MEDC helps development project advance

McCOOK, Neb. -- The McCook Economic Development Corp. is playing a vital role in the progress of a much-anticipated housing development north of the Red Willow County Fairgrounds.

MEDC is purchasing a $208,000 bond which will be issued to the developer, North Pointe Properties LLC, to assist with the expense of the first phase of the project.

The bond will be repaid to MEDC over 15 years with Tax Increment Financing revenue.

City Council members, acting as the McCook Community Development Agency, unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of the phase one TIF bond during their regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening.

"We are very excited about this project," MEDC Executive Director Rex Nelson said shortly after the meeting.

Nelson said MEDC would use LB 840 economic development funds for the bond and indicated it required shuffling budgeted dollars from other areas and even defunding some other projects to ensure the North Pointe development continued to progress.

Nelson has lobbied for action on the local housing front for several years. In 2011, he described the local housing market as experiencing a chronic housing shortage that was approaching a crisis level for the community.

Nelson targeted the use of TIF funds to stimulate housing development in 2012 and followed up in 2013 by presenting a housing study to City Council that identified a need for nearly 300 housing units to be built in McCook over the next 10 years.

A Redevelopment Contract between the city and North Pointe Properties was also approved during Monday's Community Development Agency meeting.

The contract basically establishes terms between the CDA and the developer, according to City Manager Nate Schneider. Schneider said the agreement established an expectation that the first phase of the project, which targeted construction of six residential properties, would be completed within six years.

Schneider said the layout for the housing development had changed since it was introduced a year ago and he anticipated a final plat would be presented for approval next week.

The original plat divided the housing development into three phases and targeted construction of a combined 27 residential units.

The developers intends to request TIF commitments as they go, according to the Redevelopment Plan, which lists a total TIF grant request of $885,000 and total estimated assessed value after full development of $5 million.

Also during Monday's regular and consent agenda:

* Wayne Michaelis, Sharleen Riemenschneider, Shary Skiles, Jim Ulrich and Jim Cody were nominated to a sales tax committee tasked with developing ballot language for renewal of the city's local option sales tax during this November's General Election. Schneider indicated additional members may be added to the committee during a future council meeting and said he preferred to have as many voices as possible on the committee.

* Resident William Cassidy presented councilors with images and literature pertaining to recreational roller skating. Cassidy said local youth had very little to do after school and on weekends, he hoped to rally support for a roller skating rink located at the former home of Charley's bar on West Fifth Street.

* Kahshoe Enterprises, LLC, was granted a special liquor license for a concert at Kiplinger Arena on July 25-26, during the Red Willow County Fair.

* Miller and Associates was approved as the General Administrator for a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant targeted for improvements to the downtown area, as well as a $105,000 grant for paving Industrial Park Drive. The firm will receive a $19,500 fee and a $3,000 fee for their services, respectively.

Miller and Associates was also authorized to provide engineering design and construction inspection services for renovation of a digester heat exchange and replacement of a motor control center at the waste water treatment plant.

* Councilors approved a $3,000 increase, due to administrative expenses, to the Community Development Block Grant for the Industrial Park paving project.

* Certificates of substantial completion pertaining to the cation lagoons constructed at the waste water treatment plant and replacement of 5,500 ft. of city water main received approval.

* The McCook Area Chamber of Commerce was granted use of a city parking lot near the intersection of East D Street and East First Street on July 18, 2014, for Crazy Days activities.

* The YMCA was authorized to use city streets and Barnett Park on Aug. 2, 2014, beginning at 7 a.m., for a "River Bed Run." The run will begin at the park and travel along South Street to Federal Avenue to County Road 384, where runners will enter the Republican River and navigate the river back to Barnett Park, according to the meeting agenda.

* City Council approved the use of an area in Kelley Park for construction of a city skatepark. The proposed site is directly west of Bolles Canyon and north of East M Street, one of the few areas in the park not designated as part of the disc golf course.