After a brief public hearing Tuesday, the Sherburne County Board approved a property tax abatement for Theco, Inc. to help finance the construction of a new building on the corner of Hwy. 10 and Co. Rd. 11 on the former site of Salida Depot.
Theco rents and sells mobile crushing, screening, conveying, and recycling equipment. The 19,200 square foot building will include 11,942 feet of shop space and 7,258 feet of office/retail. The building is already under construction.
Assistant Administrator Dan Weber said project is expected to add approximately $845,000 in taxable value and generate an additional $31,279 in property taxes.
The project will bring 33 existing jobs and also create a minimum of five new jobs with an average wage of $23 per hour. The business is currently located at Hwy. 101 and 36 in St. Michael.
Company owner Brian Dodd said he wants to expand the operation and had searched many areas before finding the site. He said the company recently took on a new product line and will be selling heavy equipment, like excavators and loaders. Dodd said the site has good highway access and room for expansion.
“We feel this is a great fit for us, and we’re going to be able to grow our service department,” he said.
Weber said the project scored high on the county’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) scoring system and is eligible for 75% of the total abatement request.
The abatement is $78,240 over the life of the agreement. Theco will receive a full abatement for seven years at $10,432 and one-half abatement in year eight ($5,216). Theco would receive no refund in years nine or 10.
The board voted unanimously to approve the abatement.
Rezoning Denied
The board denied a request by Ice-O-Metric Contracting to rezone 10.33 acres on 172nd St. NW in Big Lake from Agricultural to Industrial.
Since 2007, Ice-O-Metric, which specializes in the fabrication of commercial food processing buildings, has operated a business off the western five acres of the 10 plus-acre parcel.
Recently the applicant requested to expand the operation by adding a 6,000 sq. ft. building to the property. That request was denied because the business is not operating under a valid conditional use permit (CUP).
In 1987, a CUP for a home occupation was issued for sandblasting on the site, but that requires the landowner to live in the home. The house is no longer occupied.
Currently Ice-O-Metric uses the property for office space, a fabrication shop and cold storage. Ice-O-Metric employs 15 off-site builders, two and a half office workers and one sheet metal fabricator.
The business is operated on approximately five acres of this parcel. The remaining acreage is in agricultural production. The business is nonconforming to the existing CUP issued to the property and does not meet any of the available conditional use permits allowed in the Agricultural District.
Rezoning was the only possible remedy to keep the business on the property.
Tuesday, Commissioner Tim Dolan said he wasn’t in favor of expanding an operation that was supposed to be a home business.
“This undermines our process,” he said. “The idea behind this is that once the business outgrows a home use, it should be relocated into an industrial park.
“I struggle with this. This could open some flood gates. There are a lot of businesses that incur additional expenses to be located within the proper zoning. I don’t think this fits with the comprehensive plan.”
Members of the board agreed and denied the request for re-zoning.
