City Council delays action on market study for downtown redevelopment
Posted: 2/7/02
by John Sucansky
Staff Writer
Rosemount City Council members agreed to postpone action on authorizing a market study for the downtown redevelopment project at their Feb. 5 meeting.
The study, with an approximate cost of $15,000, is expected to be paid for through both city dollars and a recent grant by the Metropolitan Council for approximately $8,000.
Community Development Director Jim Parsons said the grant, made possible through the Livable Communities Program from the Met Council, could not be received by the Rosemount Port Authority and therefore has been brought before the City Council.
ìThe Port Authority is the developmental arm of the city, but the state does not recognize it because it is unelected,î he said.
The Met Council will not extend grants to unelected bodies of government. The grant will instead be given directly to the City Council to expend appropriately on the market study.
City Council Member John Edwards said, ìWe donít have enough information before us. We need to take this to a work session. This is not the time to do this.î
Council Member Sheila Klassen echoed the same opinion saying the council needed more clarification and that time was available at the councilís next work session, Feb. 13.
The question of the time line of events leading up to the application for a grant from the Met Council, and the events since the grant was approved, were also called into question by council members.
According to Parsons, the original grant, which was for less than the current $8,000, was added to by the Met Council after it demanded a market study be done for the project.
Parsons said the original application by the Port Authority was intended to cover the expense of hiring URS Inc., a consultant for the downtown redevelopment project.
The contract with URS Inc. is for $30,000, said Parsons. A grant total of $23,000 from the Met Council, which includes the recent $8,000 grant, will lower the cityís total expected cost for the redevelopment project, according to City Administrator Tom Burt.
Parsons said the city has not received the funds yet, but the grant was approved October 2001.
ìThe cityís cost has gone down and weíre getting more work for the money,î said Burt.
The recommended action for the council was to accept the proposal submitted by Maxfield Research Inc. for a market analysis of the development potential for downtown Rosemount and authorize the necessary signatures.
Edwards said without first having received the money from the Met Council, he couldnít approve spending it on the study.
The City Council will discuss future action for the item and clarification on the matter at its Feb. 13 work session.
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