[DEC. 6, 2005]
A record was broken at City Hall last night.
According to Alderman Benny Huskins it was the first time in the 13
years that he's been up there that the city voted twice on the same
subject.
At the Nov. 15 city workshop Lincoln aldermen were presented with
details of a finalized Wal-Mart agreement that would bring a
Wal-Mart Supercenter to town. After those details hit the news, the
aldermen were flooded with weekend phone calls.
The following Monday, Nov. 21, the council voted it down 5-4,
with aldermen saying they needed more time and information, some
saying they felt they needed to represent their constituency.
Wal-Mart responded immediately, offering a revised agreement that
was presented at the next city workshop.
The issue had not gotten much public response previously even
though there were public hearings for annexation and rezoning issues
and it had been raised at council sessions since last May. However
that changed after the Nov. 15 meeting, and it was still receiving a
lot of public comment, questions and discussion last night.
Last night's vote (almost, not quite yet, read farther
down to get the final result)
When all was said and done last night, or so everyone thought,
the aldermen had cast five yeses and four nos, with one absent, on
the revised Wal-Mart agreement.
Alderman Jonie Tibbs, who was out of town last night, had voted
no on Nov. 21 and said before leaving town for two weeks that she
would stand on her vote if it was brought up again. She felt it
represented what people told her they wanted.
Alderman Neitzel, who was out of town on the first vote, voted
yes last night, shifting the vote in favor of the agreement.
The other alderman voted the same as their first vote.
Voting no were Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Benny Huskins, Patrick Madigan
and Kathy Horn.
Voting yes were Marty Neitzel, Darron Whittaker, Verl Prather,
Buzz Busby and Derrick Crane.
After the vote the room cleared of the crowd interested in the
Wal-Mart issues. It cooled off and got quieter and the meeting went
on for about 20 more minutes more, when city attorney Bill Bates
interrupted, saying, "We have to go back to Wal-Mart."
But hold up there, that wasn't the end of that.
He was reviewing Illinois statutes and saw that when a
proposition involves spending city money, it requires a majority of
the elected officials' approval. The development agreement includes
Lincoln spending money for the Zion lift station. Therefore, it
required more than a five-of-10 aldermen count for approval.
The circumstance also meets one of three situations that by law
the mayor is entitled to and should vote on, Bates said.
Mayor Beth Davis said, "Mayor votes yes."
So the official vote was 6-4 to pass by a majority.
Mayor Davis also added a yes to the earlier 6-3 vote on the
Wal-Mart final plat, making that a 7-3 approval. Huskins, Madigan
and Horn said no.
The Zion lift station is a project that was already slated to be
done by and at the city's expense, but Wal-Mart needed the date of
completion guaranteed, which is why it was in the agreement. One of
the changes to the revised agreement included an offer from Wal-Mart
to supply funds toward that project by way of credit against the
requested sales tax abatement.
Citizen comments
Guests who had not spoken in the past were given the floor first.
Jay Gaydosh said that he was neutral. I'm not opposed to Wal-Mart
building new, he said. My wife is an employee of Kroger, but I
frequent the halls of Wal-Mart.
Gaydosh observed and could not agree that it was practical to
agree to the $585,000 sales tax rebate being given to Wal-Mart, in
lieu of work they are doing, when there is a future tax levy
increase planned. He said, "You send different messages that may not
tell the same story."
Todd Parmenter had another idea about how to approach that rebate
and make it friendly to small business development.
But before he discussed that idea, he first suggested that the
city reconsider sharing in the increased sales revenues that the new
store would generate and not lock themselves into the average sales
base for the sales tax abatement of the $585,000. A superstore is
going to pull in significantly more sales revenue and thereby sales
tax revenue considerably more than the small store that is there
now. Consider asking for 5 percent or 10 of the percent excess until
the $585,000 is met, he said. It will take longer to meet it, but
you're putting yourself at a disadvantage locking yourself into the
current average; it does not account for inflation, he said.
In order to help start or support small business development,
Parmenter suggested changing the agreement so that the new sales tax
revenue be split, with half going to Wal-Mart and half to a fund
managed by the city, until the $585,000 was met. Again this would
take longer, but things could be being done for small business
growth in those years with some of the new revenues being generated.
The half going into the city-managed fund would be for grants or
loans to generate more interest in business in Lincoln, whether
downtown or along Woodlawn Road. You create yourself another pool of
revenue that not only helps small business, but also earns interest,
he said.
Aldermen Neitzel and others recalled that this was tried some
years ago, but the businesses that were chosen did not succeed and
the loans were not paid back and the fund went to zero.
Bob Wood said, "When a multibillion-dollar company comes to you
and says they want to build here and give you 26-plus acres, you
need to say, 'Thank you!'"
A community relations representative from Wal-Mart and the
counsel representing Wal-Mart in this agreement also spoke. Lawyer
Troy Pudik came back to the council with a list of services that the
new Wal-Mart would offer, as requested by Alderman Rohlfs last week.
Beyond the services that are already being offered, there would
be an optical department; a drive-through, 24-hour pharmacy; and the
groceries department would expand to include dairy and meats. There
is also space inside for an independent bank to lease, Pudik said.
John Besio of corporate Wal-Mart told aldermen to look at what
has happened around other Wal-Mart Supercenters after they have gone
in. They have served as a catalyst for community retail growth, and
that is what will happen in Lincoln too.
He pointed out that the local store has been here 30 years. It's
a great store here and employees are certainly not at minimum wage.
They own homes, late-model cars and are putting kids through school.
He expects the new store to not only act as a magnet for other
businesses to come and build here, but it will also draw shoppers
from the surrounding communities and capture some of the export
business where people are going out of town to shop.
Aldermen discussions
Marty Neitzel was the first of the aldermen to speak. She began
by saying that she was the oldest in the room -- born in Lincoln in
1937 and lived here her entire life. "If anyone is for Lincoln, I
am," she said. She saw mom and pop grocers on corners in Lincoln and
watched what happened when A&P and Eisner's came in. "I want Lincoln
to grow and have all the stores we have now, plus more," she said.
Wal-Mart is coming here whether we vote for it or not, she said.
"They are giving us more than $1 million in infrastructure, in
sewers in roads." Their development would be a great start for that
area to finally have an industrial park, she said. With that
opportunity at hand, she said, "We will make requests for state and
federal funds for Fifth Street and make it the way it should be."
She believes that this would draw more business to Lincoln and
thereby more sales tax revenue for improvements.
She added that 70 percent of the calls she received were for the
Wal-Mart development.
Following the meeting, Alderman Kathy Horn said that she knows
some people think that her working at Kroger may have influenced her
vote. But she firmly says that it didn't. Kroger is a big enough
company to survive a Super Wal-Mart, and she is at a place in the
company that she will have a job, even if she were transferred, she
said. She said she listened to the people who called her and "felt
an obligation to represent them."
Mayor Davis said that she has had calls from all over the U.S.
with interest in bringing business here. They are waiting to see how
the city responded to Wal-Mart.
"We have an opportunity here for our citizens whether they shop
Wal-Mart or shop IGA or Kroger or uptown," she said. "We're giving
our people, we're giving our children, an opportunity. If we turn
our backs on this, we're doing a disservice to our community."
Alderman Neitzel said, "We need to make progress." She said that
she feels we are on our way and Sysco was the start of that.
Our regional plan is 25 years old, she said. Other communities
are way ahead of us. "Do you think we need to hurry? Yes, we do,"
she said. And there was an echo in the room saying, "Yes, we do."
