The Minonk City Council approved three ordinances to create its
third TIF (Tax Incentive Financing) district. Approval of the TIF
district, which encompasses 3/4 of the 640 acres in Section Six north
of Minonk, gives the developers of the proposed Minonk Raceway
Park the green light to proceed with their development plans.
The
creation of the TIF district means that any increase in property taxes
on the property within the TIF district will go into a TIF fund rather
than to the normal taxing bodies effectively freezing the amount of
taxes going to the taxing bodies for the life of the TIF which is 23
years. However, the raceway development is expected to
dramatically increase development and value of the land around the
raceway which is not in the TIF district. This should result in a
net increase in property taxes.
The next step is for the
developers to get together with the city to iron out a development
agreement in which conditions of development are determined. This
would include determining who is responsible for security at the
raceway, amount of gate receipts to be allocated to the city, and what
kind of development can occur within the TIF district.
Raceway
developer Randy Kellyer said that financing of the raceway is on track
and he expects to break ground in the late winter or early spring to
begin construction of a 1/4 mile drag strip, a 1/4 mile oval track and
a 2.5 mile road track.
The developers have 2 years to
exercise an option to buy the 600 acre parcel of land in Section Six
from the owners, U. S. Waste Management. According to Mayor Bill
Koos if the developers do not exercise the option, the city can
dismantle the TIF by ordinance.
Garbage fee increase
The council approved to increase the garbage pickup fee amount by
.51. Tomlinson Disposal, the local garbage collector, requested
an increase of $1.00 because of the increase of the rate at the
landfill. Currently, residents are charged $7.80 monthly for
garbage pickup. The city decided to absorb the fee increase until
next March in order to soften the impact on local residents.
SMF receives TIF funding
The council approved a TIF 1 rebate of $75,000 to SMF for their
retention/expansion project on their property located at 1450
Industrial Park Road. The amount is payable over 5 years.
Payments will start when the $1.77 million project has been completed
and the real estate taxes have been paid for 2006 on the property.
Stop signs discussed for Walnut Street
Alderman Brian Petersen commented on the lack of a stop sign at the
corners of both Walnut and 2nd and Walnut and 3rd street.
Residents complained about the high traffic speed and the number of
children who live along the street. City Administrator Trent
Smith will draft an ordinance that will address the issue and present
it at the next council meeting.
New part-time police officers hired
The council approved the hiring of Steve Hill and Nathan Steinwedal as
part-time police officers. Hill has approximately 8 and 1/2 years
experience as a police officer for the City of Minonk working from 1993
to 2002.
Caroline Development drainage studied
The Farnsworth group provide some options for handling the water
removal at the 4th and Locust street intersection and at the Carolyn
Development. The truck stop owner at the Carolyn Development
wants to expand the concrete area for parking trucks which will cause
more drainoff of rain water. Unless an 8 inch drain pipe can be
found at the Carolyn Development it will cost $25,000 to $30,000 to
install a new drainage tile.