Memo Ramsgate Townhouse Property
CITY OF HOPKINS
MEMORANDUM
DATE:
February 13, 1992
FROM:
. Honorable Ma~ \~d City Council
. I. .
Tom Harmenlng, Communlty Development Dlrector
TO:
. SUBJECT:
RAMSGATE TOWNHOUSE PROPERTY -
PROPERTY ACQUISITION NEGOTIATIONS
AND EMI~ENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS
I. Purpose
The purpose of this memo is to appraise the city Council on
the status of the negotiations pertaining to the acquisition
of the Ramsgate Townhouse property, as well as provide
information relating to the use of eminent domain to acquire
the property. Information is also provided on matters
pertaining to city council action on the final plat.
II. Baekground
A. 12/17/91 - The city Council reviewed the final plat and
landscaping plan for Ramsgate Second Addition and took
the following action:
o Authorized staff to obtain an appraisal of the
subject property.
o Directed staff to undertake negotiations with Mark
z. Jones regarding the purchase of the subject
property.
o Directed staff to prepare, for possible future
use, a resolution authorizing the commencement of
an eminent domain procedure to acquire the
property.
o Continued action on the final plat and landscaping
plan.
B. 1/21./92 - The City council established an overall
budget of $200,000 for the purchase of the property to
pay for the City's expenses for utilizing eminent
domain should it become necessary. The City Council
Honorable Mayor and City Council
February 13, 1992
Page 2
also indicated that the source of funds for this
purchase should be from private donations to the City
and that these private donations were to be provided to
the City by February 18th unless an extension was
. agreed upon by the developer and City.
C. The City staff had an appraisal completed on the
subject property which initially determined the total
value of the property to be $124,700. Based upon input
from representatives of Mark Z. Jones, the City's
appraiser re-examined the appraisal and revised it to
indicate that the value of the property ranged between
$162,000 and $192,000.
III. status of Property Acquisition Negotiations
staff has met with representatives of Mark Z. Jones on two
occasions. Thus far, negotiations are still under way and
no final agreed upon price has yet been determined. This
process has been complicated somewhat by the fact that Mr.
Jones is currently out of the country and apparently will
not be back until approximately February 18th.
Overall, it is the staff's impression that Mr. Jones appears
willing to consider selling the property and appears willing
to accept a,value less than originally stated.
The current status of the negotiations is that staff has
made an offer back to Mr. Jones which covered three areas:
A. Purchase of property - Mr. Jones has been made an offer
for a dollar amount which falls within the range of the
revised appraisal completed by the city ($162,000 -
$192,000). This offer assumed that Mr. Jones would be
allowed to retain a strip of land approximately 20 - 30
feet wide along the westerly side of the site.
Currently, this property is ln a gravel condition and
is used by Ramsgate for parking purposes.
B. Sanitary Sewer Easement - Due to overcapacity of the
sanitary sewer system in Hiawatha Avenue, which also
serves Ramsgate Apartments, a project needs to be.
undertaken to resolve this problem. One solution is to
have Mr. Jones provide a 30 ft. wide by approximate 400
ft. long easement over the Ramsgate apartment complex
property to allow for an extension of a new line to
Lake street, thereby reducing the flow in the Hiawatha
Avenue sewer main. A second alternative would be to
replace the sanitary sewer on Hiawatha Avenue.
However, this approach costs approximately $60,000 more
than using Mr. Jones' property. Staff desires to
resolve the sanitary sewer problem and has asked Mr.
Honorable Mayor and City Council
February 13, 1992
Page 3
Jones to provide the necessary easement over his
property based upon the paYment by the City of a
certain dollar amount. The funding source for this
easement would be the Sanitary Sewer Fund and would
become a part of the project cost.
This matter is complicated somewhat by the fact that
the Ramsgate Apartment property is not owned solely by
Jones. As a result, Jones may not be able to agree to
providing the easement without the approval of the
partnership.
C. 30 Day extension - The offer which the City made to Mr.
Jones is based\on Jones providing a thirty day
extension to the approval of the final plat. This
extension would allow for additional time to tie up the
loose ends on the negotiations, and exactly how the
sale would be structured, as well as allow the
neighborhood additional time to raise the necessary
funds to allow for the sale.
During negotiations, Mr. Jones indicated he would
consider an extension to the approval of the final plat
provided it appeared the City and he were able to come
to terms on the purchase price and that he felt
comfortable the neighborhood would be able to raise the
necessary funds in a reasonable period of time.
Due to Mr. Jones being out of the
appear that staff will be able to
negotiations until February 18th.
means the final terms of the sale
until the City Council meeting.
country, it does not
attempt to complete
Unfortunately, this
may not be available
IV. Eminent Domain Proeeedinqs
The City Attorney has been drafting a resolution which would
make findings of fact supporting and approving the
preparation of a petition to initiate eminent domain
proceedings. The city Attorney does not anticipate he will
be completed with this resolution until Monday, February
17th. Upon completion of the resolution, the City Attorney
will ensure that a copy of the resolution is delivered to
the City Council prior to its meeting.
Action by the City Council on adopting the resolution is
basically dependent on discussions which will take place
during the City Council meeting, and the City Council's
interest in using eminent domain to acquire the property.
Honorable Mayor and city council
February 13, 1992
Page 4
staff would recommend the city not utilize an eminent domain
procedure unless the City council feels confident that the
neighborhood association will be able to raise the necessary
funds to allow for the acquisition of the property.
Attached is a memorandum from Jerre Miller, City Attorney
which outlines matters pertaining to using eminent domain,
and events which would occur if the City Council should
adopt the p~oposed resolution.
v. Neighborhood Fund Raising Efforts
Although I have no specific data available to indicate the
amount of funds raised by the neighborhood, it is my
understanding the neighborhood has developed a fund raising
plan and is actively seeking donations.
VI. Action on Final Plat
According to the city's subdivision ordinance, the city
council is supposed to act on the final plat within 90 days
from the date on which the Planning Commission reviewed the
final plat. Based on this timing, the city council should
act on the final plat by February 23rd, 1992. What follows
are scenarios which could occur dependent upon the action
the City council took on the final plat:
o The city council could deny the final plat. As a part
of this process, the City council should outline
findings of fact supporting this denial. If this
action were taken, and no progress was made on the
acquisition of the property, the applicant may take
legal action to have the City's decision overturned.
o The city Council could approve the final plat. This
action would not preclude the City from acquiring the
property, nor would it preclude the City from utilizing
an eminent domain procedure. However, approving the
final plat would conclude the city council's approval
process on the project and would allow Mr. Jones to
record the plat against the property and apply for
necessary permits to grade the site and commence
construction.
o The city council could take no action on the final
plat. Staff feels Mr. Jones may then be able to make
the case that, due to the lack of Council action, the
plat is considered approved. This would probably
result in Mr. Jones taking legal action to have the
Courts direct the city to cooperate with signing the
final plat and allowing for it to be recorded with the
county.
Honorable Mayor and city council
February 13, 1992
Page 5
VII. Recommended Action
Due to the many unresolved issues involved with this matter,
which includes the final disposition of negotiations with
Jones, Jones interest in granting an extension, and the
success of the neighborhood in raising funds, it is
difficult for staff to provide a clear cut recommendation at
this time on the appropriate course of action for the city
council to take. However, by 2/18/92 these issues should
become clearer and allow staff to provide a more definttive
recommendation on a course of action for the city Council to
consider.
Attachments:
TH02132B
o Map of proposed sewer easement on Ramsgate
Apartment property
o Memo from Jerre Miller, city Attorney, on
Eminent Domain procedure
o site map of subject property
- - -----.-. ----.-- 9/(1
c
T Y
o F
HOP K
N S
MEMO
Date: February 14, 1992
To: Tom Harmening
From: Jerre Miller
Re: Jones Condemnation Procedure
You have asked me to outline what follows in the event the
City Council adopts a Resolution directing initiation of
eminent domain proceedings to acquire the Jones property.
Following adoption of such a Resolution, the Petition for an
order authorizing condemnation must be drafted, filed and
served on the interested parties. A hearing in front of an
assigned Judge is conducted to determine whether the Petition
will be granted or denied.
The land owner has the right to appear and contest the right
of the City to condemn pursuant to the Petition.
Either party may appeal the Court's decision on the
Petition. If the Petition is allowed, the condemnation
proceeds and the next step is to appoint Commissioners to
hear the evidence and determine the market value of the
property. This hearing or hearings can be contested by the
land owner and the results appealed to a District Court Judge
where a full trial before a jury would hear the evidence and
determine the market value of the property.
Either party may appeal the jury's decision.
Please understand this is a thumb nail sketch of the general
procedure involved in a condemnation proceeding. Along the
way appraisers are hired as experts to determine the market
valuation and their testimony elicited in Court proceedings.
The land owner and his representatives also would likely
testify about the land valuation.
1010 First Street South Hopl<ins, Minnesota 55343
Phone: 612-935-8474 Fax: 612-935-1834
An Equal Opportunity Employer
Although the initial issue of "public purpose" to allow
condemnation to commence is a legal issue, there would likely
also be testimony by the land owner, surrounding homeowners
and City representatives to establish or refute this
assertion. ~
Should you desire furth~r i(b~;:f ation, ~lease let me know.
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