Collinsville Economic Development board president Joseph Cartwright presented two proposals at Monday’s City Council meeting that would provide financial help for downtown businesses.
The first was an Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Type B project that would award a Downtown Renovation Grant to Manuelito’s. The owners of the restaurant formerly located in downtown Collinsville is reimagining a new concept for that space, a high-end bar and restaurant.
The grant would allow EDC to use sales and use tax proceeds to fund eligible costs and expenses to promote new or expanded business development. In the instance of the new restaurant, the grant would equal $10,000.
The business owners, Cartwright explained, had already invested $30,000-$35,000 into building renovations and that the $10,000 would help with a kitchen renovation and roofing repairs.
In a public hearing and ensuing discussions, the City Council was open to the idea but wanted to see some edits to the EDC’s grant policy. Namely, enforcement of repayment in the event a grant recipient goes out of business. The grant approval was tabled to allow EDC to make the requested amendments to the policy.
The second proposal was for a Downtown Renovation Grant for the building owner of the Collinsville Deli in the amount of $25,000. This grant would be more like a reimbursement grant to help the building owner recoup some of the costs of renovation (nearly $75,000 in total) that were needed to open the business back in December.
Cartwright further explained that these Downtown Renovation Grants apply to existing downtown structures, not new builds or décor. The intent is to put some money back into the town’s older buildings to ensure they are viable and help serve a thriving downtown.
“Our downtown is the jewel of our city,” Cartwright said.
During the public hearing and discussion of this grant approval, it was realized that an incorrect application had been submitted to the council.
As a result, they tabled the decision to allow EDC to share the correct application as well as provide receipts from the applicant and financial records from the EDC.
The Downtown Renovation Grant process is fairly new to EDC and City Council. Both parties agreed it was best to ensure they were fine-tuning the details now to set a precedent for projects in the future. Both grants will be revisited at next month’s City Council meeting.
