Council rejects TIF district proposal
In a stinging rebuke, the Onalaska Common Council ended discussion on a tax-increment financing district for the Eagle Bluff Centre development proposed by VEH Properties. In a council meeting that had 34 agenda items, included of two closed sessions and ended well after 10:30 p.m., city leaders were unwilling to move the TIF district proposal forward and expressed that resistance by utilizing parliamentary procedure — failing to put a motion on the floor.“The lack of a motion was the council’s way to strongly communicate there were grave reservations,” said Alderman Mike Giese.
Alderman Tim Miller agreed. “There were concerns. … The city is always willing to examine different ways to get things done,” he said. “It’s a fabulous project. But TIFs are very sensitive issues and difficult at times and this would be one of those times.”
The developers sought TIF district help worth $3.5 million, 10 percent of the project costs. Council members were bothered by how that money would be used, particularly for buying the property.
“This would be a policy change the city would be undertaking,” said City Attorney Sean O’Flaherty. “TIF resources are usually for strict public uses such as infrastructure. In this case the money would be expended for purchase of property and upgrades to make a better development.”
O’Flaherty explained the action the council could take during the meeting would be to make a motion to authorize the use of city resources to prepare a draft TIF district project. “The intent would be to allow funds to be expended to explore the feasibility of the idea … without authorizing a TIF itself.”
He went on to explain that such a motion would allow the city to conduct public hearings and allow a joint committee of taxing districts’ representatives to consider the idea.
When Mayor Jim Bialecki called twice for a motion to proceed with that intent, no one responded. The clearly disappointed developers left the council chambers, stating they had no comment, and the meeting continued.
Giese, for his part, said he felt the biggest concern was the council would be breaking new ground. “Rather than paying for infrastructure, which would have been owned by the city and on its balance sheet, mind you, we were asked to make a grant to the developers so the upscale development could see the light of day. That was a very long step to make from infrastructure to an outright grant. That made it impossible for me to make that motion, even though it would not have committed the city to a TIF.”
Giese also said the timing was bad. “With the mayoral race and the waterfront development, it was like a perfect storm. There was very little support with the citizens for the TIF in this election year,” he said. “It was difficult for (Alderman Bob Muth) to make a motion for discussion. That would have made it look like he, and me for that matter, were in favor. So, there’s two votes that had to be put aside. Three months earlier or three months later might have made a difference.”
The council also is considering a TIF district to help finance the waterfront and downtown redevelopment. “You can only have so many TIFs at one time,” Giese said.
Both Miller and Giese were hopeful the developers would come back with another proposal. “I hope they would,” said Giese. “It was a dynamite proposal. I’d love to see it come back.”
Miller concurred. “We want the development, we want to work with them. They’re local, they’ve got a great project idea, they’ve done their homework.”
Other business
# Approval was granted to implement the five-year strategic plan presented by the city’s Technology Committee to address information technology needs of the city after being told the city’s technology infrastructure was woefully inadequate. Council members were told 42 percent of city data is not backed up.
They were also told, among other things, the hardware and software is grossly inadequate, current expenditures were providing unacceptable results, the city is in jeopardy of losing valuable information, city employees are frustrated and hampered by current technology infrastructure and the technology budget needs to be centralized.
The council authorized the spending of $101,500 to address the top four priorities of the strategic plan. Those top priorities are building firewalls, a data center upgrade, backup capabilities and switches.
# The council approved a request from La Crosse Harley-Davidson to use Oak Forest Drive for a motorcycle stunt show on June 28. The stunt show is part of a 50th anniversary celebration by S&S Cycle. The event is projected to attract anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 motorcyclists to the city and would require the city to provide services, such as police and crowd control and emergency medical services. Harley-Davidson has said it would reimburse the city for those services.
# Council members followed the recommendation of the Board of Public Works in instituting a no parking zone in front of the YMCA on Mason Street. Saying the “streets are for travel, not for parking,” Clarence Stellner recommended, and the council approved, a 50-foot no-parking zone on both sides of Mason near the entrances to the YMCA and the intersections with the Eagle Crest senior center and L.B. White.
# The council approved an initial resolution for the issuance of general obligation bonds for $6.6 million for financing seven capital improvement projects and $220,000 in note anticipation notes. City staff will advertise for bond proposals, with the council expected to grant a bid at its March 11 meeting.
# As part of the Long Range Planning Committee report, council members listened to a presentation by Schreiber Anderson Associates about the waterfront development progress. Tim Anderson, the consultant, told council members the use of a TIF district to finance that development would be very appropriate in this instance. Work is under way to develop a full financial and implementation strategy.
As part of the strategy, the council authorized the city to apply for a community development block grant for $32,500 with $7,500 being contributed by the city.