The Duluth Planning Commission endorsed the city land sale for the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center at a special meeting Tuesday night, but not before commissioners expressed concerns about the $50 million project.
The Planning Commission's 9-2 vote with two abstaining was purely advisory. City officials -- tipped off by a commissioner -- discovered last week that Wheeler Field is not city park land, as had been assumed for decades. So commissioners spent the first part of the meeting trying to decide whether they should even be meeting.
On the advice of Planning Department staffers, who said the City Council should value their opinions, the meeting began.
Kay Biga, Salvation Army advisory committee chairwoman, said this is an incredible opportunity for the city and local donors to get a 4-to-1 match for their $10 million contribution.
Several commissioners also said they believed the project is an improvement to the area and will do nicely to meet the city's indoor sports needs.
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They also had doubts about whether the project is a good investment for the city's contribution, about whether there is adequate money to replace facilities at Wheeler Field and whether the land's asking price is market value, since it was never professionally appraised.
Some of those same commissioners, though, later voted yes. The two commissioners who voted against the land sale, Heather Rand and Ruth Ann Eaton, said they could not support the sale because, in their opinions, it would violate constitutional law regarding the separation of church and state.
"It does bother me, using that public land in that manner," Eaton said.
The Salvation Army has a recent legal opinion that adequately addresses those concerns, Biga said.
It will be up to the City Council on Monday to decide whether the project -- which has yet to receive final Salvation Army approval -- gets the go-ahead. Councilors are scheduled to vote on the development-and-use agreement, $7.4 million city contribution and $377,000 sale of five acres of Wheeler Field. The funding resolution will require 7 of 9 votes while the other two measures only need a simple majority to pass.
If the deal goes through, the Christian nonprofit will own and run the 85,000-square-foot facility on Grand Avenue near Wade Stadium.
For its end, the city gets 750 hours of use a year forever in the bluestone, brick and glass structure. The Salvation Army also is providing 1,000 scholarships to the Kroc center for low-income children in the West Duluth neighborhood, Biga said.
Commisioners Joan Morrison and John Vigen, who has a land appraisal business, questioned the value of the land.
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The City Assessor's Office came up with the estimate and the Administrative Services Department cited a 2005 alienation ordinance that they say prevents them from getting a formal appraisal.
"I'm not comfortable with the values and I believe they should have gotten an outside appraisal," Vigen said. "I don't think we've being given any real numbers. If we're going to sell land, fine, but let's get what the land is worth."
The question of value is very important because Salvation Army and city officials have said the money should go directly toward replacing the four tennis courts, bocce courts and playground that would be lost in order to build the Kroc center. The city has also pledged for years to build a skateboard park at Wheeler.
The Salvation Army's Central District, which includes Minnesota, is supposed to receive about $400 million from the McDonald's restaurant's fortune to build 10 Kroc centers in the Midwest.
However, local Salvation Army officials have said they must work on a tight budget to ensure all the centers remain solvent. The organization can't pay more for the land than what's been bandied about for months, or directly pay for the lost facilities' relocations, local Salvation Army officials have said.
Vigen accused city department heads of holding "disingenuous" discussions about their no-net-loss policy when it comes to replacing facilities.
He cited an estimate that said they could buy the closed gas station next door and renovate it for city offices, storage and public restrooms for only $100,000. Vigen also said the city figures never accounted for the $45,000 it would take to remove Wheeler Field's playground.
CHRIS HAMILTON covers the Duluth community and city government. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 279-5502 or by e-mail at chamilton@duluthnews.com .
