Victoria MN Newspaper

"They said it was too great an uncertainty," said Mr. Palmiter. "The risk is high for units along the highway. We proposed a senior housing project along the highway. Their proposal back to the city is, would you be willing to carve out 2.5 acres for a senior developer? That's the option we were able to come up with. We have not identified a senior housing developer."

He said that Mr. Clark does senior housing but he was not sure about doing it in Victoria. "The value is in the townhomes," said Mr. Palmiter. "The land value is to the north."

Holly pointed out that if the city had higher density multi-family housing on the acreage, "It would be more palatable to the Metropolitan Council." She said the Met Council's overall net density requirement for Victoria is 3 units per acre.

"Right now we're at 2.5 units per acre. Our 2030 comprehensive plan, however, is at 3 or 3.1," said Holly. "The Met Council would probably want 6 units per acre there, and probably 13 of the acres are developable. Madelyn Creek is about 8.5 units per acre."

Said Councilmember Tom Strigel, "It's clear why we're having this conversation. The Met Council has control of extending our sewer capacity."

Cara clarified, "The Met Council has a density requirement in order to pay for the sewer system. They have the authority to not provide sewer extensions. It's just like with extending cable TV. They need to pay for the system."

Mayor O'Connor stated, "We could potentially comply with the density wishes of the Met Council and increase the price of the property."

"Senior housing would be a value to the community," said Councilmember Strigel, "but we don't want to be stuck with a 2.5 acre piece." Agreed Councilmember Crowley, "The city should not be in the land development business."

Second Access

Holly said there are challenges in providing an access on the west edge of the property onto County Road 11. "It requires pretty significant grading," she said.

Cara suggested that access to #11 might not be needed, that the property is not that large. "Ridge Ponds Drive at Deer Run is a very long dead end street, but this road [in the 13.5 acres] wouldn't be that long if there's senior housing and multi-family housing. It struck me as something that could help bring developer costs down."

Said Councilmember Crowley, "I'd like to know how that would affect emergency services."

Said Councilmember Strigel, "It would be good to know in any case, because it's a cost driver. My vision is, how do we get out of the way of the developer?"

He said that through-traffic to County Road 11 makes sense if the property is developed for commercial use, but maybe not for residential use. "I'm looking at how we get more value into this project. $900,000 is too little for this land," he added.

Asked Councilmember Joe Pavelko, "Are we willing to sell the property for $906,000? If we have a number in mind, why waste people's time going back and forth?" He was in favor of getting an appraisal on the property for various zoning and development scenarios.

Conclusion

Message for the city's broker Ron Clark to bring to the potential buyer: Develop the 2.5 acres for senior housing and maybe you don't need an access to County Road 11. The city's doesn't want to sit with 2.5 acres on its hands.

NEW DUMP TRUCK FOR VICTORIA

INCLUDES SNOWPLOW ACCESSORIES

On July 28th, Council approved the purchase of a new 5-ton dump truck ($82,592) from Istate Truck Center and box, plows, controls, and accessories ($98,924) from Toastmaster at a total purchase price of $181,516.

Said Ann Mahnke, Director of Parks and Public Works, "Our current fleet consists of three large dump trucks, the last one purchased in 2008. With another truck we would be able to add a fourth snowplow route. New trucks have new technologies. They use less salt. There is a brine that keeps salt on the road rather than in the ditch, by 15% to 20%."

"We could save about 200 hours of time," said Ann. "We've given Chanhassen $7,000 a year to plow our streets at Minnewashta. We would do it ourselves now."

"We've added 10 to 11 new miles of streets in the last couple years. We continue to add streets and are already pushing our miles per snow route. The amount of parking lots and trails to plow also continues to go up. We'd be looking at a delivery date of December or January." Ann added that costs will go up from 2% to 5% after July 31st.

Council voted 5-0 to make the purchase for the City of Victoria.

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