Spring Break
City council votes on upgrades
Charleston proposed more than half a million in funds
Joe Astrouski / City Editor
Issue date: 3/3/09 Section: News
The Charleston City Council will begin voting on a series of grants to businesses in the city's tax increment finance district.
The city has proposed more than 20 matching-grants to help fund upgrades to businesses in the district.
"Most of these (upgrades) are structural," said Mayor John Inyart. "I wanted the money to go to increasing the lives of the buildings themselves."
Under the proposal, the city would give nearly $250,000 in grants, Inyart said.
He said the total cost of all the projects to business owners and the city will be about $650,000.
The tax increment finance district was established in 1987 and was intended to spur business development around the city's square.
As property values increased for businesses in the district, higher property tax revenues went into a special tax increment finance fund.
The money in that fund would be used to make loans or grants to help businesses.
The proposals include projects like $6,000 to repair cracking walls at Mike and Stan's 504 Club on Monroe Avenue and $7,500 for a new roof and gutter system at Neal Tire and Auto Service, 417 Madison Ave.
Each grant proposal outlines the responsibilities of both the city and the property owner.
"It says what the owner of the property is going to do and what the city is going to do," Inyart said.
The council will also decide whether to buy a new control panel for a sewage pump station near Reynolds Drive.
Pump stations lift sewage so it can flow downhill through the sewer system to the wastewater treatment plant. The control panel at the Reynolds Drive pump needs to be replaced, Inyart said.
"It's working … but we've had several failures in the past few months," he said.
Although the pump's alarm system alerted city workers in time, such failures could cause sewage to seep out of the sewer system and into the ground, Inyart said.
The new panel, which only one company produces, would cost the city about $60,000.
The City Council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. today in City Hall at 520 Jackson Ave.
Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.
The city has proposed more than 20 matching-grants to help fund upgrades to businesses in the district.
"Most of these (upgrades) are structural," said Mayor John Inyart. "I wanted the money to go to increasing the lives of the buildings themselves."
Under the proposal, the city would give nearly $250,000 in grants, Inyart said.
He said the total cost of all the projects to business owners and the city will be about $650,000.
The tax increment finance district was established in 1987 and was intended to spur business development around the city's square.
As property values increased for businesses in the district, higher property tax revenues went into a special tax increment finance fund.
The money in that fund would be used to make loans or grants to help businesses.
The proposals include projects like $6,000 to repair cracking walls at Mike and Stan's 504 Club on Monroe Avenue and $7,500 for a new roof and gutter system at Neal Tire and Auto Service, 417 Madison Ave.
Each grant proposal outlines the responsibilities of both the city and the property owner.
"It says what the owner of the property is going to do and what the city is going to do," Inyart said.
The council will also decide whether to buy a new control panel for a sewage pump station near Reynolds Drive.
Pump stations lift sewage so it can flow downhill through the sewer system to the wastewater treatment plant. The control panel at the Reynolds Drive pump needs to be replaced, Inyart said.
"It's working … but we've had several failures in the past few months," he said.
Although the pump's alarm system alerted city workers in time, such failures could cause sewage to seep out of the sewer system and into the ground, Inyart said.
The new panel, which only one company produces, would cost the city about $60,000.
The City Council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. today in City Hall at 520 Jackson Ave.
Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.
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