KEDA Board weighs pros, cons of preparation steps; wants more information before moving forward
The Koochiching Economic Development Authority Board again discussed the future of a foreign trade zone when it met Wednesday.
Discussion centered around a proposal made by Paul Nevanen, KEDA director, and Dave Serrano, Arro of the North, regarding creating an example site plan that would work if the majority of the rock is not removed.
“This is a discussion point as a means of moving things forward,” Nevanen said. “It’s another, more cost-effective way of looking at this.”
Regardless of what the final site would look like — rock or not — this document could provide a potential developer a picture of what the site could look like. Nevanen passed around an example of what a sophisticated version of a site plan looks like and what KEDA’s competition is doing to market similar sites around the country.
“I think you’ve got to find a middle ground between what they’re doing and what we’re struggling with out there,” Nevanen said.
What Nevanen and Serrano are planning, along with Barr Engineering, would cost about $4,000 to get a magazine-quality image worthy of showing developers.
Serrano explained that some blasting and crushing would be necessary to level peaks in the rock, but this option would greatly reduce the amount of rock removed compared to leveling the site to the height of the adjacent railroad tracks.
This recommendation was made after listening to a report in November by Jim Theusch, a former site selector for Target Corp., who explained that part of being attractive to developers is to provide them a visual example of what a finished project could look like on the site. Ultimately, a tenant would decide the parameters of the building they wanted, but the site plan is intended to pique a client’s interest and show them how the space could be used.
Since April, the KEDA Board has held monthly discussions on the next steps in preparing the foreign trade zone it manages near Ranier for future development. In April, members of the Wagner family proposed a plan that would have the private company handle site clearing and rock removal in return for the resources. After months of city, county and KEDA officials discussing alternatives, the company took the offer off the table in October.
Board member Wade Pavleck spoke against Nevanen and Serrano’s proposal, saying that the idea amounted to spending money on something that was unnecessary. Pavleck said he was concerned about the dollar value of the rock, and was still pushing for its removal to the quantity of earlier discussions. Pavleck and Doug Grindall, county engineer, have for several months been pushing to have the rock blasted and crushed for use in county highway projects.
“If you do that, you’re taking $1 million from the taxpayers, because we know there is $1 million or more there,” Pavleck said of the rock that could be crushed into road aggregate.
Pavleck recommended the group make a prioritized list of where to spend money and energy on the site before moving forward and spending more money.
Increased communication among city, county and KEDA officials was noted by several members as imperative in the process. “The city and county are on two different tracks,” noted Soren Olesen, board alternate. He recommended the KEDA Board make decisions on the FTZ, since they were charged with managing the zone, although the city and county jointly own the property.
“The key is going to be communication,” Nevanen agreed.
Board member Allen Rasmussen recommended that the board get more information on the various options available before proceeding. Rasmussen accepted an invitation to remain on the board because no other applications were filed to fill his seat at his term’s end.
“It’s fatiguing going through this process and not really getting anywhere,” Nevanen said.
The board agreed to reconvene a sub-committee that was formed to review the FTZ proposal, which would be charged with gathering information and making recommendations to the board as a whole.
Clearing and grubbing
Another snag in the process was discussed which involved halted work on clearing and grubbing the FTZ site.
A Dec. 15 email from Grindall to members of the Koochiching County Board outlined the progress — or lack thereof — made on that first step of clearing the site. The county had been managing the clearing and grubbing work.
Grindall explained that work had begun, but city officials notified him that they wanted the stumps hauled off the site instead of burying the material. He said the costs to do that were too high, and the board asked that county equipment be pulled from the site, “if the city wanted to have a private contractor develop the site.”
Members of the KEDA Board discussed the costs of burning the material and burying or hauling a much smaller quantity of material.
Grindall also wrote about other concerns found through the clearing and grubbing process, such as rock below the surface in an area not intended for blasting, and an area of sand that filled with water when shallow holes were dug.
Grindall also wrote that the future of a road into the FTZ seemed unresolved. After hearing from Theusch that having a road to the site was unnecessary to attract a tenant, Grindall began to doubt if the KEDA wanted the road. Costs and logistics were also cited as a concern. He said, “I had planned to use county forces for this work as the possibility of receiving federal funding as a high-priority project is very remote if nonexistent after Congressman Oberstar lost the election.”
Grindall said of Theusch’s remark: “Although I don’t agree with him, he is an expert in this area.”
The future of clearing and grubbing was among those items that is to be researched by the FTZ committee and brought back with recommendations at the next KEDA Board meeting.
