Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Richland Center offers $1.5 million partnership to jump-start subdivision on county-owned campus
Summary
Richland Center officials told the Richland County campus reconfiguration committee the city can contribute $1.5 million toward infrastructure if the county provides land, and urged quick engineering and legal work to use existing congressional/community project funds and avoid losing grant dollars.
Richland Center officials on Dec. 3 urged the Richland County campus reconfiguration committee to move quickly on a proposed single-family subdivision that would use county-owned land and city-funded infrastructure. A city presenter said, “we have at least $1,500,000 that the city could contribute to putting in the infrastructure necessary for that development.”
The city framed the offer as part of a larger effort to address an acute local housing shortage and to repurpose federal or congressional community project funds originally tied to a delayed hospital project. Presenters said a $2,500,000 congressional/community project grant had been allocated for hospital infrastructure and that the city is exploring using those funds for housing infrastructure instead. Committee members and city officials discussed whether to use a TIF (tax increment financing) district to fund demolition and infrastructure in the blighted campus area, noting TIF timelines and trade-offs between upfront investment and delayed tax revenue.
City presenters said Hive Drive already has water and sanitary lines that could serve development to the east but cautioned that other on-site utilities are county-owned and aging. A county official noted that campus water lines date to 1966 and are six-inch iron, “reaching their end of life,” and that developers will ask how to connect to city services. The city and committee agreed the next step is a short engineering estimate of construction costs and a legal review of ownership tools (deed restrictions, MOUs, and the mechanics of transferring parcels) before the committee returns to the issue.
Mayor (Richland Center) emphasized urgency: “Get it built,” he said, arguing the county should use the rare alignment of land, city utilities and available grant money to accelerate homebuilding. Presenters proposed targeting rapid, lower-cost single-family and duplex/townhouse units and using a mix of subsidies, donated or reduced-price lots, or manufactured homes to reach local affordability. Examples discussed included subsidized units and partnerships with organizations such as the Southwest Regional Planning Commission and local housing collaborators.
The committee did not vote on a land transfer or a formal partnership. Members asked staff to bring back engineering-cost estimates, legal options to preserve trails if parcels change hands, and draft terms for a possible land-transfer or sale agreement to review at the next meeting. The issue will need approvals up the county process (recommendation to executive & finance, then county board) if a formal sale or transfer is pursued.
