Grayville leaders are forging ahead with a plan to better the city. Part of that plan is hiring Moran Economic Development which they did recently and a representative was at Monday night’s gathering to offer details on the new Business District Development Plan. Jake Zambaldi, Director of Development Programs offered a synopsis of the proposed project. Zambaldi says the area exhibits the qualities that should deem it economically underutilized.
We basically did an examination of the area and used a lot of different data sources to create the evidence that justifies the designation of this area for a business district. This includes different image and aerial photography, sources for raw data including the census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, a company called Data Axle, a company called Environics Analytics, we use IDOT information. We put all that information together to describe how the findings were made to determine that they meet the statutory requirements of a “blighted area”.
If successful, the creation of the business district would impose a 1% sales tax in that area that can then be used for a variety of economic development. It will raise the sales tax in Grayville from 7.25% to 8.25% on certain purchases. Without any hiccups, that would start January 1, 2025 with the city beginning to see funds in March. The next steps are a public hearing for the establishment of the proposed Business District. A special meeting will be held Thursday to set that public hearing date as September 9th at 6:30pm. The city is also planning to annex property at 811 South Court across from the Industrial Park so it can be included in the district.
In other news, the city accepted a bid of $2,676 to purchase property at 122 S 3rd Street. The bid was submitted by Brad and Denise Schroeder. The city also made a formal hire in appointing Bobbie Hatcher, who also serves as the Chief of Police, as the City Administrator/City Clerk effective September 1st.
In Hatcher’s police department activity report for July, he says law enforcement answered 274 calls for service including 61 traffic stops last month. That also includes 13 case files, 5 criminal arrests, 31 citations and 14 written warnings.
Grayville’s waterline replace project Phase II bid was awarded to Kieffer Brothers out of Mt. Carmel. The total cost of that phase of the project is expected to exceed $1.37 million. That project will be funded in part by a DCEO Grant in the amount of $550,000, more than $200,000 in ARPA funds, and the remaining $600,000 to be paid out of Revolving Loan TIF I and II funds, leading Mayor Travis Thompson to say…
With that being said, that means that our TIF capabilities for the next couple of years is going to be very low. We’re going to be limited in what we can assist in that regard.
Leaders also agreed Monday night to a transfer of a TIF agreement from Tupper’s Guns to the new owners Michael and Moriah Pipher. Additionally, they formally approved a TIF agreement with Mark Smith in the amount of $10,000 that had been verbally committed several meetings ago.
