Grand Forks city council will not financially back the groundwork for a private subdivision.
Charles Varabioff is developing a 20-lot subdivision on 68th Avenue west of Brycen Place called West Grand Forks Estates.
During Monday’s city council meeting he proposed the city hire Argosy Construction and pay for the subdivision infrastructure, estimated at $900,000 to $1.1 million, in order to expedite housing options.
In return, the city would receive 75 per cent of the lot sales back until the loan was paid in full plus $5,500 per lot for a total of $110,000.
Varabioff said the project is “100 per cent shovel ready,” with only the weather and financing for infrastructure holding back the project.
But Coun. Deborah Lafleur says it’s too risky and the proposal is “out of line.”
“The city is not a bank for developers. We don’t do this for other developers and we should not be doing this in this instance. I think it puts taxpayer dollars at risk,” Lafleur stated.
She noted there’s no guarantee when the city would get its money back because it can’t control how fast the lots sell.
Coun. Rod Zielinski also rejected the proposal saying if it was such a good deal why wasn’t the construction company using its line of credit.
“If it was such a great deal, I can almost bet that Argosy (Construction) probably has a bigger line of credit than the city does, if it was such a great deal. It’s not for me,” he said.
City council passed a motion to thank Varabioff for the opportunity “but unfortunately the city will not be extending a partnership with him on this project at this time.”