Victoria MN Newspaper

How does the firm search out candidates for a position? "We first look at the DNA of the organization [the City of Victoria] and identify the type of individual that would serve you best," replied Mr. Fursman. "We put together a recruiting file to reflect the history of Victoria, that spells out the process.

"This recruitment tool is used to send out and identify candidates. The process takes about a month. Then three weeks to review their cover letters. We give the top 20 candidates a writing exercise and pick the top 10 to 12.

"We then have profiles of the candidates, their professional career and education. City Council picks five candidatets to interview. I prepare questions and review and sit through the interviews with you. You pick a candidate and I help with the negotiation. It's a three and a half to four month process."

Mr. Fursman said it's actually a 77-step process.

He spoke of Victoria's #1 selling points: "You've had a good run with staff, a stable environment, a growing healthy community, an absolutely beautiful community that sells itself, a healthy core, nice trails, beautiful parks. You have a lot of things to attract professionals."

Said Councilmember Jim Crowley, "I'd like to take the opportunity to cast as wide a net as possible."

Mr. Fursman said he will be working with Victoria's new Interim City Manager and be spending one-on-one time with each of the city councilmembers.

PROPOSAL TO PURCHASE THE 13.5 ACRES

CITY OF VICTORIA WANTS A BETTER PRICE

On July 14th, Council voted 4-0 (Lani Basa absent) to table a vote on getting an appraisal on the city-owned 13.5 acres between downtown Victoria and the Dairy Queen.

Said Mayor Tom O'Connor, "The definition of the land use is crucial to the value. We don't have a definition of what the property could be or should be." In other words, the land value varies according to its zoning for single family, multi-family, or commercial.

The property is currently zoned commercial, but there is a proposal from Ron Clark Construction out of Edina to build townhomes there.

Agreed Councilmember Jim Crowley, "There are several variables at play. I think we'd end up with an appraisal that's meaningless at this time."

Said Councilmember Tom Strigel, "We need to take the time to decide what will be happening there."

History

How did the City of Victoria come to own the 13.5 acres? It started back in 2003 when the City purchased 22 acres on Lake Auburn and County Road 11 from MABSSCO for $1.5 million. About 15 of those acres were deemed to be unbuildable.

Soon after that purchase, a land trade with Three Rivers Park District was in progress. Three Rivers owned the 13.5 acres adjacent to the west side of downtown Victoria. It was seen as property that could double the size of Victoria's Central Business District,

Due to questions about location of proposed trails, easements, roads, and other things, the City of Victoria only came to officially own the 13.5 acres in August of 2008.

Density

At a workshop earlier that evening of July 14th, councilmembers and staff talked about the proposal in front of them.

Said Mayor O'Connor, "There is an offer made by Ron Clark Construction for the 13.5 acres. We clearly thought the property was worth more than they did."

Holly Kreft, Community Development Director, said the Clark proposal was for twin homes and town homes, a total of 66 units, solely residential development, no commercial. The layout indicated two accesses, one of them onto County Road 11 which would require the expense of heavy grading and turn lanes.

Said Holly, "They said their net profit would be $1,400 per unit which, they said, is not feasible."

City Engineer Cara Geheren said she looked at their proposed costs to see if they were exaggerated. "They provided details to me," said Cara. "They are similar to costs from other developers."

Richard Palmiter, a real estate broker for the City of Victoria, stated, "Usually developers try to pad it a little bit. Retaining walls and grading estimates seem high to me. I know they will not go forward with this plan because of the cost. They are convinced the risk cost is too great."

He said Ron Clark isn't concerned about selling the townhomes planned along the north side the property adjacent to Carver Park, but is concerned about the uncertainty of selling homes along Hwy 5.

Click here to continue Proposal to Purchase 13.5 Acres.