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At that time, Hamilton had already been to the Logan County Planning
Commission with a formal plan and had received their approval.
However, the city council and Mayor Keith Snyder were bothered by
the fact that decisions directly affecting the city had been made
without their input.
Hamilton was told then that in the future, if additions to the
enterprise zone would specifically affect areas within the city
limits, the city wanted to hear about the plan before it went
to the planning commission.
To that end, Hamilton along with Steve McClure also of
Opportunity Alliance appeared before the council Tuesday night to
discuss proposed additions to the enterprise zone.
McClure spoke first, saying that when his firm did the adjustment
to the enterprise zone for Elkhart Grain, the county board
specifically asked them to find out if there were other elevators in
the county that could also benefit from being in the enterprise
zone.
McClure said that in doing that, his firm contacted the elevators
in the county and simply asked them if in the next 18 to 24 months
they had any plans to invest in their facilities.
The result was that four companies are developing a total of six
projects that can benefit from being added to the enterprise zone.
This addition would benefit the grain companies in that they
would be exempt from the state's natural gas tax, as well as from
sales tax on materials purchased to expand or improve their
facilities.
The city of Lincoln gets involved in this when the geographical
area around the elevator does not have an unemployment rate high
enough to meet the state's criteria for the enterprise zone.
To bring the unemployment rate up for the project, sections of
the city are selected to be added at the same time.
McClure said that what he and Hamilton were presenting at this
time was "really, really preliminary" and that they would be back
with something more solid at a later date.
When Hamilton took the podium, he outlined an area of Lincoln
that qualifies to be added and indicated three possibilities for the
council to consider.
On a printed map, he pointed out a red outline that covers much
of the area between Union Street, Feldman Drive, Nicholson Road and
Keokuk and said that any of that area could be designated for this
project.
He also offered three specific suggestions. An area marked "Site
A" (in green) starts just behind the professional offices on Keokuk
and travels northward to about 20th Street. "Site B" (in lavender)
is near the Route 66 overpass at Eaton, and "Site C" (in teal)
covers an area near Adams School and would include the city tree
farm.
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During the course of discussion, the mayor noted that Site A stops
just short of the professional offices on Keokuk. He wondered if the
zone could be modified to include that area, as he felt like it was
logical that there could be future development there.
Hamilton said that it was indeed possible to make that
adjustment.
The city's head of forestry, Tracy Jackson, and city attorney
Bill Bates both noted that the area around Adams School is not a
place where one would expect future development because it lies in a
flood plain. Consequently it would make for a poor choice as land to
be added to the enterprise zone.
Logan County is allowed a total of 15 square miles of enterprise
zone designation. Currently 10.91 square miles is obligated, with
4.1 square miles left available.
Hamilton said that what they were looking to add to the zone
would amount to approximately one-quarter of a square mile.
At the end of the discussion, it was agreed that Site A would be
the first choice, with the modifications that the mayor had
suggested.
Hamilton said that now that he and McClure know the area the city
has chosen, they will put together a formal proposal.
He concluded by saying, "We'll put together sort of a formal plan
with a nice blue ribbon and a little perfume on it and bring it back
to you in a couple of weeks."
[By NILA SMITH]
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