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Council nixes more funds for 50th St.

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BY JEAN ORTIZ / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007 - 12:27:44 am CST

Plans for a Hy-Vee grocery store at 50th and O streets may be scrapped after the City Council declined Monday to commit additional public funds to build a new street near the project.

Saying the responsibility of extending 50th Street from O to R streets and making related improvements should fall to the private businesses and not come out of taxpayers’ pockets, the council voted 6-0 to oppose changing the city’s redevelopment agreement with Hy-Vee Inc. Councilwoman Robin Eschliman was absent.

In June, the city promised to extend 50th Street if Hy-Vee helped revitalize the blighted, four-block area by building a new store. At the time, the city planned to front $433,000 toward the $1.66 million cost, which included the street, ornamental lighting, sidewalks and trees. The balance would fall to nearby property owners through a special assessment district.

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What happened: Lincoln City Council voted 6-0 to oppose putting more public funds toward street, lighting, sidewalk and other improvements near 50th and O streets where Hy-Vee plans to build a grocery store.

What it means: HyVee Inc. officials said they needed the street improvements to function as a business, and without them, they could drop their plans for the store there altogether.

What’s next: HyVee officials say they need to examine their options, though the chances of building have dimmed considerably. HyVee officials are set to close on the property Jan. 29. The site is currently owned by Abram LLC.

But property owners refused to sign on, saying the benefits didn’t fall much farther than Hy-Vee. Getting the necesary support of 51 percent of benefiting property owners has been the roadblock, said attorney Kent Seacrest, who represented Hy-Vee during testimony Monday.

“Today we haven’t been able to pull that off,” he said.

City officials cut the cost to $1.035 million by reducing the road’s width to residential standards, which puts it at 27 feet wide -- narrowing the street by seven feet as compared with the original plan.

Officials earlier this month expressed their reservations about committing more money to the project, after already having committed more than $750,000 in tax increment financing to the project.

Tax increment financing is an urban development financing tool in which the portion of property taxes generated from the increased value of the property is used to pay off bonds that fund such things as demolition, utility relocation and sidewalk construction.

Seacrest argued the public stood to gain if a deal went forward, by way of improved circulation on O Street and a spark to redevelopment that would draw in more sales and property tax revenue. He also argued that if they city didn’t move ahead on the plans, it would devalue the city’s $12 million investment into the O Street widening.

“If you don’t want to do this, Hy-Vee can go away and that’s your call,” he said, later adding that Hy-Vee has never worked so hard or put so much money into a project.

City officials and Hy-Vee executives were in agreement that the road needed to be built, but disagreed on who should foot the bill.

Council members also commended Hy-Vee in its efforts, with Vice-Chair Dan Marvin saying he hopes the grocery store chain won’t “turn sour” on Lincoln.

Following the meeting, Dennis Ausenhus, Hy-Vee’s senior vice president of real estate and engineering, expressed disappointed in the council’s decision.

 “We’re going to have to step back and see what options are available to use at this point in time,” he said. “... It doesn’t look favorable.”

Hy-Vee is due to close on the land Jan. 29 with current owner Abram LLC. The land deal originally was to close Dec. 14, but executives opted to push it back because the 50th Street issue was unresolved.

Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com


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M.D. wrote on January 23, 2007 12:55 am:
" It's good to see that the City Council is not bowing to every desire of business interests of Kent Seacrest. It is not the city's job to help "relocate" a grocery store. This was the case with the other Hy-Vee closing nearby. I would also disagree with Mr. Seacrest when he said that "not approving this, will devalue the $12 million investment into the O street widening." If this land is not used for a grocery store, I'm sure it will be used for something else. "
Finally wrote on January 23, 2007 6:08 am:
" Good for the City Council, finally someone takes a stand that the taxpayers shouldn't have to always foot the bill! Taxes in this City/State are ridiculous compared to other comparable cities/states, and the wages that are paid. It's a wonder anyone stays in this State. "
cb wrote on January 23, 2007 6:16 am:
" Bring in Costco "
karen wrote on January 23, 2007 7:15 am:
" Sounds like HyVee should give us all an incentive to shop at their stores. I say we should get a bonus of at least 50% of our bill removed from the price of the groceries. They don't want to play ball. They want to own the field. "
Lincoln Wasteland wrote on January 23, 2007 8:05 am:
" Way to go there Mayor Seng and our wonderful city council......... another bungled job *thows hands up in the air in disgust* "
D-bonz wrote on January 23, 2007 8:50 am:
" Wal-Mart probably would have paid for there own road! Once again the city council does a bait and switch on the people and businesses of Lincoln. "
Concerned Citizen wrote on January 23, 2007 9:03 am:
" "In June, the city promised to extend 50th Street if Hy-Vee helped revitalize the blighted, four-block area by building a new store." I'm not sure what the problem is, sounds like the city is backing out of the deal. This is such crap. I live in the area and if this doesnt go through Im going to sell my house and move out of this pathetic city we call Lincoln. O Street is blighted and obviously this city doesnt care one bit. HyVee is coming in wanting to spend millions of dollars to build a store on the pathetic blighted O street and the city doesnt care. If we lose this Hy-Vee, we need to also lose this Pathetic Mayor and Pathetic City Council we currently have representing this city of Lincoln. "
M.B. wrote on January 23, 2007 9:18 am:
" Sounds like a lot of foresight was used in this wonderful plan.Looking forward to Sengs temper tantrum cause she couldn't raise taxes again. HyVee can't make enough money to pay for their own street? D-bonz is right on - Wal-Mart would have paid for their own road. "
Beretta wrote on January 23, 2007 9:26 am:
" Costco won't give us a second glance until we hit 500,000 people. "
BJ. wrote on January 23, 2007 9:34 am:
" So since the City is not going to build the street I think they need to wave the "impact fee's" for this project since they don't need to collect the money to build a street. "
Economic Development - NOT wrote on January 23, 2007 9:52 am:
" Who in their right mind would give TIF funds to a "re-location" project. This is not an economic development project, it's a economic sustainment project! This is the problem with our officials thinking in Lincoln, we don't attract new business so we just shuffle them around inside of the city - sounds like spinning your wheels to me! "
PS wrote on January 23, 2007 10:12 am:
" It is the other businesses in the area that have contributed to this problem. They will benefit from Hy-Vee being there. I did not realize that saying no to the city was an option. When a homeowner gets notice of a street paving, they aren't asked if they want to contribute. They are billed. "
JEEZ wrote on January 23, 2007 10:28 am:
" We don't need to move any Hy-Vee stores. We NEED a new discount grocery store for those of us who are a limited income, including college students and the elderly and disabled. We need college friendly stores. "
PATHETIC isn't it? wrote on January 23, 2007 10:29 am:
" We don't need another Hy-vee in that area. Fact is, we don't need another grocery store in that area as evidenced by the closing of Bag-n-Save. Too bad the Chamber of commerce and our city council and mayor can't do a better job of selling our city to a retailer not already located in this town. Hey, I know!!!...Why not focus on this area instead of the Haymarket area for a change. Have Mayor Seng call up her buddy Hammond or whatever his name is, and have him build his hotel in that area. In any case, the concerned citizens that live in that area and are considering relocating to another city, had better hope that there is a market for their houses in this blighted area. Houses may not sell any better than vast areas of concrete wasteland. "
Jan wrote on January 23, 2007 10:44 am:
" For heavens sake people. City streets should be payed for by the taxpayers. This is the only city I've lived in that has dirt roads in the middle of town. The only reason I questioned it all is because it wasn't new business just a move. City streets should be funded by all taxpayers. "
CS wrote on January 23, 2007 11:05 am:
" Hyvee can spend millions if it wants to, but its not revitalizing much of anything. It's getting Lincoln to pay for a store that was already in town, generating money, to move a few blocks. I wonder if I can get the city to remodel my house by saying it makes my neighborhood look old? "
Craig wrote on January 23, 2007 11:12 am:
" The City should never have led Seacrest and company to believe they would build a street if they didn't have the Council's support to do it. Again, the planning department and Mayor's office pushing Kent's pet projects without public or council support. (Perhaps you remember the attempt to sell the City's storage building for Kent as well?) Makes you wonder how far the Vision project is going to go. "
Mercy wrote on January 23, 2007 11:29 am:
" Taxpayers wouldn't mind paying for new streets if that is where the money is going. Why did I live in a city in another state where property taxes were 4 times lower than Lincoln, state taxes half Nebraska's. ALL county roads are blacktopped and you couldn't find a dirt or gravel road in that city or county. Why? Because they constantly keep industry & business coming in and pay their fair share. Not only my former city, but ALL the towns & cities & county roads are blacktopped and have been for years and years. That state is also a farm state but they don't sit around and say, "we can't bring in industry because this is a farm state." Or bring in one store and move it all around the city and drive any other stores out of town!! I agree, the TIF funds are being given to our "friends" to re- locate and when their store gets dirty and needs upgrading at the expense of property tax payers. "
Right On wrote on January 23, 2007 11:40 am:
" Way to go City Council! I for one am glad you said "NO". Hy-Vee can afford to put in a street to their store. "
Ricky B wrote on January 23, 2007 11:45 am:
" I hope a Walmart goes there, now that is a prime location, the streets have already been widened to accomodate. Bring on Walmart. "
Old HyVee wrote on January 23, 2007 11:47 am:
" So, they move the hy-vee from 70th and O to revitalize the area at 50th & O. What is going to go in at 70th & O? That isn't exactly an attractive area either? Who is going to save this next blighted area? And I agree, since when have homeowner been given the option of saying No to the city? "
Menawhile NE Lincoln goes without wrote on January 23, 2007 11:56 am:
" In the mean time NE Lincoln continues to beg for a grocery store. The Hy Vee proposed for 84 & Holdrege shows no progress. Anyone who lives north of O Street and east of 70th has virtually no choices in grocery stores. This part of Lincoln needs a city council rep that lives north of O Street and actually spends time on NE Lincoln issues e.g. getting us some retail development. "
Kykp wrote on January 23, 2007 12:38 pm:
" Hey how bout if we are gonna spend a million or two putting in a road there, why don't we go court a different chain such as No Frills in Omaha or something like that. A little competition sure would help problems like this happening in the future. If we are gonna spend more money let it be worth it's while. "
Good For the Council wrote on January 23, 2007 2:38 pm:
" I'm glad to hear that they wouldn't fund the project. Our taxes are high enough as it is and what about the kids that skate at Skate Zone. Our children don't have many options in this town as it is. Skate Zone will have to be torn down to accommodate the street. I think that's a shame since there has been a skating rink in that area for over 50 years. It would be nice if someone would think about the kids for a change and not their pocket books. "
Kathy wrote on January 23, 2007 2:40 pm:
" How about using some of the Keno money? A while back they ran an article about where that money was going, is there any way to use it for this BLIGHTED area? If nothing else put in a nice park. "
Hy-vee worker wrote on January 23, 2007 4:56 pm:
" I work at the 70th and O st store. We are all very excited to be moved out of the run down building that we are currently in. It has so many problems, Just because its a very very old building and the landlord doesnt want to do anything about it... Hy-vee was aproched by the city to build at 50th and O st so why should they have to pay for all of the street being opened? I do think that Hy-vee should pay for some of the street building, but Hy-vee wont be the only store that benifits from this new street. So they shouldnt be responsable to pay for the rest... I hope and everyone I work with cant wait till a new store is made... where ever it will be. "
Retalitation? wrote on January 24, 2007 8:39 am:
" Everyone knows that the mayor wants this store. Is this because of the Wal-mart fiasco? Good for the City Council. There is already a Super Saver there, why do we need another? If you need a new store tear it down and rebuild... It might also help to lower your prices, most people can't afford the high prices you charge. "

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