Meeting Date: September 22, 2016
To: Members of the Northfield Economic Development Authority
From: Chris Heineman, Community Planning and Development Director
Title
XCEL Energy Certified Site Program Application
Body
Summary and Action Requested:
City staff has have been meeting with representatives from Xcel Energy regarding the potential inclusion of property in the NW annexation area in the Xcel Energy Certified Site program. This program is similar to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Shovel Ready program but will target only ten sites in each state throughout Xcel's service territory. This will be a tremendous marketing opportunity as we begin to focus our attention on development in this area.
According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, a shovel ready site should include the following attributes:
* Available land - property owners are ready to sell at agreed-upon terms
* Fully Served - utilities should be in place, or at a minimum approved plans for their placement should be available
* Developable - no outstanding mitigation, easement, or right-of-way issues interfere with immediate construction
* Certified to stringent terms - comprehensive information collection and third-party assessment and verification
The Xcel Energy Certified Site program will address each of these attributes and provide site information to businesses and site search selectors throughout Xcel's territory and nationally. Representatives from Xcel including Dan Pfeiffer, Senior Director of External Affairs, and Phil Schneider, President of Schneider Consulting, have toured the annexation area and believed it would be an excellent site for the Xcel program. The program requires a minimum of 25 contiguous developable acres, and staff is working on a preliminary application for approximately 50 acres of the 530-acre annexation area as a certified site.
The City of Northfield annexed approximately...
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