The City Council has agreed to extend a maximum of $250,000 in tax increment financing for an assisted care senior facility in the city.

Wednesday, October 13, 1999

The City Council has agreed to extend a maximum of $250,000 in tax increment financing for an assisted care senior facility in the city.

The money is necessary for additional costs required to build the housing complex on a site just north of Fairview Apartments on the west side of Bridge Avenue near Richway Drive.

That site has &uot;serious&uot; soil problems, said developer Mick Montag, president of Montag Development in Mankato. But, it was the only suitable location for the senior care facility.

One of the owners, Montag recently described the site as a &uot;worst, worst case scenario.&uot;

&uot;The ground is just marshland,&uot; he said. &uot;We will have to build this thing on poles. It requires building a bridge of concrete on poles.&uot;

But, he said, &uot;There is a demand in the area for additional senior housing. There is an additional demand in Albert Lea for an Alzheimer’s facility.&uot;

While TIF financing is almost always provided up front and then recouped from captured taxes, the developer will pay all costs up front. He will then recoup the costs through taxes over the life of the 10-year TIF district.

It’s a pay-as-you-go tax district,&uot; said Ed Tschida, city TIF consultant. &uot;The developer will pay 100 percent of the costs.&uot;

During the construction, Quisley Street will also be extended to Bridge Avenue.

The facility

The 45-room assisted care facility, &uot;Alternative Continuum of Care,&uot; will also have 16 rooms for people living with Alzheimer’s Disease.

&uot;Twenty percent (of the rooms) are available for fixed-income and lower-income seniors,&uot; Tschida added. &uot;All of the units are for senior citizens.&uot;

Because the facility is in the airport safety zone, the City Council also approved a conditional permit to allow the construction.

&uot;Basically, we won’t be paying any money,&uot; said City Manager Paul Sparks. &uot;As they (the owners) pay their taxes, they will get their money back.&uot;

In other action Monday night, the council:

* Held a now state mandated October hearing to confirm that the city’s tax capacity will increase in 2000.

Sparks said the capacity increase is obvious because the 2000 proposed city levy is at $2,003 million, up from $1,860,468 in 1999. The tax capacity rate is projected to increase by 1.7 percent.

* Tabled approving a preliminary plat for the construction of three twinhomes at the east end of Giles Place, just east of Bridge Avenue, because access to the development isn’t final; final land sales aren’t completed. The development’s conditional use permit was also delayed for the same reason.

* Approved a conditional use permit for the addition of a 1,000-gallon propane tank at St. John’s Lutheran Home.

* Approved a conditional use permit for the construction of two twinhomes and a triplex in the Fountain Beach subdivision

* Agreed to purchase a 39,539 square-foot parcel of land in northwest Albert Lea from Paul Fligge and Keith Pierson for $10,800. The city plans to construct a sewer lift station on the land to serve the area, and offered to pay about half of that amount. But condemnation efforts would exceed the counteroffer if the city attempted to take the land.