Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
A city committee tasked with addressing vacant and blighted properties in Shawano met for the first time Wednesday at City Hall.
The Shawano Redevelopment Authority is a new incarnation of a similar board that met and eventually disbanded some years ago after concluding there was little to be done to force action on blighted, vacant buildings.
City Administrator Brian Knapp said that conclusion might have been the result of a misunderstanding of the law.
Knapp said there was a Supreme Court ruling that limited government use of eminent domain. Subsequent court cases clarified that the limitations were mainly on the taking of residential property and don’t apply to commercial properties, Knapp said.
The new RDA will meet on a regular monthly basis, but plans to get the process jump-started with a special meeting next week.
A meeting has tentatively been scheduled for 8 a.m. Thursday, pending the availability of the city’s planning consultant on the project, Madison-based Vierbicher.
That meeting will focus on designating redevelopment districts in the city where at least 50 percent of the properties are considered blighted. That could include any property that has been vacant for a lengthy period of time. There is no limit to the size of a district the RDA could designate.
The districts are likely to follow the general outline of the city’s tax incremental finance districts, two of which run along East Green Bay Street and South Main Street, though some properties not yet in those districts could be added.
TIF districts are areas where municipalities invest in infrastructure, such as sewer and water, to attract development where it might not otherwise occur, or to make improvements, such as eliminating blight. Whatever increase in tax revenue that results from development in those districts goes to paying back the debt the municipality incurred from making improvements to the district.
The RDA is a statutory body that is under the umbrella of the city but is quasi-independent, similar to Shawano Municipal Utilities or the Shawano City Housing Authority.
The RDA can enter into contracts with consultants and contractors and other parties, can borrow money and purchase property. The borrowing and purchasing will need the approval of the Common Council, but there is no city oversight of the budget.
The RDA does not yet have a budget. That will happen after the RDA identifies blighted properties and develops an action plan.
Most of the RDA’s budget will come from TIF district funds, but it’s also possible some additional operational funds could come from the city’s coffers.
The RDA could also employ its own staff if necessary, Knapp explained to the board at Wednesday’s meeting.
“If you were to acquire half a dozen properties, say, and they became rentals while we were getting them ready to go (on the market) or we engaged in remodeling and needed a staff person attracting tenants, renters or purchasers — if you are actively engaged in managing properties, you might need someone to help you with that,” Knapp said.
Knapp said in an interview after the meeting that such a scenario would be “a long way down the road, if ever.”
Knapp said the intent is for the RDA to work with private parties as much as possible first to affect change.
“This isn’t just an authority that goes out there and takes every property they think is blighted,” he said.
Knapp said the RDA could start engaging with property owners within the next several months.
“The outcome of that will determine what happens next,” he said.
Knapp said the goals of the RDA are long-range and it could take time before results are seen.
“”This is not an overnight thing,” he said.