Jasper Common Council meeting: Housing development announced

Pete Schwiegeraht, a developer with Miller Valentine Group of Cincinnati, informed the Jasper Common Council his company’s intentions to create apartments on Vine Street.

According to Mayor Terry Seitz, the group approached the city last October about the potential apartments and showed interest in the former-Jofco building at Vine and 13th streets.

Cash Waggner purchased the 300,000 square foot building last October and was approved for a tax abatement to develop 70,000 square feet of office space in the existing office space of the building. That approval occurred Wednesday evening also.

Schwiegeraht informed the council that Miller Valentine is considering purchasing up to 100,000 square feet of the building to create 50 to 70 units for senior or workforce housing. Cash Waggner will continue to operate the office space they are developing.

The purchase is dependent upon the group receiving rental housing tax credits through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. These tax credits will act as the primary funding source for the project and the company will apply for them in October. They will know by February or March whether they are awarded the credits.

According to Schwiegeraht, the company has extensive experience working with the state for these types of projects and was awarded tax credits for the senior housing project in Huntingburg.

The units will be fully amenitized with laundry machines and full kitchens as well as an onsite business center, community room, theater and fitness room. The plans he presented to the council included a green space being added to the interior area of the building.

The group will invest about $12 million into the development.

Andy Welsh with Welsh Realty Corp, brokered the deal for Cash Waggner to purchase the building and is working with Miller Valentine on the potential housing deal.

Schwiegeraht informed the board that local incentives from the city will assist the project in achieving a better score for it to be awarded the tax credits. Huntingburg committed to developing sidewalks and infrastructure to support the buildout at the former-St. Joseph Hospital. They also committed $300,000 in incentives to the project.

Schwiegeraht told the council that similar efforts on their part would assist the company’s application for those tax credits. He also explained that if the area was not under consideration or included in the city’s plans for development at this time, it would assist the project if they did include the area in those plans and initiatives.

“We haven’t finalized our plans here,” Schwiegeraht said. “We are ready to begin the application process for submittal on November 1.” The units could be available for rent by the end of 2016.

The units being considered would be 1- and 2- bedroom units at 700 and 900 square feet respectively. Rent for the units would run $550 up to $675.

The company will be applying for a variance or rezoning in the near future to allow for the development.

The council also took the following actions.

-Held a public hearing concerning the petition of Keusch Kids LLC and KAKB LLC to annex 35.744 acres known as Brookstone Estates V. No one from the public commented during the proceeding.

-Held a public hearing concerning the tax abatement request from Cash Waggner for the property located at Vine Street. No one from the public commented during the public hearing.

-Approved Resolution No. 2014-7 creating the economic revitalization area and approving the real and personal property tax abatement statement of benefits for Cash Waggner’s Vine Street property project.

-Held a public hearing concerning the tax abatement request from Jasper Engine Exchange. There was no public comment during the hearing.

-Approved resolution No. 2014-8 creating the economic revitalization area and approves the real and personal property tax abatement statement of benefits for Jasper Engine Exchange

-Reviewed and agreed that Stens LLC is in compliance with the Statement of Benefits form for the personal property tax abatement they received in 2012.

-Tabled the review of the compliance statement for Jasper Chair Company Inc. for a personal property tax abatement they were awarded. The review was tabled as no representatives from Jasper Chair attended the meeting.

-Reviewed Indiana Furniture Industries Inc. compliance with statement of benefits form for the property tax abatement and for personal property tax abatement they received last year. The council heard that phase one was completed at this time but the changing furniture market has affected the company’s original plan as presented in the tax abatement. Some discussion was had about how to proceed with the tax abatement process and they eventually decided to table the discussion until next month when they would have more information.

-Reviewed and approved that Meyer Distributing Inc is in substantial compliance with the personal property tax abatement they received last year.

-Reviewed and approved Braun Family Properties LLC is Compliance with Statement of Benefits form for real property tax abatement.

-The common council approved selling three park properties located at Lechner Lane, Truman Road and 30th Street Park. City Attorney Renee recommended the city use an auction service to sell the properties. The city could also take bids over a 90 day period. During the bidding process, the bids would be open and bidders can change their bids. The city is obligated to accept nothing less than 90 percent of the average of two appraisals of the properties and bidders can raise their bids during the process. The council decided to explore the options on how to proceed with the sale of the three properties and directed Kabrick to explore the costs associated with an auction company. She will present the bidding process and the auctioneer information to the council.

-CityVisions and Gamble and Associates presented their continued refinement of the Downtown/Riverfront Master Plan. They have been examining three properties, the Jasper Cabinet, Hoosier Desk and Astra Theater buildings, to determine their viability for potential redevelopment.

All three buildings play a major role in the continued planning and development of the area. “A lot of these initiatives are building off of those (buildings),” Barry Alberts explained, “and the good news is that these buildings are in relatively good shape. Portions of them will also qualify for federal and state tax credits making it much more feasible for financing. Through a combination of public and private uses we think their is a strong market for both properties to be redeveloped.”

-Approved adding a stop sign at the Main and 11th street intersection to create a three-way stop intersection.

-Approved creating fees for golf club rentals and fees for buckets of balls at the driving range.

-Heard the first reading of an ordinance to increase the base rate of electric utility rates and charges by 6 percent. The ordinance calls for billings after August 1 to reflect the increased base-rate.

According to the city, the rate increase did not take into consideration any costs associated with the power plant project. The costs could be absorbed in the future through rate increases or a proposed use for the power plant.

The last rate increase was in 2008.

According to the city, a customer could experience a $5.50 increase per 1000 kilowatt hours of use.

Umbaugh and Associates made a list rates of 18 other utilities in the area. “18 municple and private utilities and we were 16 out of 18 in our rates,” Bud Hauersperger, Jasper Utilities Manager, said. “We will be 13th with the increase. If you look at us compared to Vectren for a 1000 kilowatt hours, there is a $56.78 difference.”