WILLMAR
— The
Willmar City Council
on Monday, Nov. 20, approved the sale of land in the
Willmar Industrial Park
to
Duininck Concrete
for the construction of a ready-mix plant that will help facilitate the construction of the
Willmar Rail Park.
The land is northeast of the
145 acres of land purchased by Midwest and Bluegrass Rail
for the construction of the Willmar Rail Park and northwest of the FedEx property.
Future development on the land purchased by Duininck Concrete may also include the construction of
Duininck
corporate headquarters, according to information discussed at a previous meeting.
Duininck Concrete will utilize the third spur of the Willmar Rail Park to bring in concrete powder, and the ready-mix plant will have a baghouse system to control the concrete dust that is produced in the operation,
as previously reported by West Central Tribune.
City attorney Robert Scott reviewed some of the key terms of the purchase agreement during the public hearing for the sale of the land. City ordinance requires a public hearing take place before the sale of city-owned land.
The sale is for 13.67 acres of land at a cost of $123,030, according to Scott.
“The sale is being recommended in order to facilitate a specific development project; in this case it’s the proposed development by Duininck (Concrete) of a ready-mix concrete and storage facility on the premises,” he said.
The purchase agreement also includes an option for the city to repurchase the property in the event that construction on the project does not begin within a year of the closing date.
There is also an easement for ingress and egress to the property at Trott Avenue Southwest near the runway of the former airport, which is a temporary easement that will expire when the proposed improvements are completed for Minnesota Highway 40, according to Scott.
The city received a
$900,000 Transportation Economic Development grant
to assist in the improvements needed for Highway 40 to accommodate the additional traffic that the Willmar Rail Park will bring to the area.
“Beyond that, the purchase agreement is on the standard agreement with the standard terms and conditions that the city has negotiated for every sale of a lot of the Industrial Park,” Scott said. “The sale would be subject to the buyer, Duininck (Concrete), first, having the opportunity to conduct whatever inspections or investigations of the site it would see fit.”
During that time, Duininck Concrete can either decide to pursue the agreement and close on the land purchase or withdraw from the purchase, according to Scott.
