling homes and they want to buy more of HRA lots. William Burns, City Manager, asked how many lots the HRA had left to sell. Mr. Bolin answered 10 nice lots and a few others are still in the works. NON-AGENDA UPDATE Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that Non-Agenda item #2, Fridley Foundations can be crossed off. • Regarding the Authority asking for monthly building reports from Dr. Burns; this will be included in the Authority packets each month going forward. • The JLT site continues to generate calls from potential interested parties to purchase that site. Because of this new interest, staff is recommending in September or October to take an initial step to get the North Star TIF District set up and in place. This property will more than likely sell before the end of the year and we are ready to capture any increment that will be generated. • Mr. Fogerty has submitted an application for finances for the Columbia Arena Project. This item will come to the Authority at the September meeting to get that process started. The land use items have been submitted to the city for approval. • The Authority asked for a loan delinquency report and this will also be included to the Authority on a quarterly basis in the future. This is a large portfolio and there are very few serious delinquent or past due accounts. • RER has not much new to report. A question arose about what type of environmental review should be done. The new owner of the site, RER will do an Area-wide Urban Alternative Environmental Review (AUAR) which may put off the closing until that process is complete. Commissioner Holm asked how long the AUAR would take. Mr. Bolin said it is a 3-4 month process. Chairperson Commers said that there is a potential for the JLT site, the Columbia Area is submitting a request for a TIF district, and there is the University Avenue district; what are the thoughts of methodology for giving assistance since all the TIF districts are tied up. Mr. Bolin said that any assistance the Columbia area would get would be to pay as you go; the JLT site would be a generator of increment. City of Fridley Housing and Redevelopment Meeting of August 2,2012 Chairperson Commers asked for clarification that there is no TIF requirement for that JLT property. Mr. Bolin said they do not know who the end user will be and could not rule that out. If needed it would be a pay as you go situation. Chairperson Commers asked if the people looking at developing the University Avenue area wanted to raise TIF assistance. Mr. Bolin said that staff has told everyone that there would be no TIF assistance available to them. Staff is creating a redevelopment district for the Authority to recover some of its expenses. Making land affordable enough to redevelop is the Authority's contribution. Chairperson Commers asked what the institutional and public facilities were on the monthly building report. Dr. Burns said that the institutional is Unity Hospital and the public facilities may have something to do with the Minneapolis Water Works and their training site. Commissioner Meyer announced his resignation from the Housing and Redevelopment Commission. Chairperson Commers thanked Commissioner Meyer for sharing his knowledge and information over the years. The Authority appreciated all he has done for them. He wished him the best in the future. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Commissioner Eggert to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Meyer. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:51 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, ine-na4P4k(1;'2D Krista Monsrud Recording Secretary CITY OF FRIDLEY SIGN-IN SHEET HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING AttperF (3, Roo\ Name and Address Agenda Item of Interest