(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam Community Development Committee Tuesday voted to terminate the city’s downtown façade improvement grant program. The matching grant is available to property owners in the downtown revitalization district and is intended to beautify the area through a partnership with public and private dollars. The guidelines require a 50-to-66-percent match on the part of the property owner capped at $5000-to-$10,000 depending on the location.
Mayor Becky Glewen is pushing for an end to the guidelines and Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation Vice President Trent Campbell bolstered the argument before the committee.
“You guys have to weigh the cost benefits and merits of projects when they come,” he says, “Those are probably in my mind the commonsense guidelines.”
Guidelines that would stay in place include protections for the city from developers looking to “flip” properties for a profit.
The committee reviewed three grant requests yesterday while raising concerns about the legality of approving the grants with no guidelines in place. Mayor Glewen assured the committee that guidelines will be assembled prior to their next meeting. Campbell pointed out that the city has the authority to administer the grant dollars as part of the original TIF project plan approved a decade ago.
Tax Increment Finance District 6 is a blight elimination district encompassing most of the downtown. The TIF is anticipated to generate another $540-thousand dollars in revenue before closing in 2035.
The committee on Tuesday approved a $20-thousand dollar grant for Tranquil Healing which will be opening at 109 Front Street; $59-thousand dollars in exterior renovations are planned. Two other requests were tabled as the committee seeks more information.
The Common Council will vote on the termination of the façade grant guidelines next month.
