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CITY
AGREED TO PAY FOR MEDIANS IN DECEMBER 1999…by
Linda Newton After
claiming for months that the developer of The Village at Colleyville,
rather than the City of Colleyville, paid for the medians installed and
later removed on State Highway 26, TIF documents show that the developer
may be reimbursed for the $70,000 expense with TIF funds.
The TIF agreement allows the developer to be reimbursed by the
city for certain pre-determined expenses as the development progresses. The
original TIF agreement between the City of Colleyville and Village
Monticello Partners, LTD, developer of The Village at Colleyville,
includes the item “Median Improvements to Colleyville Boulevard
Pleasant Run”. The
agreement states that “to facilitate the development of the Property
(i.e., the Village)… the city has agreed to… pay the project
costs…listed on Exhibit D”. Exhibit D is an itemization of
reimbursable on-site and off-site public improvements.
That agreement was approved 5-0 by the council as Resolution
R-99-1586 and signed by Mayor Donna Arp on December 21, 1999.
Click
here to see original Exhibit D to TIF agreement. A revised TIF agreement, Resolution R-01-1751, was approved 3-2 and signed by Mayor Arp on January 16, 2001. It also includes the item “Median Improvements to Colleyville Boulevard” in Exhibit D of the agreement. It raised the ceiling on reimbursements to the developer from $5,000,000 to $7,500,000 and extended the pay-out period from 2009 to 2014. Councilmen Jody Short and Mike Taylor opposed the revised TIF agreement claiming that the city received nothing in exchange for the additional $2.5 million the developer will receive. Councilmembers
voting for the revised agreement were Dana Feldman, Ginny Tigue and
Dennis Marlin.
Click
here to see revised Exhibit D. An article detailing the
differences in the two TIF agreements will be published on LNO in the
near future. The TIF district, established in the late 1990’s, is a mechanism used to encourage commercial development along State Highway 26. Developers can negotiate with the city to be reimbursed for certain public improvements and infrastructure expenses that would otherwise be borne solely by the developer. The rationale behind the city sharing in these expenses is the assumption that the incremental increase in property valuations and sales tax revenues generated by the development will more than offset the expense to the city. The only TIF agreement currently in effect is the one between the city and the developer of The Village at Colleyville. The
medians were not listed in early planning documents submitted to the
city by the developer for reimbursable TIF improvements. A proposal submitted to the city on April 5, 1999 by Realty
Capital Corporation did not include any mention of the medians, but did
include an item that later became quite controversial for the city.
The schedule from Realty Capital of proposed TIF improvements
listed an item as “Out-parcel Purchase and Landscaping”.
Notes attached to the schedule identified this item as the
property located at the intersection of Pleasant Run Road and Highway
26, land owned by the Couch family of Colleyville since the 1940’s.
The note from Realty Capital reads “We have tried to purchase
the small parcel of land containing the “Karate Studio” for several
years. At some time in the
future, we believe that it might be in the City’s best interest to
purchase that corner….”. A
value of $200,000 was listed for this item.
Click
here to see Schedule of Proposed TIF Improvements and Notes.
By December 1999 this item had been dropped from the final
schedule approved by the council. The Couch property was acquired by the city in August 2000 for $129,800. The family did not want to sell the property to the city, but when threatened with pending condemnation and due in part to their poor health ultimately agreed to accept the city’s offer. The family initially asked for $195,000 for the property. The city needed a portion of the property for right-of-way for the Pleasant Run/Highway 26 realignment, and for the eventual widening of Highway 26. The city decided to purchase the entire parcel rather than piece-meal the right-of-way acquisitions. Immediately following the acquisition of the Couch property the building was leased to the developer of The Village at Colleyville for $10 per month for use as a sales office. Click here to see previous LNO article about the Couch property. Related Article: Councilmember Tigue critical of Rep Truitt for role in helping resolve median...Click Here
Copyright LNO 2001 - All Rights Reserved SEND AN EMAIL TO THE EDITORS Comments will be posted on Editor Emails unless otherwise requested. |
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