Mendota Heights Council to Take Action on Lawsuit

Mendota Heights has announced a special council session at which the council could agree to settle a by developers of Mendota Plaza.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 22, and the agenda also indicates an amendment could be made to the planned unit development agreement.

Mendota Heights City Council and staff have been meeting regularly in closed session to discuss the lawsuit filed against the city by Mendota Mall Associates, a unit of Paster Enterprises, the company that owns Mendota Plaza.

The developer has claimed the city agreed to pay for relocation of a major sewer line on Mendota Plaza property as part of the shopping center's redevelopment. The city has stated that they agreed to do the work, but not to shoulder the nearly $300,000 price tag it will incur.

While the open meeting on Nov. 22 will be preceeded by another closed meeting on the matter, any formal action must be decided upon in a meeting open to the public, said city attorney Tami Diehm.

The city is being represented in the case by an attorney from the League of Minnesota Cities, Robert Alsop.

According to a report by the Star Tribune, the cost and complexity of the project was not anticipated by planners at the time the developers agreement was finalized.

A senior living complex that would have been developed at the site of the dispute was in August. The three-month waiting period before that project can be resubmitted is almost up.