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Harmony EDA recommends city approval of timeline and MOU for proposed Dairyland maintenance facility
Summary
The Harmony EDA voted unanimously to recommend that the city council approve an estimated governmental-approval timeline and a memorandum of understanding for Dairyland’s proposed maintenance facility; staff said Dairyland has tentatively identified a site and is conducting soil testing with construction hoped for spring 2021.
The Harmony EDA on Oct. 1 voted unanimously to recommend that the Harmony City Council approve an estimated timeline of governmental approvals and a memorandum of understanding for a proposed Dairyland maintenance facility.
Chris Giesen, staff member, told the EDA that Dairyland has tentatively identified a suitable site in Harmony outside the Phase III industrial park and is conducting soil testing to determine site suitability. Giesen said the company hopes to build in spring 2021 and that staff provided two documents to guide next steps: an estimated approval timeline covering annexation, tax-increment financing (TIF) steps and engineering approvals, and a draft basis for a later master development agreement.
Giesen said the city would extend public infrastructure to the site and that the EDA expects to use TIF to cover those costs. He also reported that MiEnergy has indicated it will honor a 0% loan offered for the earlier project iteration and that, depending on the final project layout, the State of Minnesota may be able to honor a previously awarded BDPI grant for the project.
Board member Steve Donney moved and board member Steve Sagen seconded a recommendation that the city council approve the documents as presented; the motion carried unanimously.
The recommendation is advisory; the city council must consider and approve any annexation, TIF plan and development agreement. Giesen said a master development agreement would be brought forward later in the winter once the project is fully defined.
