MONROE - It's a win-win-win situation for the city and two of its businesses, Wisconsin Pallet and Storage and Badger State Ethanol, seeking land to expand.
City Administrator Phil Rath last week was able to negotiate deals to satisfy the two companies that were competing for 14 acres in Honey Creek Industrial Park on the city's west side.
Dennis and Debra Stoneback, owners of Wisconsin Pallet and Storage, relinquished their plans for the site in favor of Badger State Ethanol's need of the land for upcoming expansions.
In return, the Stonebacks will build their new warehouse along County DR on a 17-acre corner lot in Monroe's North Industrial Park.
In consideration of additional expenses Wisconsin Pallet and Storage will incur, the city is agreeing to provide some site improvements by extending water and sewer laterals to within five feet of the warehouse foundation and up to 500 cubic feet of crushed rock.
A conservative estimate of the total cost for the city's improvements will be about $41,000, Rath said.
In approving the purchase and development agreements Monday, the Common Council also gave Rath and Mayor Bill Ross authority to negotiate minor changes to the agreement.
Ross said Rath "worked hard last week" to negotiate the lands swap, so the companies can continue their plans for expansion.
Stoneback and Erik Huschitt, vice president of operations for Badger State Ethanol, said they see the new agreements as the best possible outcome for their companies and the city.
Both companies qualify for the city industrial parks lot sales of $1 per acre, which carries an improvement requirement of $100,000 per acre.
The start of the Wisconsin Pallet project, a 60,000-square-foot warehouse, will be delayed by about three to four weeks. Stoneback will have to resubmit his building plans to the city's plan commission and get the approval of the Department of Natural Resources again.
He has been working six months to square away his expansion plans. The unseen complication now may be contractors pushing up against the cold weather, he added.
Stoneback said his customers are not happy but have agreed to accommodate the delay, and the site change works within his budget with the Small Business Administration.
Badger State Ethanol has some "big ambitions" and are looking at a number of projects, Huschitt said.
Badger State has until January 2018 to build on its site just across the street from the ethanol plant, but has told the city it is "confident something is going to happen," City Attorney Rex Ewald said. The ethanol plant has no utility adjustments in its agreement.
Each agreement has in its terms an expectation of value for the improved property, based on the number of acres involved, Badger State for $1,460,000 and Wisconsin Pallet for $1,711,000. Failure to meet and maintain the minimum value would result in the city's loss of anticipated property tax on the site. Therefore, city purchase and development agreements carry a non-performance penalty, which the city imposes in any year the property lacks its set value.
City Administrator Phil Rath last week was able to negotiate deals to satisfy the two companies that were competing for 14 acres in Honey Creek Industrial Park on the city's west side.
Dennis and Debra Stoneback, owners of Wisconsin Pallet and Storage, relinquished their plans for the site in favor of Badger State Ethanol's need of the land for upcoming expansions.
In return, the Stonebacks will build their new warehouse along County DR on a 17-acre corner lot in Monroe's North Industrial Park.
In consideration of additional expenses Wisconsin Pallet and Storage will incur, the city is agreeing to provide some site improvements by extending water and sewer laterals to within five feet of the warehouse foundation and up to 500 cubic feet of crushed rock.
A conservative estimate of the total cost for the city's improvements will be about $41,000, Rath said.
In approving the purchase and development agreements Monday, the Common Council also gave Rath and Mayor Bill Ross authority to negotiate minor changes to the agreement.
Ross said Rath "worked hard last week" to negotiate the lands swap, so the companies can continue their plans for expansion.
Stoneback and Erik Huschitt, vice president of operations for Badger State Ethanol, said they see the new agreements as the best possible outcome for their companies and the city.
Both companies qualify for the city industrial parks lot sales of $1 per acre, which carries an improvement requirement of $100,000 per acre.
The start of the Wisconsin Pallet project, a 60,000-square-foot warehouse, will be delayed by about three to four weeks. Stoneback will have to resubmit his building plans to the city's plan commission and get the approval of the Department of Natural Resources again.
He has been working six months to square away his expansion plans. The unseen complication now may be contractors pushing up against the cold weather, he added.
Stoneback said his customers are not happy but have agreed to accommodate the delay, and the site change works within his budget with the Small Business Administration.
Badger State Ethanol has some "big ambitions" and are looking at a number of projects, Huschitt said.
Badger State has until January 2018 to build on its site just across the street from the ethanol plant, but has told the city it is "confident something is going to happen," City Attorney Rex Ewald said. The ethanol plant has no utility adjustments in its agreement.
Each agreement has in its terms an expectation of value for the improved property, based on the number of acres involved, Badger State for $1,460,000 and Wisconsin Pallet for $1,711,000. Failure to meet and maintain the minimum value would result in the city's loss of anticipated property tax on the site. Therefore, city purchase and development agreements carry a non-performance penalty, which the city imposes in any year the property lacks its set value.