Kelly Kenoyer
A fresh City Council, with two brand-new members, spent much of its meeting last week discussing two projects intended to improve the look of commercial districts in Sweet Home, and voted on an ordinance related to vacant commercial buildings.
Councilors Diane Gerson, Greg Mahler, Dave Trask, Susan Coleman, Lisa Gourley, Angelita Sanchez and Dylan Richards attended the Tuesday, Jan. 12 meeting to consider various strategies to improve the look of downtown Sweet Home.
The councilors first held a vote on previous amendments the council had requested to the Commercial Exterior Improvement Program, which provides grants to businesses to help with their external appearance. The previous iteration of the program capped grants to $5,000 and required a match from the building owner.
The new version of the CEIP raises the cap to $15,000, with a possibility of going higher with a vote of approval from the City Council. The new iteration also allows for smaller grants up to $5,000 to be given to businesses even without a match.
These higher numbers raised some eyebrows. Gerson suggested a cap on the number of grants that could be given out in order to avoid draining the Economic Development Fund.
In the previous two years of the project, the city has approved $90,544 in CEIP grants to 26 projects. The Economic Development Fund currently has $464,696 available, although it is used for multiple purposes.
City Manager Ray Towry said the funds originally came from a federal grant, not local tax money. The city has periodically added smaller amounts to the account, and has discussed using it for numerous projects, including improvements on land for the Jamboree, along with the CEIP grant program.
“I was under the impression that we actually want businesses to take advantage of this,” Gourley said. “So capping it per year isn’t in our best interest.”
Sanchez suggested adding a requirement that the grant money be spent with local businesses, “instead of going to businesses outside the city and being spent outside the city.”
She said she was involved in the improvements to Thriftway’s parking lot, and a lot of the work was done by an outside contractor, Knife River.
Mahler indicated he liked that idea. “I think the intent is to keep it local.”
Trask disagreed. “I don’t know that we can dictate to a business who is best to do the job.”
Community and Economic Development Director Blair Larsen said such a requirement that a percentage of the funding go to local businesses may have adverse consequences.
However, he suggested adding a line to the application that recommends using a local contractor. He also suggested creating a list of local contractors to provide to grantees.
“I’d love to put word out there for anyone who does renovation work,” he said. “We could have them register with the city and have them let us know what kind of work they do.”
The council then voted unanimously to pass the CEIP amendments, raising the grant amounts significantly.
“The intent of this is to beautify our public areas,” Larsen said. “There are some properties that have very much improved. The highlight is probably that we have assisted the Rio with their improvements.”
Those interested in participating in the CEIP program can contact Blair Larsen by email at [email protected] or calling him at (541) 818-8036.