HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Meeting of the Ames City Council 03/16/1992MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL
AMES, IOWA MARCH 16, 1992
The Ames City Council met in special session at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 16, 1992, in
Conference Room 235 in the City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue, pursuant to law with Mayor Curtis
presiding and the following Council Members present: Brown, Campbell, Hertz, Hoffman, Parks,
and Wirth.
TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT WORKSHOP: City Manager Schainker informed
the group that two proposals for establishment of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District had
been received. He said that the proposals would only be discussed at this meeting and the
Council would not arrive at any decision about which proposal to accept until the City Council
meeting on March 24, 1992.
Mark Reinig reviewed the Decision Criteria utilized by Staff to compare the two proposals to
each other as well as to modified plans proposed by City Staff for each proposal. They were
Indebtedness, Debt Service vs Tax Abatement, Acreage Costs, Speculative Building Costs,
Qualitative Assessments, and Added Benefits.
Dick Pierson presented the TIF District proposal from Sevde Development Company. This
district would be located in the Southern Hills Industrial Development Area along Airport Road
near the Research Park. The development would be built in three phases with the building in
Phase I to be occupied upon completion by a company that is already located in a building
owned by the Sevde's on Airport Road. That building would be located on the west end of the
site and would be entirely offices in keeping with similar usage in the Research Park. The
building in Phase II would be built for warehousing and shipping and would be located to the
north of the storage units on Sevde's property. Establishment of a TIF District on this site would
allow them to build two streets to open up 20.86 acres and also to provide water and sewer.
Karen Sevde explained that this would reduce the cost to businesses moving into their buildings
by $3.00 per square foot. Ms. Sevde emphasized the advantages of this site for a TIF District
since it would have visibility from Highway 30 and would be close to the Research Park. She
said that her company would not be interested in developing the modified plan as proposed by
City Staff.
Dick Johnson, from Ford Street Development Company, described their proposal for a TIF
district, to be located on 39.8 acres just south of Lincoln Way and west of I-35, as one that
would be good for a new company moving to Ames as well as for a local company that wishes
to expand. Lots on this property would be for sale or lease and would be available in several
sizes, which would add to their attractiveness for businesses. Establishment of a TIF District
in this area would allow installment of the infrastructure to open up this 39.8 acres. The first
phase of construction in this district would involve the erection of a speculative building. A
second phase would include building a greenhouse for a nursery that has shown interest in
locating there. City Manager Schainker described the modified proposal suggested by City Staff
for this area. It would provide for a road and infrastructure on only the east half of the property.
Marvin Walter, a member of Ford Street Development Company, emphasized his company's
commitment to building one speculative building after another into the future as rapidly as they
are sold or rented. He said that the nursery is very interested in being located in this district
because it would cut their square footage costs by approximately half.
Maggie Sevde said that her company shares the same commitment to continue building
speculative buildings beyond the first one.
Mark Reinig used the Decision Criteria to compare the two original projects and to compare the
original Sevde project with the City's modified proposal for the Ford Street Development
Project. City Manager Schainker asked the Council to study the proposals and be prepared to
make a decision to reject both proposals or to choose one of them at their meeting on March 24,
1992.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
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Nancy Dionigi, City Clerk Larry R. Curtis, Mayor