Wednesday, April 16

Council hears EDC proposal

[APRIL 16, 2003]  "There are potentially businesses on the threshold of starting up in Lincoln," Economic Development Director Jeff Mayfield told the Lincoln City Council Tuesday, and to persuade them to settle here, the community needs "a new spirit and level of cooperation."

The community also needs to purchase and develop the proposed 63.25-acre north-side industrial park, he said. Although there is some interest in properties on the west side of Lincoln, many firms are looking for a site that is already developed, away from homes, churches and retail businesses.

One of these potential business owners, Stephen Carroll, who often drives by Lincoln on Interstate 55, told Mayfield he was "shocked" that Lincoln was not expanding on the north and south sides. Carroll, who owns an Iowa concrete distribution and supply company, said if Lincoln had industrial sites ready, he would be very interested in locating a plant here.

The EDC is asking Logan County to purchase the north-side site, and on Tuesday Mayfield asked the city to make a decision by the end of April on funding a $1.1 million sewer extension to the proposed park.

 

This is less than the $1.8 million the city was originally asked to pay, because the new plan does not call for a "spec" building on the site, he said.

He said he, Mayor Beth Davis and Chamber of Commerce Director Bobbi Abbott have talked with seven Logan County banks that have agreed to cooperate with the financing of the sewer extension. The city would pay only interest on the 20-year, 3 percent loan for the first three years, $33,550 for the first year, and would pick up payments of the principal after the third year, when payments would rise to $74,238.

However, Mayfield said, the EDC would make the first year's interest payment, and if businesses begin to settle here, fees and other income could allow the city to pay off the loan without dipping into current revenues.

"It's possible that the first couple of firms that come in could wipe out the debt," Alderman Verl Prather said.

It is also a good time to invest because of the historically low interest rates, Mayfield told the council.

He said utility companies might also be part of the "new spirit of cooperation." A committee has already met some of them.

"The water company is willing to sit down and talk with us," Mayor Davis said.

"AmerenCILCO is development-conscious; it's good about that," Prather added.

Although taking on the debt is a risk, it is necessary to turn the local economy around, Mayfield said. Earlier this month the city council announced that it would have to lay off six employees, three each in the police, fire and street department, to keep its budget in balance.

"We saw the pain on your faces when the layoffs were announced," Mayfield said. He said he has also been hearing concerns from school officials about the lack of funding for local schools.

 

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He said he had heard that deals in the past had been killed and that some businesses had chosen to locate in Jacksonville because they could not get the help they needed in Lincoln.

"I have heard that local developers have not been helped fully. I don't know the answer to that, but we should help," he said. "We should vow to help landowners and developers who have signed letters of intent to get adequate infrastructure."

Two businesses have expressed interest in west-side sites, and more than that are looking at industrial sites in the proposed park, he told the council.

On the west side, a Kansas City developer is hoping to bring in a business to the former Stage (the old K-Mart) site, and may have a co-tenant for the Staples side of the building. A Springfield man is interested in reopening the Maverick Steak House, which closed some time ago.

On the north side, a wholesaler from Chicago is looking for 20 acres away from a residential area for an auto wholesale business. Others are interested but are not yet ready to be named, he said.

Mayfield said the EDC is not limiting its push for development to just one site but is looking at a "herd or cluster technique." He said, "If you develop one part of a city, other businesses will want to come to other areas."

"Let's join in a relentless pursuit of turning our economy around," he told the council. "My goal is to see our city and county grow and prosper, hopefully out to its borders."

Aldermen Prather and Steve Fuhrer, along with Mayor Davis, urged the council to support the project.

 

"We have had to cut six jobs. Last year was terrible, this year is worse, and what will next year be? We have to take that step," Fuhrer said. "If we don't do that, I really feel we're not doing our job."

"A few years ago, the city was criticized for putting sewer lines out to the interstate. Now look at it [the west side]," Prather said.

"We've got to do something now," Davis added.

A motion for the city to participate in its portion of the funding for the north-side industrial park was put on the agenda for the next regular meeting, April 21.

The Logan County Board, which has been asked for $686,000 to purchase the land, voted Tuesday evening to withhold funding for the EDC until properties are chosen and are properly zoned. A special meeting that was scheduled for Monday, April 21, to debate economic development priorities has been canceled.

 

[Joan Crabb]

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Articles from the past week

Tuesday:

Monday:

Saturday:

Friday:

  • County withholds economic development funds over Open Meetings Act

  • Wet spring needed following deficit precipitation over northern Illinois

Thursday:

  • Governor holds true to word with a few surprises

  • Sen. Brady opening office

  • New drug program will help more seniors

Wednesday:

  • Walkers brave brisk weather in record-breaking fund-raiser  (Good Neighbors)

  • City opens door to Illinois winegrowers

  • Governor announces plans for power plant to create jobs and burn Illinois coal

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