By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Plans are in motion to continue allowing a farmer to use upwards of 80 acres of land near Whitewater’s business and technology parks, following a recent decision by city officials.
The Community Development Authority (CDA) on Sept. 25 voted to continue allowing the farmer, whose name was not revealed during the meeting, to continue using the property in 2015.
The farmer’s agreement with the CDA is reviewed on an annual basis. When the appointed body revisited the topic this year, a discussion about the potential value of the property arose.
Through an annual lease agreement, the farmer uses the property at a cost of $45 per acre, bringing the grand total to $3,600.
CDA Chair Jeff Knight inquired if the organization could receive more income by opening up the bidding process. The property, he asserted, is valuable, and he offered comparisons to other properties that have fetched upwards of $200 per acre.
“There is land around here that’s going for a lot more,” Knight said.
CDA Coordinator Patrick Cannon and other city staffers have been tasked with continuing a review of the site’s future possibilities, beyond 2015. Plans call for sending out a request through local media and gauging how much farmers are willing to pay to use the property.
“I just think it would be nice to know what else we could be getting (financially) for that site,” Knight said.
The 80-acre property could eventually be developed for future uses as the city’s business and technology parks evolve. The site, owned by the CDA, has been leased out for the agricultural use in the interim as a money generator.
Main Street façade grant program discussed
During the Sept. 25 meeting the CDA discussed the status of the Main Street façade grant program that had been in place in the city’s downtown business district.
A downtown design group had recently discussed the initiative with a few CDA members, in advance of the Sept. 25 meeting.
While the CDA had offered money for the façade grants, the funding has been exhausted. The city’s tax incremental financing district No. 4 had been a mechanism to support the façade grants.
“What we offered is what we had,” Knight said.
TIF district No. 4 had previously fallen into a distressed state — the result of the sluggish economy. The scenario “dried up the pot of money that the downtown can use,” Knight said.
The CDA discussed other ways the group could assist downtown shopkeepers, including a recent program that entailed installing outdoor furniture in front of different storefronts.
Other funding mechanisms within the CDA include capital catalyst matching grant dollars that have been given to the city through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to spur new development.
However, capital catalyst dollars are generally applied to start-up, incubator businesses and typically cannot be used for restaurants, bars and retail establishments.
In other business Sept. 25, the Whitewater CDA:
• Went into closed session to discuss negotiations with potential retail, manufacturing and other types of businesses for requested financial assistance. The names of the entities were not revealed, and the CDA did not take action on the requests after returning to open session.
