Posted: 9/28/05
North Metro moves to buy land for track
Joe Drennan
Staff Writer
North Metro Harness Initiative plans to move one step closer to breaking ground on a $50 million harness track/card room by purchasing the 185 acres just north of Gander Mountain in Columbus Township that the facility is to be built on.
The purchase could have happened months ago after the Minnesota Racing Commission approved the plan back in January, but NMHI was hoping two separate lawsuits by the Columbus Concerned Citizens group against the MRC would have been settled before the option to buy expired.
NMHI Chief Financial Officer Tom Fox says the option originally expired August 1, but they got an extension and that is now expiring. The sale of the land should be finalized by the end of October.
The delay in starting construction because of legal delays will most likely cost NMHI more in building costs, project officials said.
The recent hurricanes may also have an affect on the price of steel that will be used in the construction of the facility.
“It really depends on what the steel prices are, whether they go up or go down. That’s the biggest single item” Fox said.
“Obviously the cost will rise because of the demand for building supplies in the Gulf Coast, but that may incent the producers to produce too much and the prices may go down. You just don’t know.”
The purchase of the land doesn’t worry the CCC though.
“There is nothing we can do about them (NMHI) buying the land,” CCC spokesperson Don Steinke said. “They’re individuals and they can purchase real estate if they want to. They’ve always said they were going to buy it so it’s no big surprise to us.”
The CCC is more concerned about its appeals in the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
One suit is an appeal of the MRC’s findings for approval of NMHI’s class A and B licenses.
The other is appealing Judge M. Michael Monahan’s decision to drop the CCC’s case that claims the MRC violated state open meeting laws.
“We’re not too worried about the appeal of Judge Monahan’s decision,” Fox said. “We’re just hoping to get on the agenda soon, then we can stay on schedule to start building in the spring.”
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