MEDC buys land for 21 new homes

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook City Council gave the green light to the McCook Economic Development Corp. to purchase land for residential housing.

The MEDC plans to build 21 residential homes on the property to address the housing crunch in the area. The MEDC board is ready to move on this and “doesn’t want someone to buy (the property) and sit on it…we want it to get developed,” said MEDC director Andy Long at the McCook City Council meeting Monday night.

The MEDC will purchase the land for $150,000 using LB 840 funds (garnered from city sales tax funds) for property in the Clary Subdivision, Block 3, and part of Block 2. The land sits to the north of the residential properties created in the first phase of the North Pointe residential project. The seller of the land is David E. Winder.

Because the area has been designated as blighted and substandard, it’s eligible for tax increment funding (TIF).

Councilman Gene Weedin asked how the roads would be developed and Long answered that “infrastructure is the biggest challenge” in housing development. However, roads, water, and sewer can be done using TIF financing, Long said. Without it, “doing one or two houses a year is not fast enough for TIF financing,” he said.

Mayor Mike Gonzales asked about builders for the property, with Long responding that they will need to find builders who can put up homes “fairly quickly,” with companies who specialize in that kind of development.

Councilman Weedin referenced a housing development in Imperial, Neb., where one block at a time was developed with residential housing and all of them already sold. Long said he was familiar with the company that did that development.

LB 840 funds, as approved by city voters first in 2007 and renewed in 2015, come from one-sixth of city sales tax revenue and go to the MEDC’s LB840 fund, to be used for economic development. The funds can be used by the MEDC to construct facilities, structures, and for new or proposed development. According to McCook’s Economic Development Plan, after the program administrator, the MEDC Board approves the purchase of real estate, the McCook City Council must give final approval for the purchase.

Also on Monday night, Public Works Director Kyle Potthoff told the council that a tree will be planted in Memorial Park Cemetery on Thursday, April 29 for Arbor Day in memory of Cloyd Clark, who recently passed away. The event will start at 8 a.m. and the public is invited to attend.