| At
the Nov. 15 city workshop Lincoln
aldermen were presented with details
of a finalized Wal-Mart agreement that
would bring a Wal-Mart Supercenter to
town. After those details hit the
news, the aldermen were flooded with
weekend phone calls.
The following Monday, Nov. 21, the
council voted it down 5-4, with
aldermen saying they needed more time
and information, some saying they felt
they needed to represent their
constituency.
Wal-Mart responded immediately,
offering a revised agreement that was
presented at the next city workshop.
The issue had not gotten much
public response previously even though
there were public hearings for
annexation and rezoning issues and it
had been raised at council sessions
since last May. However that changed
after the Nov. 15 meeting, and it was
still receiving a lot of public
comment, questions and discussion last
night.
Last night's vote (almost,
not quite yet, read farther down to
get the final result)
When all was said and done last
night, or so everyone thought, the
aldermen had cast five yeses and four
nos, with one absent, on the revised
Wal-Mart agreement.
Alderman Jonie Tibbs, who was out
of town last night, had voted no on
Nov. 21 and said before leaving town
for two weeks that she would stand on
her vote if it was brought up again.
She felt it represented what people
told her they wanted.
Alderman Neitzel, who was out of
town on the first vote, voted yes last
night, shifting the vote in favor of
the agreement.
The other alderman voted the same
as their first vote.
Voting no were Wanda Lee Rohlfs,
Benny Huskins, Patrick Madigan and
Kathy Horn.
Voting yes were Marty Neitzel,
Darron Whittaker, Verl Prather, Buzz
Busby and Derrick Crane.
After the vote the room cleared of
the crowd interested in the Wal-Mart
issues. It cooled off and got quieter
and the meeting went on for about 20
more minutes more, when city attorney
Bill Bates interrupted, saying,
"We have to go back to
Wal-Mart."
But hold up there, that wasn't the
end of that.
He was reviewing Illinois statutes
and saw that when a proposition
involves spending city money, it
requires a majority of the elected
officials' approval. The development
agreement includes Lincoln spending
money for the Zion lift station.
Therefore, it required more than a
five-of-10 aldermen count for
approval.
The circumstance also meets one of
three situations that by law the mayor
is entitled to and should vote on,
Bates said.
Mayor Beth Davis said, "Mayor
votes yes."
So the official vote was 6-4 to
pass by a majority.
Mayor Davis also added a yes to the
earlier 6-3 vote on the Wal-Mart final
plat, making that a 7-3 approval.
Huskins, Madigan and Horn said no.
The Zion lift station is a project
that was already slated to be done by
and at the city's expense, but
Wal-Mart needed the date of completion
guaranteed, which is why it was in the
agreement. One of the changes to the
revised agreement included an offer
from Wal-Mart to supply funds toward
that project by way of credit against
the requested sales tax abatement.
Citizen comments
Guests who had not spoken in the
past were given the floor first.
Jay Gaydosh said that he was
neutral. I'm not opposed to Wal-Mart
building new, he said. My wife is an
employee of Kroger, but I frequent the
halls of Wal-Mart.
Gaydosh observed and could not
agree that it was practical to agree
to the $585,000 sales tax rebate being
given to Wal-Mart, in lieu of work
they are doing, when there is a future
tax levy increase planned. He said,
"You send different messages that
may not tell the same story."
Todd Parmenter had another idea
about how to approach that rebate and
make it friendly to small business
development.
But before he discussed that idea,
he first suggested that the city
reconsider sharing in the increased
sales revenues that the new store
would generate and not lock themselves
into the average sales base for the
sales tax abatement of the $585,000. A
superstore is going to pull in
significantly more sales revenue and
thereby sales tax revenue considerably
more than the small store that is
there now. Consider asking for 5
percent or 10 of the percent excess
until the $585,000 is met, he said. It
will take longer to meet it, but
you're putting yourself at a
disadvantage locking yourself into the
current average; it does not account
for inflation, he said.
[to
top of second column]
|
In order to help start or support
small business development, Parmenter
suggested changing the agreement so
that the new sales tax revenue be
split, with half going to Wal-Mart and
half to a fund managed by the city,
until the $585,000 was met. Again this
would take longer, but things could be
being done for small business growth
in those years with some of the new
revenues being generated. The half
going into the city-managed fund would
be for grants or loans to generate
more interest in business in Lincoln,
whether downtown or along Woodlawn
Road. You create yourself another pool
of revenue that not only helps small
business, but also earns interest, he
said.
Aldermen Neitzel and others
recalled that this was tried some
years ago, but the businesses that
were chosen did not succeed and the
loans were not paid back and the fund
went to zero.
Bob Wood said, "When a
multibillion-dollar company comes to
you and says they want to build here
and give you 26-plus acres, you need
to say, ?Thank you!'"
A community relations
representative from Wal-Mart and the
counsel representing Wal-Mart in this
agreement also spoke. Lawyer Troy
Pudik came back to the council with a
list of services that the new Wal-Mart
would offer, as requested by Alderman
Rohlfs last week.
Beyond the services that are
already being offered, there would be
an optical department; a
drive-through, 24-hour pharmacy; and
the groceries department would expand
to include dairy and meats. There is
also space inside for an independent
bank to lease, Pudik said.
John Besio of corporate Wal-Mart
told aldermen to look at what has
happened around other Wal-Mart
Supercenters after they have gone in.
They have served as a catalyst for
community retail growth, and that is
what will happen in Lincoln too.
He pointed out that the local store
has been here 30 years. It's a great
store here and employees are certainly
not at minimum wage. They own homes,
late-model cars and are putting kids
through school.
He expects the new store to not
only act as a magnet for other
businesses to come and build here, but
it will also draw shoppers from the
surrounding communities and capture
some of the export business where
people are going out of town to shop.
Aldermen discussions
Marty Neitzel was the first of the
aldermen to speak. She began by saying
that she was the oldest in the room --
born in Lincoln in 1937 and lived here
her entire life. "If anyone is
for Lincoln, I am," she said. She
saw mom and pop grocers on corners in
Lincoln and watched what happened when
A&P and Eisner's came in. "I
want Lincoln to grow and have all the
stores we have now, plus more,"
she said.
Wal-Mart is coming here whether we
vote for it or not, she said.
"They are giving us more than $1
million in infrastructure, in sewers
in roads." Their development
would be a great start for that area
to finally have an industrial park,
she said. With that opportunity at
hand, she said, "We will make
requests for state and federal funds
for Fifth Street and make it the way
it should be."
She believes that this would draw
more business to Lincoln and thereby
more sales tax revenue for
improvements.
She added that 70 percent of the
calls she received were for the
Wal-Mart development.
Following the meeting, Alderman
Kathy Horn said that she knows some
people think that her working at
Kroger may have influenced her vote.
But she firmly says that it didn't.
Kroger is a big enough company to
survive a Super Wal-Mart, and she is
at a place in the company that she
will have a job, even if she were
transferred, she said. She said she
listened to the people who called her
and "felt an obligation to
represent them."
Mayor Davis said that she has had
calls from all over the U.S. with
interest in bringing business here.
They are waiting to see how the city
responded to Wal-Mart.
"We have an opportunity here
for our citizens whether they shop
Wal-Mart or shop IGA or Kroger or
uptown," she said. "We're
giving our people, we're giving our
children, an opportunity. If we turn
our backs on this, we're doing a
disservice to our community."
Alderman Neitzel said, "We
need to make progress." She said
that she feels we are on our way and
Sysco was the start of that.
Our regional plan is 25 years old,
she said. Other communities are way
ahead of us. "Do you think we
need to hurry? Yes, we do," she
said. And there was an echo in the
room saying, "Yes, we do."
[Jan
Youngquist]
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