01/25/1994 - City Council Special
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF
EAGAN CITY COUNCIL
Eagan, Minnesota
January 25, 1994
A Special City Council meeting was held on Tuesday, January 25, 1994 at 5:00 p.m.
in the Eagan Municipal Centjer Building. The meeting was held to hear a presentation on
the Centennial and Edinborough experience. Those in attendance were Mayor Egan, and
City Councilmembers Awada Hunter, Masin, and Wachter. Also present were Assistant to
City Administrator Hohenstein, Chief of Police Geagan, Director of Finance VanOverbeke,
Director of Public Works Colbert, Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa, and City
Administrator Hedges.
The City Council welcomed Economic Development Commission members, Eldon
Johnson, Cathy Clark-Matuszek, Tom Pederson, Gary Morgan, and Karl Oestrich; and APC
members, Scott Merkley, Ron Voracek, Roy Wallace, and Carla Heyl.
Developers, Larry Laukka and Peter Jarvis, were introduced and spoke to the vision
of a downtown using the Centennial Lakes and Edinborough example in the City of Edina.
The City of Edina and development team have been working together since 1980 on
public/private partnerships. He commended the patience of the Edina city staff for holding
the project together. Mr. Jarvis stated that the first priority of the Edinborough project was
the development of moderate cost housing. He outlined the second phase, or the planning
for future development, and noted that during the course of development, the demographics
of Edinborough changed prompting the developers to address the diverse needs of not only
seniors but small children as well. In explaining the financing of Edinborough, he spoke of
the vital role played by the City of Edina. The City created a second mortgage program to
preserve continued moderate cost housing in the City and Mr. Jarvis cited the success of the
project as tribute to the private/public partnership.
He went on to explain the Centennial Lakes Development which again was assisted
by the developer/City partnership. He stated that in this instance, the City of Edina was
a major financial partner and owner of the property and special assessment mechanisms
were created by the City to assist in the development of the infrastructure. He stated that
the financing was more complicated for Centennial and future development phases were
planned at the time of the original development phase. The estate was removed from the
property tax roles while phases of Centennial Lakes were approved, a decision the City
Council coordinated with other taxing jurisdictions.
Mayor Egan thanked the presenters and asked for questions from the commission
members and City Councilmembers. Responding to questions related to the Centennial
Lakes and Edinborough developments, Mr. Laukka stated that if the City of Eagan wishes
to consider a similar concept, three important components are: housing, a public amenity,
such as a park, and, finally, the commercial aspects. He explained that the parkland
acquisition and development for both the Centennial Lakes and Edinborough were financed
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January 25, 1994
through Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proceeds. Mike Laukka stated that all of the
natural resources were created out of a gravel pit and a park development fund was created
for park land operations.
Additional questions were asked by Mayor Egan, focusing on Eagan land values, the
promotion of one site, and post-Mall of America development versus the pre-Mall that
Edina experienced. Mr. Laukka stated that having an overall concept is important, however,
whether the Edina experience can be repeated is questionable. He said that Edina was 96%
developed when the project was constructed in 1980, and suggested that perhaps a multi-
development such as Centennial would be better suited to Eagan than the multiple
residential mix of Edinborough.
There being no further discussion, the Special City Council meeting was adjourned
at 6:30 p.m.
January 25, 1994
Date 4'CitPY Clerk
If you need this information in an alternative form such as large print, audio tapes, etc., please contact the City
of Egan, 3830 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan, MN 55122, 681-4600 (TDD Phone: 454-8535).