City, FEDA entice business to town with vacant building

Fairfield Economic Development Association and the city of Fairfield have offered a vacant building to entice a business to set up shop here.

A 4,000- to 6,000-square-feet building in the 100 block of South 23rd Street, first served as Bell?s Honda motorcycle dealership then Chappell Studio/Marathon Foto was housed there. It has set empty since being donated to the city a few years ago, becoming the worse for neglect and not generating any taxes or income.

Midwest Recycling Center, headquartered in St. Louis and with five branches and three recycling partners throughout Missouri, will lease the building for two years at $1 per year, before purchasing the building for $15,000.

?This will be their first venture in Iowa,? said Tracy Vance, executive director of FEDA. ?Representatives came up to southeast Iowa in the past year and looked at possible sites from Keokuk and Fort Madison and through here. They talked with various cities. They liked our location and giving them a deal on the building was an important factor. Iowa MRC is an electronics recycler, so it takes TVs, radios, computers and such.?

Vance said MRC will be treated somewhat like an incubator business, starting small and expanding. MRC will invest money to improve the building and be responsible for property taxes, about $3,900 annually, and insurance.

?After two years, MRC will have the option to purchase the building at $15,000,? said Vance. ?Then they?ll get a three-year tax abatement for new construction after purchasing the building.?

At Monday?s city council meeting, council member Connie Boyer questioned why the city was selling the building for $15,000 when it had an appraised value of $93,000.

Mayor Ed Malloy said the building has mold issues, has set empty, the city did not pay for the property ? it was donated ? and the $93,000 appraised value was ?generous.?

?If you took a very close look at the building, you wouldn?t mind giving it away,? he said.

Boyer nonetheless voted no on the proposal, the lone no vote.

City administrator Kevin Flanagan said the transaction is ?a good deal,? for Fairfield.

?This is a good project,? he said. ?MRC will provide a needed service here, and the city will get a new business on the tax rolls.

?It will start with two, three, up to five employees and could grow to 10 or 15 jobs,? said Flanagan. ?That means added economic development for the city. Kudos to Tracy [Vance] for bringing this business to Fairfield.?

Vance did not know a date for MRC to occupy the building yet.

?This was just passed by the city council Monday,? he said. ?Now, the city attorney needs to prepare the contract and that will have to go before the council for approval.?