Jasper Council: Steps taken on downtown plan
The downtown development plan created by CityVisions and Gamble Associates will provide the foundation for the creation of requests for proposals (RFP) in the coming months.
The RFP will be to determine an action plan and costs for turning the downtown portion of the master plan into reality.
Andy Seger, representing the Jasper Redevelopment Commission of which he is a member, informed the council of the next steps regarding the downtown portion of the master plan. According to Seger, a group involving the redevelopment commission, Mayor Terry Seitz, Director of Community Development Darla Blazey and City Attorney Renee Kabrick, will develop the RFP. Then, the common council would approve it before it is submitted to firms.
Those RFPs will be sent out to interested firms to create proposals to complete the vision created by CityVisions and Gamble Associates. Once the firms respond, Seger proposed that a committee be formed with members of the city and council to narrow down those responses to those they feel fits the scope of the project best.
Those proposals will then be presented publicly to the council for a final decision.
No timeline was given on the completion of the RFPs.[hr]
The council also found Stens to be in noncompliance with the tax abatement program they joined in 2011. According to the tax abatement compliance paperwork companies are required to complete annually, Stens has not met the amount of new employees they listed on their original application.
They had listed adding 98 new jobs and currently have only filled 28 of those positions.
A representative from Stens was not at the meeting Wednesday to answer any questions about the application.
Stens was one of the first companies to apply for and receive a tax abatement when the ordinance was approved in 2011. At the time, the new tax abatement was a major factor in the company’s decision to maintain its headquarters in Jasper.
Under the approved abatement, Stens invested $2.5 million into renovating the building at 1919 Hospitality Drive and adding $400,000 in equipment. Along with that expansion and move, the company was going to add 98 new employees — a driving factor in the extent of a tax abatement companies receive. Those plans were projected to be completed in 2013.
Stens received a 10-year abatement package in which taxes were 100 percent abated for the first eight years, 75 percent the ninth year and 50 percent for the final year.
A hearing will be held to give Stens representatives another chance to explain the discrepancies at the June council meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, at City Hall.
Several other companies were found to be in compliance with their abatements.
Jasper Chair, which is investing more than $1.5 million into its site at Eighth and Vine streets was found to be in compliance for the tax abatement they received in 2013.
Cash Waggner & Associates/3Pepls Properties, which is investing $263,000 to renovate and add equipment to the building it owns at 402 E. 13th Sreet, was found to be in compliance for the tax abatement they received in 2014.
Meyer Distributing/Braun Family Properties was found to be in compliance with the tax abatement they received in 2011. The company invested $23.37 million to expand its Cathy Lane facility over five phases. The also purchased three buildings along Cathy Lane to remodel for company use.
The council also took the following actions.
–Held a public hearing on the proposed water rate increase. No one commented. Approved the ordinance to raise the utility water rates for the city of Jasper customers. Story here.
–Approved the petition to vacate a right of way along the south side of Headquarters at the corner of 2nd and Main streets after holding a public hearing. Story here
