December 7, 2011 Albert Lea Post Authority Minutes
December 7, 2011
ALBERT LEA PORT AUTHORITY
MINUTES
December 7, 2011
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 7, 2011 at 7:30 a.m. by President Vern Rasmussen. Roll was noted by the Board Secretary.
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Ellen Kehr, Vern Rasmussen, Jr., Al Brooks, Mike Moore, Keith Fligge and Nancy Skophammer
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Jerry Ehn
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT: Randy Kehr, business community representative; Chad Adams, City Manager; and Mike Lee, Freeborn County Representative
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Dan Dorman, Executive Director; Ryan Nolander, Assistant Director; and Julie Dandrea, Board Secretary
STAFF MEMBERS ABSENT: None
GUESTS: Mike Murtaugh, Freeborn-Mower Coop and Rebecca Gisel, Alliant Energy
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 2, 2011 MEETING
The minutes from the November 2, 2011 meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Fligge made a motion to approve the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Skophammer. President Rasmussen asked for any discussion and hearing none, the motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed.
3. RESOLUTION PA-11-18 AUTHORIZING PAYMENT OF CLAIMS
The claims were presented for review. Commissioner Kehr motioned to accept the claims as presented in the amount of $10,621.33, seconded by Commissioner Fligge. President Rasmussen asked for any discussion and hearing none, the motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed.
4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
• Springsted Symposium – Executive Director Dorman attended the symposium November 17 in St. Paul. The keynote speaker was Phillip Falcone, primary investor in LightSquared, the only national 4G open wireless broadband network. He spoke about high speed broadband wireless that could soon be available everywhere. This would affect communities who have already invested in installing wire in their development areas. Executive Director Dorman also attended a Regional Economic Development Group forum in Minneapolis. He will try to get the slideshow from the meeting to show at a future meeting.
• Carpenter Lease Update – We had the lease re-written and it went back and forth numerous times between Carpenter and us. Now it’s come back at $2.00 per square foot and most of the original language. We did assume some of their language with clarity on the maintenance section, mainly pertaining to the parking lot repairs which changed from exceeding $3,500 to $5,000. Executive Director Dorman asked for approval from the board to enter into the new lease. Commissioner Moore made a motion to give board approval to enter into the lease with Carpenter with Commissioner Brooks seconded it. The motion carried 6 in favor; 0 opposed.
• MCHS Project Update – Executive Director Dorman attended a productive meeting with Springsted and Winthrop & Weinstine about Federal and New Market Historical credits. Different scenarios were discussed how the City would own the building and turn it over to MCHS after the project was completed or own for six years and then turn it over. There was discussion of using both state and federal tax credits as the plan fits the program and this way the City’s revolving loan program would not be used. Springsted said $10M is large enough of a project to qualify for the Federal New Market Program; however, it might not be possible to count what’s already been spent on the project. Fees are too high under the $10M mark. Executive Director Dorman is cautiously optimistic. President Rasmussen expressed his appreciation to Dorman for his efforts on this and is impressed with the level of cooperation of all parties throughout the complications that keep arising.
• Project Update SAR – A purchase agreement has been signed. Wells Fargo will begin a new appraisal as the other one is old and the loan should be approved if there is no devaluation in the equipment. The gap financing needed could come from several organizations locally. Executive Director Dorman believes the sale would be good for the community by keeping jobs here when the current owner retires. Mike Murtaugh with Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services said their board is meeting on December 20th to ask for approval to help finance the project. Dollars are also reserved in MIF funds.
• Distribution Center Inquiries – A first round response will soon be completed and submitted to a company along with other cities in contention. The I35-I90 Business Park is our favored location for this DC. This project is not going through the state and is not really for cities, but more for investors. We got the inquiry through another company we have a relationship with. We are working with ZRT on how to bid and have talked to a local bank. Many banks could participate. It’s very preliminary right now. The company would like to be in by October 2012. They definitely want a new building as they require a specific 35’ ceiling height, but they don’t want to own. They would lease for 10 years with multiple 5-year options after this. Another model could be to bring in a partner to take advantage of depreciation for tax purposes. All possibilities will be looked into.
5. EX-OFFICIO UPDATE
Freeborn County – Mike Lee
A truth in taxation meeting was held this month. The Board of Commissioners approved the Cedar River Wind Farm which is one tower. There are two workshops coming up regarding budget and tax hearings.
Commissioner Fligge asked if the county will use the wind tower revenue from Bent Tree to benefit county citizens. Mike said the money went into the general fund to use for various projects; however, only one month’s revenue was received in 2011. It will be a full year of revenue this year. The levy is currently set at a 3.5% increase. Executive Director Dorman said he hopes the county doesn’t create new programs to spend the wind farm revenue on, but instead uses it to drive down taxes or at least keep them constant.
City of Albert Lea – Chad Adams
The City has a truth in taxation meeting on Monday. They preliminarily approved a 2% increase. There was discussion about the market value tax credit. The Broadway Streetscape RFP is out and a consultant will be selected in early 2012 to move forward. Construction would be in 2013. A project newsletter will come out about the project next week. City staff met with Dan and Ryan on Kwik Trip traffic issues planning. Executive Director Dorman explained the traffic flow issues with Kwik Trip coming and Bridge Avenue in general. At the meeting they discussed rerouting Plaza Street into Sykes. Currently, there are too many access roads from Bridge Avenue in this area and at some point some may have to be signalized. Arby’s and their drive-up configuration was discussed. There are opportunities to fix these traffic issues now before more development in that area occurs.
Chad reported they will have staff meetings working on development, to see who is doing what, timelines, and clean up procedures. The city will meet with the county to explore ways to share services to save money. President Rasmussen added they will also reach out to smaller communities on how to save money and share resources. The first thing planned is to hold safety training in Albert Lea and other communities can participate for less than it cost them to hold their own training which will help recoup costs for the city. The fire RFP is out. A meeting is planned next month with Austin to explore possibly partnering with them to contain costs.
Chamber of Commerce – Randy Kehr
Randy reported that the Vern Eide dealer has tripled the inventory and increased the number of employees. Shoe Sensation is excited to be located here as is Kwik Trip. Randy has received positive feedback on the Energy Conservation Recycling Workshop. Freeborn Mower Cooperative Services are having their 75th anniversary celebration today. Randy attended a MN Chamber meeting in Austin about tax reform. The Coalition of Greater MN Cities recovery plan was sent out recently. In case anyone hears the rumor that Streater is leaving, Randy talked with an HR rep who reported that they added 40 new jobs in 2011 and are at almost 200 employees now. They’ve had great sales in 2011.
6. COMMISSIONER ITEMS – None
7. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Moore made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Skophammer. The motion carried 6 in favor, 0 opposed. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 a.m.
Filed and attested December 7, 2011.