At the regular meeting of the Spring Valley City Council on October 8, the council chose not to support a grant submission for a Workforce Housing Development Program, as previously outlined by developer Jeff Allman. All council members were present (Tony Archer, Todd Jones, Mayor Jim Struzyk, Jessy Betts, Mike Hadland and City Administrator Deb Zimmer). Resolution 2018-29 stated, in part, “Whereas the Spring Valley EDA has been working with developer Jeff Allman to develop housing on a vacant lot in the downtown area, and whereas such a project would utilize the assistance of TIF with the city willing to move forward with the legal procedures in the establishment of a TIF district, and whereas the project would require a change to the city code to allow housing on the first floor of the structure with the planning and zoning holding a public hearing to establish a finding of facts to determine the recommendation to council of such a change…” The EDA recommendation suggested a $280,000 TIF for the 12-16 apartment project.
Zimmer pointed out to the council, “The problems would be the TIF… you can’t assign it right now, you have to go through the whole legal process of having a public hearing…” Jeff Allman addressed the council about the looming deadline, saying, “The grant’s due Thursday (October 11). Minnesota Housing will allocate two dollars for every one dollar of local support…So between the 280 (thousand) in the EDA recommendation, and another four or five hundred thousand in federal funds, there’d be enough money to make this job pencil out.”
Council members voiced their concerns about this request, as Todd Jones asked, “Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?” Council member Mike Hadland agreed, replying, “A lot.” Council members also voiced concerns about the availability of parking for the project, and worried it might compete with needs of the fire department.
Several members of the council voiced support for the idea of new quality housing in the city, but didn’t feel comfortable approving this grant submission before other required parts of the process were done. The council voted unanimously to deny the request.
The council approved Resolution 2018-27, imposing a special assessment of $4,217 upon a parcel at 312 W. Courtland owned by Marian Rowe for fire protection services. The council also approved quarterly bad debt write-offs totaling just under $20,000 for the ambulance service.
Zimmer then informed the board of the contractor’s pay estimate of $488,004.78 for the Washington and High Streets project. She said, “At this point, they are running behind.” The council approved the pay estimate.
The city was informed by the Minnesota Department of Revenue of a violation of tobacco sales regulations at Dollar General. The letter stated that the department seized 17 packs of little cigars on July 31. The packs were determined to be “contraband” due to not being properly taxed and/or stamped. After discussion, the council instructed Zimmer to send a letter to Dollar General, as is standard practice in such cases, informing the vendor that any further violations may result in suspension or revocation of their license.
The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m. The next regular meeting of the council will be Monday, October 22 at 6 p.m. As always, the public is welcome.