MONROE - Government in the City of Monroe took a step back Tuesday night to allow private entreprenuership to grow.
The City Council voted unanimously not to take advantage of a right of first refusal and substitute the city as the purchaser of a vacant lot on 11th Street and 17th Avenue.
Property owner Rex Ewald was offered $55,000 for the lot by Tyler and Chris Soukup, owners of Baumgartner Cheese Store on 16th Avenue. But Ewald had an option in the contract allowing the city first chance to purchase the property for the same price.
The lot was a key piece of property in the plans of Monroe Main Street (MMS) to develop a culinary center with a public-private partnership. The plan included acquisition of two other pieces of property to the east of the vacant lot.
The option first came to the attention of the Monroe Main Street Board of Directors during a meeting Monday.
At that meeting, Chairman Dr. David Riese read a a letter signed by Tyler Soukup giving the board a brief description of the intended use of the lot for a three-story building with a restaurant and inn rooms. Soukup's name was not mentioned at the meeting.
To protect the lot from other development and to buy some time to develop the culinary center idea, the directors voted to make a recommendation to the city to purchase the lot using TID No. 7 funds, without comment on the proposed construction.
Chris Soukup said neither he nor Tyler were aware the city had been interested in the property and did not know a culinary center was being planned.
He said he was surprised when the MMS board made its recommendation to the city.
Soukup attended the Monroe Public Property Committee meeting Tuesday. The committee discovered MMS had no firm plans nor a deadline to complete the culinary center. But, likewise, while the Soukups had ideas for the lot, neither was their timeline firm.
"We hope to have it up and going by Cheese Days 2010, but we don't know for sure," Soukup told the committee.
Alderman Dan Henke, on the committee and the alderman on the MMS Board, questioned which project would be best for the city revenues.
"Who can get generating a tax base for income on the property?" he said.
The city's purchase of the lot would take it off the tax base.
Alderman Jan Lefevre, chairman of the committee, said the culinary center was a long-range plan.
"I don't see it happening any faster than the Soukups' (plan)," she said.
"If the city were to buy it and let someone else develop it, I'd be offended," Soukup told the committee.
The committee voted to send the issue to the council without a recommendation.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Finance and Taxation Committee convened to discuss the same issue. Because most of its members sat in on the previous meeting, they also immediately voted to sent the issue to council.
At the council meeting, aldermen questioned Soukup and MMS Director Barb Nelson about the competing uses for the lot.
Soukup expanded on his plans, including outdoor garden seating and a brick facade. Inn rooms above the restaurant are to encourage people to stay downtown.
There would not be a bar, but wine and beer served with food. The focus was on outdoor dining, something to draw people to downtown Monroe, he said.
Alderman Mark Coplien asked if the Soukups would allow the city to use the lot as Ewald had for special events until the building was started.
"Absolutely. We have no interest to take anything away from downtown. It will have the same use as it is now," Soukup said. "And at any time it's not viable for us to build, the first right to purchase would go to the city."
Lefevre asked Nelson if MMS was considering any alternative sites for the culinary center.
Nelson said the 1700 block of the 11th Street corridor was identified as having a strong potential as a redevelopment area.
The vacant lot was a "strong integral part of what can be developed for the city, for general use, as a public building, public bathrooms and as (an entry to) the corridor, and in the possible future," she said.
MMS wanted to keep that possibility open, she said.
Nelson said the Soukups' ideas to develop the property was good, but "not as much as it could possibly be as a corridor."
Nelson said the culinary center is "a big idea, but not the main idea" for MMS. Their main idea is to "develop what is dead," Nelson said.
Alderman Thurston Hanson, whose ward includes the Square, was critical of the city's desire to purchase the lot.
"You know me, I side with private entrepreneurs," Hanson said. "We have two young entrepreneurs here, and both who have given a lot to the city. I'm confident their vision can turn this property into something.
"This is the right thing to do," Hanson continued. "I make my bet on them."
Lefevre spoke against the MMS recommendation, saying the "tipping point" came when she realized the culinary center project's fate did not hinge on purchasing the lot.
Coplien noted the expense of purchasing the lot on top of the other expenses was $140,000, out of the $220,000 raised in 2008, and a streetscaping project coming up next year.
"The downtown streetscape should have priority over the culinary center," he said.
The City Council voted unanimously not to take advantage of a right of first refusal and substitute the city as the purchaser of a vacant lot on 11th Street and 17th Avenue.
Property owner Rex Ewald was offered $55,000 for the lot by Tyler and Chris Soukup, owners of Baumgartner Cheese Store on 16th Avenue. But Ewald had an option in the contract allowing the city first chance to purchase the property for the same price.
The lot was a key piece of property in the plans of Monroe Main Street (MMS) to develop a culinary center with a public-private partnership. The plan included acquisition of two other pieces of property to the east of the vacant lot.
The option first came to the attention of the Monroe Main Street Board of Directors during a meeting Monday.
At that meeting, Chairman Dr. David Riese read a a letter signed by Tyler Soukup giving the board a brief description of the intended use of the lot for a three-story building with a restaurant and inn rooms. Soukup's name was not mentioned at the meeting.
To protect the lot from other development and to buy some time to develop the culinary center idea, the directors voted to make a recommendation to the city to purchase the lot using TID No. 7 funds, without comment on the proposed construction.
Chris Soukup said neither he nor Tyler were aware the city had been interested in the property and did not know a culinary center was being planned.
He said he was surprised when the MMS board made its recommendation to the city.
Soukup attended the Monroe Public Property Committee meeting Tuesday. The committee discovered MMS had no firm plans nor a deadline to complete the culinary center. But, likewise, while the Soukups had ideas for the lot, neither was their timeline firm.
"We hope to have it up and going by Cheese Days 2010, but we don't know for sure," Soukup told the committee.
Alderman Dan Henke, on the committee and the alderman on the MMS Board, questioned which project would be best for the city revenues.
"Who can get generating a tax base for income on the property?" he said.
The city's purchase of the lot would take it off the tax base.
Alderman Jan Lefevre, chairman of the committee, said the culinary center was a long-range plan.
"I don't see it happening any faster than the Soukups' (plan)," she said.
"If the city were to buy it and let someone else develop it, I'd be offended," Soukup told the committee.
The committee voted to send the issue to the council without a recommendation.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Finance and Taxation Committee convened to discuss the same issue. Because most of its members sat in on the previous meeting, they also immediately voted to sent the issue to council.
At the council meeting, aldermen questioned Soukup and MMS Director Barb Nelson about the competing uses for the lot.
Soukup expanded on his plans, including outdoor garden seating and a brick facade. Inn rooms above the restaurant are to encourage people to stay downtown.
There would not be a bar, but wine and beer served with food. The focus was on outdoor dining, something to draw people to downtown Monroe, he said.
Alderman Mark Coplien asked if the Soukups would allow the city to use the lot as Ewald had for special events until the building was started.
"Absolutely. We have no interest to take anything away from downtown. It will have the same use as it is now," Soukup said. "And at any time it's not viable for us to build, the first right to purchase would go to the city."
Lefevre asked Nelson if MMS was considering any alternative sites for the culinary center.
Nelson said the 1700 block of the 11th Street corridor was identified as having a strong potential as a redevelopment area.
The vacant lot was a "strong integral part of what can be developed for the city, for general use, as a public building, public bathrooms and as (an entry to) the corridor, and in the possible future," she said.
MMS wanted to keep that possibility open, she said.
Nelson said the Soukups' ideas to develop the property was good, but "not as much as it could possibly be as a corridor."
Nelson said the culinary center is "a big idea, but not the main idea" for MMS. Their main idea is to "develop what is dead," Nelson said.
Alderman Thurston Hanson, whose ward includes the Square, was critical of the city's desire to purchase the lot.
"You know me, I side with private entrepreneurs," Hanson said. "We have two young entrepreneurs here, and both who have given a lot to the city. I'm confident their vision can turn this property into something.
"This is the right thing to do," Hanson continued. "I make my bet on them."
Lefevre spoke against the MMS recommendation, saying the "tipping point" came when she realized the culinary center project's fate did not hinge on purchasing the lot.
Coplien noted the expense of purchasing the lot on top of the other expenses was $140,000, out of the $220,000 raised in 2008, and a streetscaping project coming up next year.
"The downtown streetscape should have priority over the culinary center," he said.