2000-03-09MOUND CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2000
The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in h special session
on Thursday, March 9, 2000, at 6:30 PM, in the Conference Room at 5341 Maywood Road,
in said City.
Those present were Acting Mayor Mark Hanus, Councilmembers: Andrea Ahrens, Bob Brown,
and leah Weycker. Those absent were Mayor Pat Meisel. Also in attendance were Acting City
Manager Fran Clark, City Attorney Bob Lindall, TIF Consultant Jim Prosser, and City Planner
Mark Koegler.
The Acting Mayor opened the meeting at 6:39 p.m.
REVIEW ~ITE ALTERNATIVES FOR MOUND POST OFFICE
Prosser addressed the Council regarding the site alternatives for the Mound Post Office, and the
process of elimination to use in finding the best site..
Acting Mayor Hanus stated that potential sites arrived at tonight still need to be presented to the
Planning Commission by their second meeting this month. The Planning Commission needs to
"be in the loop" early, to get their input and March 27, 2000 is their next meeting.
Prosser asked that as these sites are considered, anyone with objection to any site should indicate
that immediately and express the concerns.
Koegler reviewed the sites as follows, asking for input from all Councilmembers.
Site ffl: Would put the post office in a more prominent position in the community, and
the site is large enough. No objections were raised for this site.
Site//2: Is generally the same parameters as Site #1. No objections were raised for this
site.
Site #3: Is adequate in regard to size and location.
Lindall stated that the .Pollad's now own the United Properties land, and they would not be
willing to sell the property. Concern was expressed regarding the owner's possible intent to fie
the City up with legalities, even if the City uses condemnation to obtain the site.
Prosser asked if the site was fine, in spite of the abOve concern.
Besides the previous concern, no objections were raised for Site #3.
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Site #4: Is too small, being only about half of what the Post Office is looking for.
Site fi5: Is also adequate in regard to size and location. The concern is that the balance
of the building will have to be another substantial user, as the building is much larger
than the Post Office needs.
Acting Mayor Hanus stated that the Post Offi~ is nog interested in owning the building, so the
current owner would have to take the responsibility to find another use for the rest of the
building.
Weycker stated she would be concerned that putting the post office at this site may eliminate
another industrial business from coming into Mound.
If the above concerns could be addressed, no other objections were raised for Site #5.
Siteff6: Is a complicated site. No configuration really seems to fit, as the shape is
irregular. Major relocations, the home of a civic organization, and some businesses exist
in the site. This site was dropped from consideration.
Site fi7: Is also too small, and was dropped from consideration.
Site #8: Was added this afternoon for consideration. It is located behind the shopping
center, to the north. There are two banks of buildings, each with four rental units. The
size is adequate, but the location may not be that desirable for a post office, as it is
basically tucked into the rear of the main street businesses.
Lindall questioned why the GTE building was eliminated.
Weycker stated that it was her understanding that GTE did not want to sell that building.
Discussion followed regarding keeping this site as a general site, and possibly finding a way to
incorporate the GTE Building, or part of the parldng lot, to make the Post Office more visible
so the frontage would be on a main street. Many ideas for this site were discussed briefly, and
consensus was to keep this site for consideration for now.
Site ~/9: Randy's Automotive, is a site brought up by Koegler, that he thought of this
evening. No information was available as it was a new site. Consensus was that this
was a very good addition, and the site will be added to the list of sites to consider.
Prosser questioned if there were sites, that anyone would like to add.
sites.
No one had any additional
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MOUND CITY COUNCIL - SPECIAL MEEIING - MARCH 9, 2000
Prosser then stated that the next step would be to go to the Planning Commission, obtain their
input on each of the sites, and how to make the sites work. If the Planning Commission comes
up with any additional sites, they need to be brought back to the City Council for consideration
first, before the Planning Commission proceeds to make any plans for the additional site.
Robert Lindall then addressed the Council regarding the ability of the City to obtain the land,
specifically the criteria for condemnation. It was indicated that the first requirement is that there
must be a public purpose. In this case, the Post Office must be included in the redevelopment
plan to be considered a public purpose. The first step is for the HRA to approve a petition for
Eminent Domain. There is then a "fast track" that could be taken called "quick take" which
takes approximately 90 days.
Appraisals will need to be done on the sites that remain and eliminating sites needs to be
done between now and the Planning Commission Meeting March 37th. The City Planner
stated we need to know by May 1, 2000 where the the Post Office is going.
MOTION made by Brown, seconded by Ahrens to adjourn at 7:45 P.M. The
vote was unanimously in favor. Motion carried.
Fran Clark, Acting City Manager
Attest: Council Secretary
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