The Monroe City Council faced an interesting decision Tuesday regarding a vacant downtown lot. Should it enable a public body to step in line in front of a private citizen who is ready to buy the property and turn it into a restaurant and inn?
Aldermen eventually cast their votes with the private entrepreneur, in the process potentially impacting Monroe Main Street's efforts to incorporate a culinary center in its downtown revitalization project. It was a tough, but right decision by the council.
City attorney Rex Ewald owns the lot at 11th Street and 17th Avenue (1028 17th Ave.). He had an offer from Tyler and Chris Soukup - owners of Baumgartner Cheese Store - to purchase the property for $55,000. The Soukups plan to use the lot for a three-story building with a restaurant and inn rooms.
But a contract between Ewald and the Soukups allows the City of Monroe a "first shot" to purchase the property at the offered price. The Monroe Main Street board was urged to buy the property, a key piece in its plans to develop a culinary center. The Main Street plan includes buying two other properties east of the lot, forming an "11th Street Corridor" between 17th and 18th avenues.
But the Main Street purchase required city approval, since the money would come from the city's Tax Increment District (TID) No. 7.
Aldermen voted 9-0 against releasing the funds, stating reasons such as favoring private over public development, weighing the tax base impact and determining that Main Street's project plans weren't firm enough to justify stepping in front of an entrepreneurial effort.
All are good reasons.
Monroe Main Street must drive the downtown revitalization efforts. But the success of its efforts will depend on inspired private development. The Soukups' plan certainly fits that bill, even if it does not entirely match Main Street's master plan.
That kind of private development should not be trumped by government, particularly for a project that is ambitious but far from a certainty. Main Street has no firm plans or deadlines for project completion. It also sounds as if the culinary center endeavor would continue even if this piece of property is not available - a "tipping point" in the discussion, as Alderman Jan Lefevre called it Tuesday.
That Main Street's purchase would take the property off tax rolls also is important. Doing so would reduce the tax revenue flow into the TID fund, cutting into dollars for other downtown projects.
So, too, would the money used to purchase the property. Much of the $220,000 raised in 2008 would go toward buying the property, perhaps at the expense of the upcoming streetscaping project.
"The downtown streetscape should have priority over the culinary center," Alderman Mark Coplien said.
And he's right. The downtown revitalization must be done first things first. And aesthetic changes - lighting, signage, greenery, etc., - must be made first.
Ultimately, the council did what Alderman Thurston Hanson aptly phrased "the right thing to do."
"I side with private entrepreneurs," Hanson said.
When it comes to public vs. private decisions such as the one the council had to make Tuesday, that almost always will be the right side to be on.
Aldermen eventually cast their votes with the private entrepreneur, in the process potentially impacting Monroe Main Street's efforts to incorporate a culinary center in its downtown revitalization project. It was a tough, but right decision by the council.
City attorney Rex Ewald owns the lot at 11th Street and 17th Avenue (1028 17th Ave.). He had an offer from Tyler and Chris Soukup - owners of Baumgartner Cheese Store - to purchase the property for $55,000. The Soukups plan to use the lot for a three-story building with a restaurant and inn rooms.
But a contract between Ewald and the Soukups allows the City of Monroe a "first shot" to purchase the property at the offered price. The Monroe Main Street board was urged to buy the property, a key piece in its plans to develop a culinary center. The Main Street plan includes buying two other properties east of the lot, forming an "11th Street Corridor" between 17th and 18th avenues.
But the Main Street purchase required city approval, since the money would come from the city's Tax Increment District (TID) No. 7.
Aldermen voted 9-0 against releasing the funds, stating reasons such as favoring private over public development, weighing the tax base impact and determining that Main Street's project plans weren't firm enough to justify stepping in front of an entrepreneurial effort.
All are good reasons.
Monroe Main Street must drive the downtown revitalization efforts. But the success of its efforts will depend on inspired private development. The Soukups' plan certainly fits that bill, even if it does not entirely match Main Street's master plan.
That kind of private development should not be trumped by government, particularly for a project that is ambitious but far from a certainty. Main Street has no firm plans or deadlines for project completion. It also sounds as if the culinary center endeavor would continue even if this piece of property is not available - a "tipping point" in the discussion, as Alderman Jan Lefevre called it Tuesday.
That Main Street's purchase would take the property off tax rolls also is important. Doing so would reduce the tax revenue flow into the TID fund, cutting into dollars for other downtown projects.
So, too, would the money used to purchase the property. Much of the $220,000 raised in 2008 would go toward buying the property, perhaps at the expense of the upcoming streetscaping project.
"The downtown streetscape should have priority over the culinary center," Alderman Mark Coplien said.
And he's right. The downtown revitalization must be done first things first. And aesthetic changes - lighting, signage, greenery, etc., - must be made first.
Ultimately, the council did what Alderman Thurston Hanson aptly phrased "the right thing to do."
"I side with private entrepreneurs," Hanson said.
When it comes to public vs. private decisions such as the one the council had to make Tuesday, that almost always will be the right side to be on.
