5.2. SR 11-06-2006
City of Elk River
REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
Agenda Section Meeting Date
Administration November 6, 2006
Item Description
Re uest from Habitat for Humani
Item Number
5.2.
Prepared by
Lori ohnson, Ci Administrator
Reviewed by
Introduction
Vance Zerhinger, Sherburne County Chapter Habitat for Humanity President, is requesting that the
Council consider an offer from Habitat for Humanity to purchase the city owned vacant lot at 1217 5th
Street, NW.
Discussion
This lot was originally purchased to accommodate future library expansion and is no longer needed for
that purpose. At a recent Council meeting, the Council directed staff to market the lot based on the
appraised value of $50,000. The lot sale has not yet been advertised; therefore, no other offers have been
received. Mr. Zerhinger is submitting an offer now based on Council action to market the property.
Financial Impact
Proceeds of the sale will be used to fund library debt service.
Attachments
· Letter from Mr. Zehringer
Action Requested
Consider request from Habitat for Humanity.
Council Action
Motion by _
Second by _
Vote
Follow Up
C: \Documents and Settings \ tallard\Local Settings \ Temporary Internet Files \ OLKF\Habitat Lot.doc
November I, 2006
NOV 0 2 ZlJOf5
Elk River City Council
13065 Orono Parkway
Elk River, MN 55330
Subject: Sale of property at 1217 5th St NW
Habitat For Humanity is an ecumenical nonprofit organization with a mission of building
safe, decent housing for those in need -- one house at a time. We are active in over 110
countries and are presently building a home for the needy every 24 minutes. We rely on
donations of labor and discounted materials to accomplish our mission. The Sherburne
County Chapter, Habitat For Humanity has been active in the Elk River area and has
completed two houses within the City limits, one in 2005 and one in 2006.
We are planning our 2007 project and have already selected a needy family. The lot that
we thought would be available to us for this project suddenly became unavailable so we
are in dire need of a one to get started. The Thrivent grant we recently received for this
project stipulates we must secure a lot by Ian 15,2007, and we must complete the project
by Nov 1,2007. If these conditions can't be met, the grant goes elsewhere, so there is a
degree of urgency in this request!
The ad in last weeks Star News indicates the City of Elk River is now ready to sell the
vacant lot that was purchased for the Library expansion. Weare very much interested in
this lot, but since our grant is for $112,000 we would be hard pressed to come up with the
appraised value of $50,000, and still have enough to build the house. Would the City be
willing to sell the lot for an amount closer to the assessed value of $20,OOO?
We believe this lot is right for a Habitat for Humanity home, and you can be assured the
home we would build would be an asset to the neighborhood and would blend nicely with
existing homes. I would be happy to discuss this request with you at the No" 6 City
Council meeting. Thanks in advance for your consideration of this request.
Sin~ly, "
!/ tU~~~~
Vance Zehrin r ~ -_/'
President, S erburne County Chapter HFH.