Intersection plan for Festival Foods approved

Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC — The Common Council has unanimously approved a plan to extend a tax-increment finance district that will aid the city in financing the reconstruction of two southwest side intersections.

The approval means the city can borrow money from a commercial real estate developer to redesign and reconstruct the intersections of Dewey and South 42nd streets and South 42nd Street and South Frontage Road.

By extending the TIF district to include the intersections, the city can use taxes collected from properties within the district to pay back the developer's loan.

The city can't bond for the estimated $2.7 million project because bonding would push the city beyond its state-imposed $10 million cap and the city can't wait until next year because the proposed Festival Foods supermarket and Kwik Trip construction are contingent on the reconstruction.

The city likely will pay more money through developer financing because the developer would get a higher interest rate than if the city bonded for the project, said Todd Reckelberg, chairman of the TIF Review Board, which approved the TIF extension 4-1 on April 1. Reckelberg cast the dissenting vote.

Alderman Paul Tittl argued the additional interest costs would be offset because the developer would donate the land to the city where the reconstruction would occur, a savings of approximately $400,000.

The final intersection design and costs have not been determined.

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