Council of Elders
TJ Anderson, Senior Pastor
Mary Fonken-Holden, President
Vickie Harris, Vice President
Dan Davis, Secretary
Mark Mueller, Treasurer
Steve Eckhardt
Gary Engelbrecht
Loree Petersen
Gunnar Unger
CONTACT
COUNCIL OF ELDERS MEETINGS
Due to the coronavirus and the Governor's executive order, the Council is meeting electronically. They continue to attend to the business and care of the employees and congregation.
COUNCIL IN PRAYER
The Council of Elders has been gathering weekly to pray for North Heights and our families during this challenging time. They ask for your prayers and for God’s wisdom as they attend to important matters of the church and guide this ministry.
LAND SALE UPDATE
October 20, 2020
The Council of Elders wants to thank everyone who took part in the recent survey regarding the sale of the land at the Arden Hills Campus. We received a total of 203 responses. The full Council reviewed every email response that was received.
Before we get into the numbers of for and against the sale, we want to answer some of the questions we received.
What was the resolution that the members approved at the special meeting on February 9, 2020 and what were the results of the vote?
“Be it resolved that the membership of North Heights authorize signing a “Purchase Agreement” to sell 4.6 acres of land at the corner of Highway 96 and Highway 10 in Arden Hills to United Properties Development, LLC and/or Halley Land Corporation for a minimum sum of $2.625 million”.
“Be it further resolved that the net proceeds resulting from the sale of the property be reserved for immediate and future repair and maintenance at Arden Hills and Roseville campuses”.
There were 208 yes votes, and 13 no votes. The resolution passed with over a 94% majority.
What changed from what we voted on and why is the Council taking a survey?
All of the terms and conditions of the agreement remain unchanged and the sale will be to Halley Land Corporation as voted and approved.
In our preliminary discussions the developer they were considering apartments along with transitional, assisted living and memory care. The specific number of units and the makeup of units was never decided. That was always going to be decided after consultation with the Metropolitan Council and the City of Arden Hills.
The current developer Vincent Development, LLC, in a recent survey confirmed the current market would support senior apartments over any transitional living. Accordingly, they are now only planning senior apartments.
Because of this change in plan, Halley Land Corporation and the Council of Elders wanted to be transparent and allow our members an opportunity to voice their opinion.
Why and how is the Metropolitan Council now involved in this transaction?
The Metropolitan Council has always been involved as they are responsible for establishing (along with the City of Arden Hills) the density (occupancy levels) of these types of buildings. The involvement of the Metropolitan Council is unavoidable in any development of this type.
Will the construction be senior apartments or condos?
They will be senior apartments only.
Will these senior apartments be low income or section “8” housing?
NO, because of the land cost, quality construction, combined with no request for tax increment financing (TIF) or any financial subsidy the project demands a 100% market rate project,
Why did you only allow us two days to make a decision?
We're very sorry you missed the original email sent on September 8, 2020. We sent a reminder on September 18, both with a due date of September 20th. The time line was driven by Vincent Development and their desire to move ahead with the applications with the City of Arden Hills and closely meet the original time line that North Heights agreed on.
What would happen if we did not agree to the request from Vincent Development to become the assignee on this project?
North Heights and Halley Land Corporation would enter into a cancellation agreement. At that time we would have no contract for sale. This would require us to basically start over with no assurance of an acceptable offer including an acceptable price and associated terms and conditions.
What impact does having just apartments have on North Heights?
That’s difficult to determine. With our aging population and many desiring to rent the apartments, the transitional care option would be removed. However, there was never a guarantee units would be available when a member would have a need. On the other hand, having a senior apartments that close to our church has the potential of growing our ministry to seniors, specifically Young at Heart. A total of 72 families of North Heights signed up indicating interest in the project.
Why can’t the developer define the construction, density, unit makeup and secure all the approvals and then allow North Heights to vote on clear specifications of the project.
To negotiate with the controlling agencies requires that an agreement be in place before investing government resources in the project. For a developer to get to that point they likely would have several hundred thousand dollars invested. They would not be willing to make that commitment without an agreement from North Heights to sell the property.
We have not answered every specific question, but this is a fair representation of the question we received.
Now for the numbers from the survey:
We received 203 responses.
The total “In Favor” 163 or 88%
The Total “Against” 22 or 12%
14 asked for a special meeting and a new vote
4 responded with comments or just questions.
Based on the above responses and the high number in favor of proceeding, the Council of Elders unanimously voted to proceed with the “Contract of Sale” and “Letter of Intent”
Thank you again for your participation and clear direction as we gave this our prayerful consideration.
North Heights Council of Elders
TJ Anderson, Senior Pastor
Mary Fonken-Holden, President
Vickie Harris, Vice President
Dan Davis, Secretary
Mark Mueller, Treasurer
Steve Eckhardt
Gary Engelbrecht
Loree Petersen
Gunnar Unger