At Monday’s Grand Rapids City Council meeting, Mayor Tasha Connelly introduced some positive happenings around the community; this week focusing on volunteering. April is National Volunteer Month and the mayor publicly thanked the more than 60 volunteers that serve various boards and commissions in Grand Rapids. It was also noted that the Grand Rapids Police Department Reserve Unit is also celebrating 41 years of volunteer service.
Prom with a Purpose was also highlighted at the meeting. Recently, the local high school student council coordinated an alternative prom event that was sensory-friendly for neurodiverse students. It was a great event that included lunch, a grand march, and sensory-friendly fun for all who attended.
Mayor Connelly commended the student council for their thoughtfulness and selflessness for putting the event together.
At Monday’s city council meeting, Director of Community Development Rob Mattei presented a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) business assistance agreement requested by HWY 35 Properties LLC, who are actively building a 240,000 square foot cannabis production facility at the old Ainsworth site in west Grand Rapids.
As development is ongoing, HWY 35 Properties LLC identified a $2 million dollar gap in the funding necessary to complete the project and requested the same amount in TIF assistance to close that gap.
TIF is an economic maneuver to help spur development in an area by reinvesting the increased value of a project’s property taxes into the completion of the project to ensure it reaches the finish line. Once TIF has served its purpose, the agreement expires and the city will begin collecting property taxes at the increased rate.
Establishing a TIF district in a sense, brings an additional and temporary revenue source to help push forward a project that would be delayed or otherwise terminated because they could not fill a gap in funding.
In any case, if a project were to be delayed or terminated, so too would a municipality’s hopes of increased tax revenue from economic development. The municipality granting TIF assistance does so with the hopes that the developer ultimately brings a market-rate lease to the tax roll. In that sense, the city is incentivized to help see this project through - In this case: the total value of the 135-acre site would increase from approximately $1.8 million dollars and paying $62,000 annually in property taxes, to around $20.3 million in value, and paying almost $800,000 annually in property taxes following the completion of the project. The city would delay the increased tax burden and recapture that money with interest over time, which Mattei estimated to be 8-10 years.
The total cost of the HWY 35 Properties LLC project is estimated to be around $71 million dollars, and Mattei said the scope of the project aligns with the city’s economic development policies.
There was no public input provided for any of the public hearings conducted at Monday’s city council meeting meeting.
During the meeting, the city council entered an agreement with Grand Rapids Amateur Hockey Association (GRAHA) authorizing them to install refrigeration in Miner’s Pavilion.
GRAHA is making a $1-1.2 million investment into the refrigeration system that will allow the outdoor rink to operate earlier and later in the year, benefiting the public and offering more opportunities to hold revenue-generating events than what has been possible in the past.
Last year the ice was open for only around two weeks due to the warm winter, the councilors said this agreement provides a “huge economic boost adding tournaments earlier and later in the season, expanding the economic impact of hockey season on the local economy.”
Also at Monday’s meeting, the Grand Rapids City Council approved a master agreement with Oracle NetSuite for Government for the joint purchase of an ERP cloud-based services and software system as the vendor for both the city and public utilities.
An MoU identifying the roles and the responsibilities between the city and public utilities was written and accompanied the agreement.
The first year cost is estimated to be $374,214, which will include licensing and implementation, but will cost $79,000 per year for the following four years. To approve the cost, the city approved $1 million dollars of equipment certificates to pay for the effort.
The program is expected to improve efficiencies on the public and government side of things from the new tools provided with upgraded software.
“It’s going to change how the city does business, in a good way - it will benefit the city for years to come.”
In other business at Monday’s city council meeting:
Adopted a resolution approving the final plat of Hawkinson Commercial Development Second Edition after no public input was provided during an open public hearing.Approved the zoning map amendment for a 4.3 acre parcel from Airport District to Industrial park for the purpose of the new L & M Distribution Center build. A public hearing was opened to speak for or against the amendment, but no public input was given.Adopted a resolution accepting an ongoing Purina dog food donation to GRPD Canine Program. Purina offered to provide Murphy’s dog food for the remainder of his working career.Adopted a resolution accepting a donation of $800.00 from Minnesota Power to purchase medical / AED equipment.Approved the purchase of one Axon Squad Camera and approved the department sell seven city-owned squads through Mid-State Auto online action.Approved the updated City-Wide fee schedule for city services.Approved the final payment in the amount of $6,250.00 for Work Scope 9 on the Civic Center project.Approved hiring additional staff for Public Works for the 2024 Spring/Summer Maintenance Season.Approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Grand Rapid Public Utilities Commission and the City of Grand Rapids relating to Oracle Cloud Services and Software.Gave approval to hire seasonal contractors and staff with wage corrections, at Pokegama Golf Course.Authorized the sale of old patio furniture at the Golf Course through the sealed bid process.Accepted a Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grant.Approved the verified claims for the period April 2, 2024 to April 15, 2024 in the total amount of $589,343.54.
The Grand Rapids City Council meeting can be found online and watched in full at watchictv.org/
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