At the February 27 meeting of the Chatfield City Council, EDA director Chris Giesen explained the owners of the apartment building at 815 Grand St. want to clean up the site and eventually rebuild.
The apartment building was destroyed by a fire in November 2022. Main Street Properties LLP wants to clean up the site and plan to rebuild at some point. The owners intend to apply for tax increment financing (TIF) in the future before rebuilding. With the burned-out structure on the site, it qualifies for a redevelopment TIF.
The city council approved a resolution declaring the structure as substandard and adopted a development agreement, as recommended by the EDA. The action will allow the demolition of the current structure and allow the owners to apply for a redevelopment TIF district later, within three years. No financial assistance is being requested at this time.
Giesen’s next order of business was the sale of Lot 3 on Enterprise Drive. Joshua Broadwater, LLC has submitted an offer for the full asking price, $63,616. The city is to supply electrical transformer to the site and supply a two-inch water hook-up coupling for water main (buyer will install). Broadwater has requested use of the lot for storage prior to closing. Due to the time requirement for an ordinance authorizing the sale of city owned land, the closing cannot be earlier than mid-April. Broadwater wants access to the property on April 1, before closing.
The EDA has asked for an additional non-refundable $4,000 besides the $1,000 earnest money. The extra funds are to protect the city should there be damage to the property, if the sale doesn’t ultimately get completed. The sale of the property was approved. Broadwater abstained.
The first consideration of the ordinance authorizing the sale of city owned property to Joshua Broadwater, LLC was approved. Broadwater abstained.
Other business in brief
• Ambulance director Rocky Burnett gave the 2022 end of the year report. Three new members joined the service in 2022; Aric Bauman, Sarah Castleberg and Zeb Dudek. There currently are 24 EMTs on the roster. There were 460 calls and 375 patients were transported. The year ended with a positive budget balance. The service entered into an agreement with Fire Safety USA for the purchase of a new ambulance which should arrive late 2023 or early 2024.
• The Chatfield Ambulance Service was awarded a Certificate of Clinical Excellence by the Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board. Councilor Mike Urban thanked all the EMTs for their service.
• Pay application number one in the amount of $20,502 to Killmer Electric Co. Inc. was approved for work completed on the 2022 Water System Electrical Improvement Project (Well # 2 and booster pump station generators).
• Brian Burkholder requested and received approval to increase hauling rates to $105 (from $100) per hour with a minimum of three hours paid when hauling snow on a scheduled event and a minimum of four hours paid when hauling snow on an unscheduled event. The increase is to keep the rates competitive.
• Authorization was given to order and purchase the pedestrian bridge for Groen Park from Contech Engineered Solutions. It is expected to take about a year to get delivery of the 70-foot by 10-foot structure. The purchase and installation of the bridge will be partially funded by a $74,900 grant. The total project cost estimate is $155,000.
• The Committee of the Whole met before the council meeting. Long range strategic planning for the city was discussed.
• The agricultural lease with Schoenfelder Farms was approved.
• The maintenance agreement with Olmsted County providing the city payment for maintenance of CSAH 10 within the city limits was approved.
• Household Hazardous Waste Collection is scheduled for September 12, 3 pm to 6 pm.
• The city council will meet next on March 13.
Leave a Reply