Bacon: ‘This is a win-win for village, Central Valley Ag’
In a somewhat complicated series of three different meetings involving two attorneys Monday evening, the Hampton Village Board of Trustees — also meeting twice as the Hampton Community Development Agency (CDA)—moved to approve a tax increment financing (TIF) plan to benefit the construction of the new CVA white corn cleaning plant in the village.
In an initial meeting starting at 7 p.m. the board met as the CDA to approve Resolution 2024-1 to recommend approval of the Infrastructure Redevelopment Plan to assist the expansion of the CVA elevators through the TIF plan.
Mike Bacon, a Gothenburg attorney hired by CVA to assist with the TIF plan, explained that the TIF is a way to help the coop with the $270,318 cost of relocating power lines for the new plant by deferring the property taxes on the $13 million project that will be a benefit to the village when it is complete.
“It’s just a mechanism to capture increased taxes,” Bacon explained. “It’s a win-win.”
Bacon said the village would benefit from having a $13 million facility built there along with several full-time jobs that come with it and CVA benefits by getting help from the village in paying for the moving of electrical lines.
Following the adoption of the resolution, the brief CDA meeting adjourned and the regular June meeting of the village board began.
The first item of business was to hold a public hearing on the village’s Infrastructure Redevelopment Plan to assist the CVA elevator expansion.
With no public testimony being brought forth the hearing closed and the board took up village Resolution 2024-7 to approve the Infrastructure Redevelopment Plan and related actions. With the unanimous approval of the plan, the board went on to other business, but at the end of the meeting the same individuals reconvened as the CDA to approve Resolution 2024-3, authorizing issuance of a tax increment financing promissory note for the CVA plant.
The village board also approved several other resolutions and other actions at the Monday meeting to move various village projects forward. They are as follows:
*Resolution 2024-5 adopted a general extension policy for electrical services and facilities for the village. Village attorney Drew Graham explained that the policy is essentially the same as the Southern Public Power District’s policy and will adapt to follow SPPD’s policy as it changes in the future.
*Resolution 2024-6 appointed village utilities supt. Chris Friesen as building inspector in order to start the process of dealing with the abandoned building several doors north of the city hall on 3rd Street. Graham explained that the appointment will allow Friesen to hire an engineer who is qualified to investigate the building’s structural integrity.
*The village also approved a contractor pay request for infrastructure work done on the Hampton West Subdivision to date. The application for payment No. 1 submitted by the engineering firm of Miller & Associates was approved in the amount of $241,000.
In regard to the CVA corn cleaning plant, construction on the facility is well underway, with three large steel grain bins having already been constructed on the site along Highway 34 at the north end of 2nd Street. Foundations have also been poured and officials say they expect it to be up and running in time for the harvest this fall.