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| Economic incentives considered |
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| News | |||
| Written by Jesse Trimble | |||
| Wednesday, 09 December 2009 09:00 | |||
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Big changes may be in store for Paola residents who are interested in building a new home or business if Paola City Council members take to heart a presentation given at their Dec. 1 work session. Hannes Poetter, owner of Beethoven’s # 9 restaurant, a Miami County Planning Commission member, Crown Realty employee and an active member of the Paola community, presented council members with an economic strategy to inject income and growth into the community. Poetter started with a joke to lighten the mood before moving on to his discussion concerning the economy and the effects it has had on the building industry everywhere — Paola included. He explained foreclosures and how strict the banks are controlled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve and the government, when giving out loans now. As a realty agent, Poetter said he’s seen the effects of the poor economy every day and is charging that the city do something to change it. In an e-mail to City Manager Jay Wieland, which was handed out at the work session, Poetter stated that the city currently charges a home builder a building permit fee of $1,500 per unit, a $3,000 sewer hookup fee and a $3,000 water hookup fee, which totals at $7,500. He suggested the city do away with these fees for the time being and for the year 2010 to act as an incentive for new home or business builders to begin building again. He said he believes the long-term results of his suggestion would create more money for the city. He also suggested that if 80 to 100 new homes or businesses were built at an average value of $175,000, the city would gain $90,000 with an average water/sewer bill of $75 per unit per month. The only requirement is that builders purchase every item for the house or building locally. “If you spend money locally at local stores, 73 to 75 percent comes back to the community,” Poetter stressed. “You all have to consider these high fees, you can’t compete in this market. Big portion of cost factor with owning a home includes everything — from the architect, engineer, putting up the windows,” he listed. “By eliminating some of these fees up front you don’t lose anything.” Council member Jack Rowlett Jr. was the first to respond to Poetter’s plea. “I have sympathy and empathy for the construction business,” he said. “But the question I have is how many new homes do we think we can generate?” Rowlett emphasized that the city will be lucky to see 10 new homes built in a year. Poetter responded with more statistics on how other communities have benefited from a project similar to his. Wieland handed out a packet of material that cited other examples of cities that have provided similar incentives to residents, including Spring Hill, Lee’s Summit, Mo., and Pittsburg. “The most important thing,” Poetter said, “is to come up with ways to bring people to Paola and let them see how good it is. We cannot do nothing — we must do something.” Wieland and council members agreed that Wieland would do more research on the topic and bring ideas to the next council meeting. During the work session, council members also discussed revisions to the employee handbook and reviewed changes to the municipal code.
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