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DOWNTOWN VICTORIA DOUBLES INSIZE
PREPARES FOR DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS
Planning Consultant Mark Kaltsas put together a draft plan whereby the City of Victoria can solicit Requests for Quali-fications in regard to the development of the 14-acres just swapped to the city in a land trade with Three Rivers Park District.
"There are a lot of ways to 'sell' this property," said Mark. "You can take sealed bids or do appraisals for fair market value or leases or partnerships." He asked who might be part of the Selection Committee and what might be the judging criteria for development.
Replied Councilmember Mary Thun, "We don't want a strip mall. We want urban mixed use."
"I think the whole city council should be the Selection Committee," said Mayor Jerry Bohn.
"With the recommendation of the Planning Commission," added Council-member Kim Roden.
Victoria City Planner Eric Zweber informed councilmembers, "It will take a lot of time being on the Selection Com-mittee. There'll be interviews, verbal presentations, some weeding and conden-sing. And we need to know, do you want a civic site on the property?"
There was not a definite answer to that question. A civic site would include a new City Hall in conjunction, perhaps, with a library or even senior living.
Councilmember Mary Thun referred to the new Victoria property - an acreage that doubled the size of the Victoria downtown business district - as "prime time property." She stated, "It is not blighted in any way."
Nor did the Three Rivers Park District receive blighted property in return, as it consisted of similar acreage on the shores of Lake Auburn that had been owned by the City of Victoria. That land swap occurred officially last month.
Mark Kaltsas will make a list of people he would send the RFQ's and get that list to city councilmembers for their review.
HIGHER BIDS ON 2006 PROJECTS
CITY OF VICTORIA IS NOT ALONE
When the City's of Victoria's 2006 street, drainage, and utility improvements went out to bid this spring, the total project cost estimate was $1,589,597.
There were from 15 to 18 plan-holders but only one of them, Wm. Mueller and Sons, bid the project. Their bid was $2,165,244. After weighing the pros and cons, councilmembers awarded the bid with a unanimous 5-0 vote.
On May 28th City Engineer Cara Geheren gave the report. "Only one bid was received and it was significantly higher than the estimate," she said. "We contacted the plan-holders to see why they didn't bid the project. It seems there were a lot of projects out to bid that week for some unknown reason."
She said that with the city's 2004 project, a lot of utility work and extensive sanitary sewer repair was involved in the street reconstruction so there was a high level of interest by pipe contractors. "There is only a small amount of pipe work on the 2006 project," she said.
Also, she explained, "word got out that Wm. Mueller, a non-union contractor, would be bidding, so others thought that bid would be lowest. Their expertise does lie in street construction. We are com-fortable with their work."
Cara said that the two biggest areas of high prices in the bid package this year involved bituminous and trucking.
"I've talked to other contractors," she said. "This increase does seem to be reality. There's a good chance prices will continue to rise before they level off. The city has essentially three options -- put the brakes on until 2007, re-bid, or award the bid."
It was pointed out that assessments to the affected Victoria residents should not be increased because assessments cannot be in excess of benefit. This means the City of Victoria will be picking up $600,000 more than the 50% of project costs despite the city's 50/50 policy. The affected 2006 Victoria residents live at 77th Street, Lilac Circle, Kirke Lachen, Bayview, Hyacinth, and 80th Street. Their assessments will remain as previously determined, regardless of the high bid on the combined project.
Mayor Jerry Bohn reported, "I've talked to the county and their bids are also coming in 19% to 30% over budget. The City Engineer, when asked, cited Lake Elmo and Andover as also receiving high-er than anticipated bids. There are others. Bituminous is a petroleum product, and truckers use petroleum in the tank.
City Finance Director Jylan Johnson presented a grid of information on how the city might deal with the unexpected additional expenditure of $600,000. One option is to extend the life of the bond over 20 years instead of 15 years.
"The only drawback in a longer term is the higher interest rate," said Jylan. "But we're building 25-year roads, so issuing the bonds over 20 years is accept-able. This is all food for thought.'
The motion to award the bid to the single bidder passed 5-0. Stated Council-member Kim Roden, "I feel we need to move forward on this. I'm concerned if we don't move forward, it'll end up cost-ing even more. We have to figure out how to do it the least painfully as we can."
Agreed Mayor Bohn, "This hasn't been happy news, but we have roads to fix."
Councilmember Richard Tieden said he appreciated hearing from Mayor Bohn that county bids have also come in over budget.
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