December 2, 2015 Albert Lea Post Authority Minutes

By Tyler Golberg | December 5, 2015

December 2, 2015

ALBERT LEA PORT AUTHORITY

MINUTES

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Regular Meeting

Albert Lea Business Development Center

 

1. CALL TO ORDER & NOTATION OF ROLL

  • The Regular Meeting of the Albert Lea Port Authority was called to order on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 7:30 a.m. by President Kehr. Roll was noted by the Board Secretary.
  • COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Vern Rasmussen, Jr., Mike Moore, Ellen Kehr, Al Brooks, Nate Jansen, Mark Heinemann, and Ginny Larson
  • COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None
  • EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT: Chad Adams, City of Albert Lea representative; Randy Kehr, business community representative; Mike Lee, Freeborn County representative
  • EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ABSENT: None
  • STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Ryan Nolander, Executive Director and Julie Dandrea, Board Secretary
  • STAFF MEMBERS ABSENT: None
  • GUESTS: Bryan Skogheim, Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 4, 2015 MEETING

  • The minutes from the November 4, 2015 meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Rasmussen made a motion to approve the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Heinemann. President Kehr asked for any discussion and hearing none, the motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed.

 

3. RESOLUTION PA-15-24 AUTHORIZING PAYMENT OF CLAIMS

  • The claims were presented for review. Noted were the roof repair and concrete work done on the South #1 building. Commissioner Jansen made a motion to accept the claims as presented in the amount of $36,968.20, seconded by Commissioner Larson. President Kehr asked for any discussion. Hearing none, the motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed. (Commissioner Moore arrived at 8:37.)

 

4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Northaire regional retention pond update – An email was received from the rail contact saying the permit to allow pipe installation under rail should be received by end of week. City officials and Executive Director Nolander met with Mrs. Gerry’s staff yesterday to give clarification on several discussion items.

South Building #1 update – Assembly of God Church will use the end space again for Ruby’s Pantry distribution once per month January to March. Larson Manufacturing also inquired about using the space for temporary warehousing again possibly after March.

Project updates:

  • Alliance Benefit Group purchased a building downtown and wants to meet with ALEDA and the city.
  • The Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services’ building is overcrowded after acquiring Alliant personnel from the sale and they are looking at options. They may build in the future and are doing a feasibility study now. Executive Director Nolander recently attended their board meeting to talk about the ALEAP program. They have pledged a contribution for 2016.
  • A local business is considering building a new facility and has inquired about possible assistance. We’ll wait to see what their plans are.
  • A local group has interest in buying a local business. The current owner wants to keep the building to lease. They will put together projections and may ask for help with gap financing.
  • • Sanco Enterprises recently bought land near the Syverson dealership and are looking into building a new, larger facility to house all their lines, including Thermo-King, Bobcat, and Kubota. They have requested assistance with strategic planning.
  • • A local company wants to consolidate their multiple offices into a new facility. A meeting with the city to discuss restrictions on what can and can’t be done in the proposed new location will need to take place.

TIF updates:

1) LKQ finally signed the development agreement and should receive the check soon.

2) The development agreement with the city was signed today on the ALEDA spec building after documentation had been submitted and agreed upon of what was allowed as TIF eligible expenses. The Port Authority will never get the maximum, but has almost $300K in documented qualified expenses.

3) The Port has agreed to lift the modification of TIF 5-13. This removes the Blazing Star site from the district which was connected to the Larson Manufacturing site. This will eventually mean a loss in revenue to the Port; however, it will help the city market the Blazing Star site for redevelopment. The Port will start receiving TIF payments in 2017 for the reimbursement of land costs from the Larson Manufacturing project. This was a very complicated TIF plan requiring special legislation. There was a TIF plan put in place after the Farmstead fire to help rebuild the plant, but later the company chose not to rebuild. The TIF district was created to include the Blazing Star site and the Larson property if the packing plant rebuilt on that location. Since the Port owned the Larson property, we were able to give the land to Larson Manufacturing and capture the TIF monies as repayment. Because Larson Manufacturing was in the JOBZ program, the repayments to the Port couldn’t start until JOBZ ended on 12/31/15.

  • Proposed property tax statements were reviewed. The biggest increase will be on the spec building because the adjustment for leasing the whole building takes effect. It will be a $17K increase. On the Greater Jobs’ side, there are slight increases due to market value increases.
  • The Journey-2-Growth Initiative came about from Destination Medical Center in Rochester and is looking at diversifying the entire region beyond just the medical aspect. Currently, an eleven-county region in SE MN has been asked to join. The local chamber and other chambers will also be involved. Hopefully, it will be a true regional effort. The group is not asking for money at this time. Maybe SE MN Together can be a research arm and partner with them.

 

5. EX-OFFICIO UPDATE

Freeborn County – Mike Lee, Freeborn County Representative

  • A truth-in-taxation meeting will be held tomorrow night.
  • The city and county will have a joint meeting on December 10th at 5:30 in the Freeborn Room.
  • The proposed 2016 levy is looking like 4.25%.
  • Yesterday, the commissioners approved a canine program for the sheriff’s office.
  • Solar regulation has been tied with the wind farm ordinance. Funds will run out for solar and will need grant money. Executive Director Nolander met with Invenergy, the wind farm company wanting to build in the Myrtle area. They are nearing the end of their agreements with landowners and are out working on extensions.

City of Albert Lea – Chad Adams, City of Albert Lea Representative

  • On December 14th, the city will have their truth-in-taxation meeting. They’re looking at a 3.3% increase on the debt service levy for roads and infrastructure.
  • The city is still looking at no increase in sewer rates for the third or fourth year. Water will have to go up 7%.
  • The developers for the Freeborn Bank building didn’t get the tax credits. They need the tax credits. If they built market rate apartments, there would still be a $2.5M funding gap. The city has decided to open up another request for qualifications to developers. Cohen & Esrey are still interested. Next year would be best chance of being awarded tax credits because more will be available then.
  • The Blazing Star Landing is starting by working on the south side of the railroad tracks. A request for qualifications on the whole piece will go out to developers to be able to show the legislature interest in the project for bonding purposes. There are seven contacts already. The city has asked for $3.5M to relocate Front Street to allow for lakeshore development. The city will need funding to help with the project.
  •  The Christian Peterson law firm has closed. Some interest has been received for single office rental and one tenant has been secured for prop storage.
  • The idea splash went very well. There were five viable ideas, with three moving forward. One was a bike share program, another was a walking tour with QR codes to scan with a phone to learn about historic buildings downtown. The other idea was for a dog park.
  • Timber Development received approval for a strip mall by Wal-Mart. They’ve done some grading and plan to build in the spring.
  • The first six units of market-rate housing at Wedgewood Cove are full, the second six are committed, and the third unit is opening in December. Responding to interest, a new model may be designed with one level for senior living. More workforce housing will open up if seniors move from their homes.

Chamber of Commerce – Randy Kehr, business community representative

  • Senator Klobuchar was recently at Riverland Community College to discuss workforce development and toured some of their programs.
  • The chamber is doing a holiday rewards program, inviting businesses to bring in receipts from money spent in December at local businesses and will receive chamber bucks in return.

6. COMMISSIONER/OTHER ITEMS

  • President Kehr asked the board members to forward personnel evaluations to the Board Secretary, Julie Dandrea, who will email them together to the executive committee.
  • President Kehr stated that officer positions for the coming year would be finalized in January. Commissioner Heinemann has said he would serve, and Commissioners Moore and Rasmussen are willing to stay on as officers which will give the newer board members time to get more familiar with the organization. Commissioners Jansen and Larson also volunteered if any officer chose not to serve any longer. A vote will be taken in January.
  • Commissioner Rasmussen passed along kudos to Executive Director Nolander and City Manager Adams on bringing the two organizations together. He said efforts are very noticeable.

 

7. ADJOURNMENT

  • Commissioner Moore made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Heinemann. The motion carried 7 in favor, 0 opposed. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 a.m.

 

Filed and attested December 2, 2015.

Posted in Minutes