Lease solves Amtrak parking issue
August 19, 2008
By Edward Husar
The Quincy City Council
agreed Monday to lease space west of the Amtrak depot at 30th and
The council voted 10-3
to approve a deal with landowner Orville Waterkotte,
who will build 39 parking stalls on his property at a cost of $60,000 and then
lease the parking lot to the city.
The city will pay for
the construction cost as part of the lease arrangement, which calls for monthly
payments of $1,585 for the initial five-year lease term. The lease payment will
then drop to $585 a month — plus annual Consumer Price Index adjustments — for
up to three additional five-year terms.
Voting against the
measure were Aldermen Mike Farha, R-4, Tony Sassen, R-4, and Paul Havermale,
R-3. Farha and Sassen said
they felt the cost was too expensive.
“I don’t think we
should be leasing the land,” Sassen added. Alderman
Steve Duesterhaus,
D-3, said he thought
the city got a good deal by having Waterkotte build
the lot and lease it to the city.
“This looks like an economical
method to expand our parking,” he said.
“And, quite frankly, if
we had to purchase the property, our improvements would have been substantially
more,” Spring said.
He also argued that
parking has been the most critical need at the depot as more local residents
take the train instead of drive cars.
“We’ve got to be advocates
for reducing our energy needs in this country, and using Amtrak services
certainly takes the congestion out of the big metropolitan areas,” he said.
The council also
approved permits allowing Bitters Well, 1227 N. 24th, and the Harrison Pub,
1701 Harrison, to have beer gardens.
Don Heck, an attorney
representing both businesses, said Bitters Well owners wanted a controlled
outdoor area where their patrons could go to smoke. They still must get a Class
H liquor license from the mayor, who serves as liquor commissioner.
Harrison Pub, which has
had a fenced-in outdoor patio for 17 years, was seeking permission to construct
a canopy over the patio.
The Quincy Plan
Commission endorsed both beer garden requests.
The council agreed to explore
the feasibility of expanding the city’s tax increment financing district by adding
14 more blocks to the east — from about Fifth to Eighth and from York to Broadway.
It would encompass 129 private parcels of property.
The council approved
hiring Teska and Associates of Evanston, Ill., for
$29,000 to conduct an eligibility study and redevelopment plan for the targeted
area.
If that area is
declared a TIF district, any increases in the neighborhood’s tax base over the
next 23 years would be placed in a special account to use for public
infrastructure improvements in the TIF zone, with an emphasis on improving four
city-owned parking lots and the streetscape.
Several aldermen
questioned various aspects of the TIF proposal. But Duesterhaus,
chairman of the Finance Committee, defended it.
“In my 23 years on the
council, tax increment financing has probably been our most valuable
development tool in the uptown area,” he said. “I think it’s
incumbent upon us, and it’s actually desirable for us, to investigate whether
we can expand this. The needs up there are obvious, and if we can use this as a
tool, I think it’s a good move on our part.”
Aldermen also were
introduced to Tom Klincar, the new president of