Benton County board agrees to pursue parcel split and blight study to enable nonprofit clinic
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Summary
The county signaled unanimous support to pursue three initial steps — a parcel split survey, an Initiative Foundation blight-study grant application, and a draft resolution of intent — to enable sale of part of the government center to a nonprofit that would lease space for medical and dental services.
The Benton County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to take initial steps toward splitting part of the county’s government center parcel and pursuing redevelopment that could house a nonprofit-operated medical clinic.
Monty, presenting the redevelopment committee’s plan, asked the board to authorize three near-term actions: pay for a survey and administrative subdivision to split the parcel (county surveyor Jay Whitsock estimated the survey at about $9,000), apply in April to the Initiative Foundation for up to $10,000 to pay for a required blight study (Monty said the blight study estimate was about $9,900), and ask Taft Law Firm to draft a resolution of intent to show prospective partners the county is committed to negotiating a conveyance. “Time is of the essence to begin discussions with a nonprofit about the terms and conditions of a sale,” Monty said while describing federal funding timelines the potential clinic partners face.
The plan envisions conveying a portion of the site to an economic development entity or nonprofit to lease space to medical, dental and senior-service providers while redeveloping remaining acreage for mixed commercial and residential use. Monty and the committee emphasized that a blight study and redevelopment plan are prerequisites to creating any tax increment financing (TIF) district; he said the county could recover some upfront costs from tax increment revenues once a district is established.
Commissioners discussed logistics and tradeoffs: keeping necessary county storage and fleet facilities, sequencing conveyance to the EDA to avoid an interim county lease, and the need to ensure heated storage for certain county vehicles. There was broad board support to move the three initial items forward; one commissioner summarized the approach as “baby steps,” noting more legal and financial work would follow before any sale.
Next steps: staff will request the survey, prepare an Initiative Foundation grant application in April, and ask Taft Law Firm to draft a resolution of intent for board consideration. The board did not approve any conveyance, expenditure beyond the survey estimate, or formal creation of a TIF district at the meeting.
