Army Depot Redevelopment

Lawyer Mike Bacon from Gothenburg presented draft number three of the redevelopment contract for the former Sioux Army Depot to the Potter village board on Monday night.

Bacon insisted that the changes were modest; he didn’t understand that the city of Sidney provided water service to the site, so that was changed in the contract along with the addition that the village is not required to provide sewage, water or any of those services.

Another aspect changed because there will be two bonds; one for the Dell Project and one for the rail.

Bacon presented a drawing that shows Lot 38 that will have about seven miles worth of track. The lot was labeled because there will be millions of dollars-worth of track put in there and they want to capture the taxes on it. He showed which would be going to Adams and the other piece that would be going to Dell. The final plat has not been filed yet but will be part of the process as they move forward.

He told them that when they read through the contract it talks about the Belle Site and lot 38 will pay for its own bond toward capturing and paying for that rail and Belle gets their own bond for their own site acquisition.

Also, Bacon said that in order to do tax increment financing (TIF), they have to find that it is consistent with the comprehensive plan of the village; if their plan does not take in that area.

Emails about the proposed comp plan amendment explained “this site is coming in as industrial and it is an amendment to the plan.” He added that two things are required for that: One is a hearing in front of planning and zoning; another is a hearing in from of the board members and they just need one publication to do that.

Bacon prepared the notices with that in blank and he would like that to move forward. He added that they (he and his client) are ready to have this plan of redevelopment contract adopted and the annexation be completed so that they can get on with the process. He also said that this requires two publications plus wait 10 days.

He added that, in the meantime, they need to get this plan to Planning and Zoning and then the final hearing in front of the board members. He said that after this happens, they simply wait 30 days and then at the next trustee meeting, they meet as a community development agency and then pass the two bond resolutions.

At that point, Bacon said that it will be formally and forever a part of their community and then they can issue the bonds and start capturing the tax payment on the rail.

Bacon requested that dates be set for hearings with planning and zoning and with the board members.

According to Bacon, all that is currently there goes on the village tax rolls; real and personal property and they divided the taxes. That division of taxes will be effective January 1, 2013 for Dell site and January 1, 2014 for the Adams site/rail because Adams didn’t start putting in rail last year, but Dell began building.

Bacon went on to say that he hasn’t calculated the amount of the bond yet, because he hasn’t had a sense for the Dell valuation. He said that Dell is putting most of the value in personal property rather than the building from his understanding.

Sidney City Manager Gary Person brought up the point about if Potter decides that they don’t like the situation, are there are provisions in the statutes that allow for de-annexation.

Bacon responded that there are provisions like that but that the city can’t throw them out; the way it is set up is that they can petition the court for de-annexation. The only way that they can be de-annexed at this point is if they are a farm field, so they would have to tear down everything.

Bacon pointed out that this is a good partnership for the two villages and that tSidney provided some funding for the project last year. Person verified that the city contributed $500,000 to the project.

Person believes that the City of Sidney has a great relationship with the county over the 22 years working through issues and developments projects. He added that it has been effective and that everyone has chosen to get along; they find a way to work through it, go forward and make good things happen. He believes that for the most part they have “done some pretty good projects.”

“This is a good deal,” said Bacon.

A board member asked what would happen if the annexation was successful, things go well for years, then something happens; everything out there dispenses.

Bacon responded by saying, “You still have whatever is left out there on the tax rolls and you have no obligation to provide services out there. And anything that’s left standing, you get, I think it’s five percent of their electric bill.” Bacon added that he doesn’t see any downside to the project.

In conclusion, Bacon advised the board members that he would be in touch to set up the hearing dates.