|
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.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
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]
|
