Elk Farm bought by Indian Community

[Rebel SS]

Way down here is southern Minny, just outside of CAWchester...


https://kttc.com/news/2019/01/02/elk-run-land-purchased-by-indian-community/

[LPS]

Hmm

[glenn57]

if this land is not already on reservation land this should not, can not be allowed. he's what your casino spent money is doing. its just a matter of time and they'll wanna annex this to tribal land.

[Rebel SS]

I can't believe they bought these 78 big parcels way down here by me!!!

[markn]

  reb, enjoy your new casino. Any idea on how $$$$ this land went for? Didn't see that in the news artical.

[LPS]

I wondered that too.  I suppose money is not even an issue to them.  They just need approvals of some kind.

[Rebel SS]

  reb, enjoy your new casino. Any idea on how $$$$ this land went for? Didn't see that in the news artical.

I'll do some checkin' with my real estate lady.....

[Rebel SS]

Boy, she's good!    They paid  15.5 million $$$$$$$...................................

My kookulations say that's $12,916 an acre....way less than the goin' rate for average "close to town" semi-rural acreage around here, I was just told. Go figger..................

[mike89]

cash talks!!!!!!!!!!

[Rebel SS]

I heard they got their eyes on the hamlet of Cold Spring next....

[glenn57]

I heard they got their eyes on the hamlet of Cold Spring next....

you'd be seeing me in da news if dat ever happened!!!!!!!!!!

[Rebel SS]

Well, who woulda guessed they'd buy up the Elk Run property down here??! 
Actually, not really much different than MAYO hiking taxes so high places have to go out of business, then MAYO snaps up all the properties and land...........................

[Rebel SS]

After doing some more investigating, I found out the city of Pine Island faced a 3.65 million dollar penalty if this land was not sold by 2022, because it was heavily invested in for a failed Biobusiness by them...yet the mayor says the recent sale of it took him by surprise. Ya, right. Maybe someone needs to wake up...maybe I should take over...

[Gunner55]

  Sounds like he's runnin for re-election already.  Bet it wouldn' t be hard for most of us here to do a better job than some of these clowns.

[delcecchi]

At least someone will get some use out of the "interchange to nowhere".   And that land was contaminated with CWD from back when it was an elk farm....
Also I think Pine Island spent money running water and sewer out there to serve the billion dollar bio park...  As if Mayo and U of M would cooperate to put businesses in Pine Island.   

[Rebel SS]

Word is now the reservation is moving here....and note the last paragraph, an obvious hint?

From today, in the local CAWchester rag:



Our View: New owner, bright future for Elk Run land


If you want to cause people in Pine Island to roll their eyes and shake their heads, you need only mention Elk Run, Tower Investments or Steven Burrill.

Don’t say “interchange to nowhere” unless you’re prepared to hear some expletives.

Such reactions are entirely justified. After 12 years of big promises, big state investments and even bigger disappointments connected to the 2,000-acre site along U.S. 52, one can forgive Pine Island residents and city officials for being furious about what has become the region’s most infamous boondoggle.


Visions of a billion-dollar center of biotechnology never came to fruition. The state-funded, $45 million U.S. 52 interhange sees zero traffic, because it essentially goes nowhere. Over the years, Pine Island was left to deal with a quagmire of delinquent property taxes and potential state fines.

Burrill, the smooth-talking (and big-spending) venture capitalist who was the face of the Elk Run biotechnology proposal, has pleaded guilty to charges of investment fraud and tax evasion. On March 4, he will begin serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence. Apparently, he liked using investors’ money to buy Tiffany jewelry for his wife. And his girlfriend.

We join the entire state in saying “good riddance.”

But now a new player has entered the game in Pine Island, and for the first time in more than a decade, much of the former elk farm is going to be in the hands of a group that has both the resources and the motivation necessary to start moving dirt, laying bricks and turning open space into homes, parks and businesses.

The Prairie Island Indian Community has purchased 1,200 acres of land from three companies controlled by Tower Investments. The purchase price was $15.5 million.

While the tribal community has made no public statements regarding its plans for the property, the long-term goal seems obviously self-evident. The Prairie Island reservation in Red Wing is just a few hundred yards from nuclear waste stored at Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island nuclear power plant. That nuclear waste isn’t going anywhere, which is why, back in 2003, the state agreed to pay up to $2.5 million annually toward the tribe’s purchase of up to 1,500 acres within 50 miles of its current reservation.

Suffice to say that we can think of no greater motivation to begin building new homes elsewhere than the sight of your children playing almost in the shadow of a nuclear waste storage site.

We see the Elk Run purchase as great news for Pine Island and the region, for both the short term and in the long run. The construction of dozens, perhaps hundreds of new homes for the Indian community would be a huge boost to the economy, and Pine Island businesses would benefit greatly from a new influx of potential customers.

And, while gambling has its opponents, it’s a safe bet that those connected to Rochester’s tourism industry are already thinking about (dare we say salivating about?) the possibility that in the not-so-distant future, there might be a new casino just a few miles north of Rochester?

Could problems arise? Absolutely. Change can be difficult, and new neighbors don’t always get along. To limit such tensions, Pine Island officials and the Indian community will need to communicate clearly and openly with each other and the public as the development process moves forward.

[glenn57]

if that land isn't inside a reservation boundry this best not happen,

[Rebel SS]

 It's now their land, and CAWchester, who thinks they are in charge of everything, backs it.  But, they bought it, so I guess can they can do whatever they want.

[delcecchi]

They will soon be, I predict, going to the feds to get the land removed from the state of Minnesota and made reservation.   So, no property taxes except as payment can be negotiated.   BIA  or someone kicks in some "impact" money for schools etc.    No money from casino for the state or locals thanks to Rudy Perpich, may he continue to burn.   

No law enforcement of any state/local law on the res.    Res issues its own license plates, sells its own gas so freeloads on mn taxpayers for roads in the area.   

[markn]

"That nuclear waste isn’t going anywhere, which is why, back in 2003, the state agreed to pay up to $2.5 million annually toward the tribe’s purchase of up to 1,500 acres within 50 miles of its current reservation."

  So this mean the state is now off the hook for this "annual" payment that I'll bet nobody knew about? My simple math comes up with 40 mil spent on this since 2003.