The City of Albert Lea will offer Farmland Foods a chance to rebuild in Albert Lea on an industrial park site near I-35, and the city is ready to settle a lawsuit with the property’s developer to let it happen.

Monday, September 24, 2001

The City of Albert Lea will offer Farmland Foods a chance to rebuild in Albert Lea on an industrial park site near I-35, and the city is ready to settle a lawsuit with the property’s developer to let it happen.

The city will settle a lawsuit brought against it by Darv Habben over the industrial park development agreement, and the planning for the park will go ahead as originally planned, with one amendment: The city could purchase an additional 12.5 acres near the site if Farmland decides to rebuild on that site.

The city would establish a tax-increment financing (TIF) district on the industrial park site, as well as at the old Farmland site, to provide a financial benefit for rebuilding and cleaning up the destroyed plant, said Rep. Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea).

&uot;That’s what really gives us an advantage here, as opposed to someplace in Iowa,&uot; Dorman said. Farmland is weighing options in at least three different communities, including Carroll, Iowa, while deciding where to rebuild. Its Albert Lea processing plant was destroyed by fire July 8.

Dorman said Habben’s industrial park is ideal because the city already purchased much of the land and improvements are already underway to suit it for industrial development.

The TIF district on the Habben site – which would allow Farmland to recapture a portion of would-be property taxes and funnel them into the development – would need approval from the state legislature, Dorman said.

City Manager Paul Sparks and Habben are both out of town and were unavailable for comment.

Farmland has said it will make a decision on its future by Oct. 1. Company officials were not available for comment this morning.

The lawsuit over the land, brought by developer Darv Habben against the city in May, charged that the city did not live up to its end of an agreement to develop a 33-acre industrial park near I-35.

The city council tonight will discuss the settlement agreement. Under the contract, the city will take over finishing the construction project on the site under its own contract and with public bids. The estimated amount of work left is $128,000, which will be assessed to Habben’s property and he will pay it over a customary period of time.

The settlement includes the option for more land because the city believes if Farmland decides to rebuild in Albert Lea on that site, it would need more than the 32 acres available. If Farmland doesn’t rebuild there, the city doesn’t have to buy the land from Habben.

The lawsuit had alleged that the city failed to compensate Habben for a portion of the improvements he made on the site, in preparation for turning it into an industrial park. Habben sought $350,000 in damages in the suit.