By David Slone
Times-Union
WARSAW — Warsaw Plan Commission on Thursday, May 16, approved one resolution consolidating the Northern and Central economic development areas and another resolution amending the Winona Interurban Redevelopment Area plan.
The Warsaw Redevelopment Commission approved the resolutions at their meeting May 6. The resolutions next will go before the common council for their approval, and then back to the redevelopment commission.
On the consolidation resolution, Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner explained to the plan commission, “For a long time, obviously, we had the Northern TIF (tax increment financing) and the Central TIF. There’s two key things that were happening here … one is, we’re doing a deal with Danco where a gas line was extended out by our Tech Park. It was roughly an $800,000 project. The redevelopment commission is contributing to that project a half million dollars toward that gas line extension that will also serve the Tech Park. But in order to do that, we needed to bring the property in that Danco was expanding, too, which was not in the Northern TIF district.”
At the same time, about the last year or so, Skinner said, an individual wanted a liquor license associated with the city’s riverfront district. There’s only a few ways for a business to get a riverfront liquor license, one of which is to be within an economic development area.
“So in expanding up to encompass that property so that he could apply for that license, we were only a few properties away from connecting both the Northern and Central TIF,” Skinner said. “By doing this, we’re combining the two TIFs, adding that area so that person can apply for a riverfront liquor license and doing the Danco deal.”
The two areas that are being added to the consolidated area are out by Executive Drive, where Danco is located, and then along SR 15 between where the Central TIF ends and the Northern TIF begins.
By consolidating the two economic development areas into one, Skinner said those two funds also will be combined so those dollars can be spent within an of that area.
Councilwoman and Commission Vice President Diane Quance asked if the life of the TIFs would be extended. Skinner said no, all the areas’ life spans wil stay the same.
“These two areas that we’re adding that are new will have a 25-year life span,” Skinner said.
After that resolution was unanimously approved, Skinner presented the resolution amending the declaratory resolution and the redevelopment plan for the Winona Interurban Redevelopment Area.
“The only thing we’re doing here is that we are amending the Winona Interurban Plan to include Warsaw Chemical’s properties to the acquisition list. So, the only thing that’s happening is we’re amending the plan — we’re not expanding the district, we’re not adding anything to it. We’re just amending the district’s plan to add the Warsaw Chemical properties to the acquisition list. So that’s property we can acquire, doesn’t mean that we are or will, only it adds it so we can acquire,” Skinner stated.
The two Warsaw Chemical properties are along Argonne Road. Warsaw Chemical owns the old dairy and the property just north of that, Skinner said.
Commission President Rick Keeven asked if the properties were viable.
“The intent would be to reuse the old dairy building. The other one would probably be torn down, if we were to acquire it,” Skinner answered.
The commission unanimously approved the resolution.
