Representative Matters

• Challenge real estate taxes on apartment building successfully saving the client over $100,000 in real estate taxes over three years
• Represented the University of Minnesota with respect to the mandatory environmental review of the new Gopher football stadium and the cleanup of contamination (railroad, wood treating, and other industrial contaminants) on the site. Legal services included advice regarding the retention of environmental consultants; the scoping, preparation, public involvement, and determination of adequacy of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); the investigation of the contamination at the site; development of cleanup standards, public participation, and approval of a response action plan by the MPCA; and preservation and assessment of cleanup cost recover rights against the parties responsible for polluting the site.
• Represented a landowner with respect to the redevelopment of a former gravel mining facility and municipal dump located in a Minneapolis suburb. We represented the property owner in all aspects of this major residential redevelopment project, which included investigation and cleanup of the site; negotiating development and tax increment financing agreements; obtaining grant funding and Petrofund reimbursement; and recovering investigation and cleanup costs from responsible parties and insurers.
• Represented a landowner in investigating and cleaning up a major twin cities scrapyard. The scope of the representation included negotiating agreements for the sale and redevelopment of the property; obtaining grant financing for cleanup costs, and pursuing cost recovery on behalf of the client, and involved municipalities for the investigation and cleanup costs.
• Represented cities of Annandale and Maple Lake in reinstating a NPDES permit allowing the cities to move forward with the construction of a joint wastewater treatment facility. The process took nearly three years, two trips to the Court of Appeals, and one to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The end result was a favorable ruling for the client from the Minnesota Supreme Court.
• Represented the Minnesota Historical Society in the conversion of the Washburn Crosby Mill to the Mill City Museum along the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis. We provided legal advice to the client relative to the investigation and cleanup of the contamination at the site; drafting of numerous agreements governing the roles and responsibilities of the various parties to the development, including the financing of the project; and obtaining numerous permits and governmental approvals for the project.