City of Fairview Heights Business Alliance Commission met Jan. 21.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
Call to Order
Charles Daily called the meeting to order at 1:33 p.m.
Public Participation
none
Approval of Minutes
Don Barkley made a motion to approve the November 18, 2019 minutes. Seconded by Michael Hagen. Motion passed on voice vote.
Business Assistance Program (BAP)
Would like to propose a method to make it more useful. Currently for BAC review only. The staff is still working on finalizing a draft. The BAP uses funds from the TIF fund for property improvements to generate jobs and sales tax revenue. Andrea Riganti added that the current process is quite extensive and that the review will be used to simplify the process and broaden the applicability to increase the usage of TIF funds. The BAP was originally approved by council, so any changes will also need to go through council for approval. Charles suggested getting rid of the employment factor because it is too much of a burden for small businesses to come up with those numbers. Van Johnson noted that just looking through the current application is too big of a hurdle. He suggested putting together a round table of 10-20 businesses to get their input on what is needed to make the process simpler. A discussion on the BAP & TIF programs continued as well as how the programs could also be layered with PACE.
Economic Development Director’s Report
Economic Development Strategy Report is complete and has been presented to Council for their approval.
A new marketing campaign has begun with the tourism bureau and will combine marketing with O’Fallon and Swansea.
The new All In marketing campaign is ready to launch. Privacy concerns are being evaluated.
Paul Ellis will be the moderator for the Heartland States ICSC event in St. Louis in February.
Paul is still working on a dashboard that will include sales tax, hotel tax, food & beverage tax, vacancy numbers, etc.
Café Biz will hold an Open House January 24th and 25th.
A contract for the Babies R Us location is pending.
A developer is looking to buy around exit 12.
Another developer is interested in buying 72 acres north of I-64.
A recurring email Economic Development Newsletter is in progress.
A PACE Kick off event will be held in the Lower Level of the Fairview Heights Library on February 19, 2020.
Monthly Revenue Reports
Director Ellis presented the sales tax report. The City is up 3.8%, or $21,280.12, and year to date is down -1.8%, or -$61,601.26.
Land Use and Development – Presented by Andrea Riganti, TIF Administrator
Completed the recording of TIF Districts to the State.
The Bunkum Road TIF has quite a bit of money left in it.
Adult Recreational Use Cannabis: The city voted to allow sales in our community, however, we now need to implement zoning changes. This will be discussed at the January 28th Council Meeting.
A discussion followed regarding zoning for cannabis retailers and liquor zoning.
Old Ice Rink – the city will take ownership this week, then they will be looking for incoming destruction bids.
The next meeting is scheduled for February 18, 2020, at 1:30 p.m.
A motion to adjourn was made by Michael Hagen and seconded by Charles Kassly.
Adjourned at 2:51 p.m.
https://www.cofh.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01212020-1175
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