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P <br />MEMORANDUM <br />ver TO: Mayor & City Council <br />FROM: Pat Klaers, City Administrator <br />DATE: October 30, 1995 <br />SUBJECT: Cass Property <br />The city has had a long-standing goal of obtaining land and developing an <br />active recreation field complex. The focus has mainly been on youth fields for <br />soccer and baseball, but the need also includes adult softball. Another <br />different goal of the city that relates to this proposal is the ultimate need to <br />obtain more land for the disposal of Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) <br />sludge material. <br />The city has been looking for suitable land for the development of youth <br />recreation fields for a number of years and the city has basically been <br />unsuccessful in its attempts to locate available land. In the last year or so, <br />the Jack Cass property has become available, and this land appears to meet <br />our needs for the future development of youth recreation fields and for <br />providing additional land for the disposal of WWTP sludge. <br />The property under evaluation is 115.65 acres in the southeast part of the <br />community. This land is directly south of the 120 acres that the city obtained <br />a few years ago for the disposal of WWTP sludge. It is believed that this site <br />will be outside of the ultimate city sewer and water district and that Elk <br />River municipal utilities may very well never reach this property. (Please <br />see the attached maps.) <br />The City Council reviewed this proposed land purchase at its 9/25/95 meeting <br />and directed me to pursue a purchase agreement for its consideration. The <br />proposed purchase agreement calls for the land to be purchased for $2650 per <br />acre or $306,472.50. This price is 6 percent higher than the $2500 per acre <br />market value opinion that is in the appraisal that the city had completed for <br />this property. This price is also about 2.47 percent above the average of the <br />adjusted sales rate of $2586 per acre that was used to determine the <br />recommended value. This appraisal was completed by Riverside Appraisals <br />in July, 1995. <br />I had very little chance of getting Mr. Cass to accept the $2500 per acre <br />amount, but I believed I had a reasonable chance to get Mr. Cass to accept <br />13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 • Elk River, MN 55330 • (612) 441-7420 • Fax: (612) 441-7425 <br />