Nostalgia: Projects Chosen and Projects Not Chosen---the record

(Ed.note: The following are portions of Evansville Redevelopment Authority minutes for 2004 and 2005 that I have reprinted without comment.)

Redevelopment Authority---July 2004:

New Business

Mr. Connors asked members whether they would be interested in acquiring the property of Nelson Equipment Painting and assisting the business in moving to another location in Evansville so that the city could construct a new street connecting E. Main St. with the intersection of Enterprise St. and E. Church St. between the properties of the VFW and Main Street Signs. Members expressed some interest, but want to have more discussions of their vision for the downtown in general and this area specifically before discussing this specific issue further.


Redevelopment Authority---August 2004"

New Business

Discussion of Authority’s Vision for Downtown Evansville. After discussion, members concluded the authority should focus its efforts first on improving East Main Street from the intersection with Madison Street to the intersection with Union Street. Vice-Chairperson Eager commented that with the unfortunate passing of Mr. Quinnell, it was likely that the Auto Transformers property on this portion of East Main Street will become available on the market, and the authority might be interested in influencing the re-use of that property. The members asked Mr. Connors to provide each of them with an air photo of downtown Evansville with the boundaries of the new downtown TIF district superimposed for future reference.

Redevelopment Authority----October 2004:

New Business

Development Agreement with First Community Bank of Milton. Executive Director Connors discussed the history and the contents of the proposed agreement with First Community Bank of Milton, which he had negotiated and drafted with the bank’s attorney. There was extensive discussion among the commissioners about the merits of the agreement and the risk that the bank might not go forward with the project in a timely fashion. The commissioners asked Mr. Connors to provide agreements like this further in advance of meetings in the future, and he said he would do so. Motion by Ald. Kooyman, seconded by Ms. Ahner, to recommend to Council approval of development agreement between First Community Bank of Milton, the Authority, and the City of Evansville with the following change from Mr. Connors’ draft: the maximum value of improvements for purposes of determining the amount of payments to the bank under the agreement is $2 million. Motion passed.

Redevelopment Authority--November 2004---

New Business

No new business was discussed.

Communications and Recommendations from the Executive Director

Executive Director Connors reviewed with the commissioners the budget in the project plan for Tax Incremental District No. 5. Mr. Connors emphasized that most of the tax increment was earmarked for “pay-as-you-go” assistance for large redevelopment projects (e.g., new condominium projects) that would generate more tax increment than they consume and infrastructure projects such as the Main Street reconstruction project. The commissioners asked Executive Director Connors to draft application forms and review procedures for future applications for assistance, and suggested that he or the applicant should attempt to obtain an estimate from the city assessor of the value increase the proposed project would produce.

Redevelopment Authority: October 2005

Mr. Decker said he has heard discussion of the possibility of locating the new senior center on the roller rink site at the northeast corner of Railroad St. and E. Main St. Mr. Connors said he and Mayor Ringhand are encouraging discussion of that concept as part of a private redevelopment of that site, including condominiums. The senior center could be located on the ground floor and lend the appearance of commercial space on the ground floor.