February 5th Council Meeting

The February 5th Council meeting will be held at 3pm as to not conflict with the evenings Caucuses. We have to end no later than 6pm by state statute. We have a few items I want to highlight.

We will be holding a public hearing on the Minnesota Investment Fund Program application for Ever Cat Fuels bio-diesel facility. This is not only a benefit for Ever Cat Fuels but a benefit for the City. We get to keep 20% of the loan repayment plus interest for a city revolving loan fund. This fund can used to expand current businesses or attract new businesses. Free money from a state program to make our City business climate more attractive to new growth is a wonderful benefit. I am also hoping we can add to this fund.

The other item I want to discuss is less optimistic in my opinion. The Liquor Store Committee is recommending we spend another $16,300 for architectural plans. It will not shock the regular readers of my Blog that I think this is good money after bad.

We can not afford a major renovation that will eat up our cash reserves and add new debt. We have already spent over $100,000 on this project, this does not include the hours and hours of staff time, we do not need to waste another $16,300.

CM Duff and I lost the vote last time to block this. I hope we can gain the needed votes to put a halt once and for all to this process. Here are my previous post about the liquor store math and why it makes no sense…

http://georgewimmer.blogspot.com/2007/11/liqour-store-by-numbers.html http://georgewimmer.blogspot.com/2007/12/liquor-store-by-numbers-ii.html