Urban renewal board has money questions for Billings

After an action by the city of Red Oak shook up the Downtown Urban Renewal board late last year, members are still trying to get their bearings.

In December, Red Oak Mayor Bill Billings made appointment recommendations for the board that effectively removed then chairman Jan Norris and board secretary Paul Griffen.

After last week’s meeting, board chairman Roger Vial said the board is still recovering from those changes.

“There are some things to learn,” Vial said. “We’re not quite hitting on all cylinders yet.”

One big question for the group is exactly how much funding is available.

Billings, in previous news accounts, said one reason for the personnel changes was that the board had not reapplied for its funding.

A formal agreement between the city and the urban renewal board was signed in 2010 — a requirement from the state auditor’s office — but it expired last year.

That agreement, however, did not state it had to be renewed or that Norris and the board would have to ask the city to renew it.

In December, the city declared its intent to use $60,000 that would normally go to the board to pay for the city’s downtown façade project.

And that, board members indicated in the group’s Feb. 3 meeting, could leave the group without any funding for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

During that meeting, Vial said the funding was still being collected through the Tax Increment Financing district. But board members expressed concern with using the $60,000 to pay off part of the façade project.

Board members also were left wondering just how much money the board does have.

“Ever since this TIF was made, I’m not sure we’ve ever spent all the money,” Vial said during the meeting. “I find it really strange that in the city checkbook, money could just stack up and stack up and never get used. Is the money really there? I don’t know.”

Little was settled during the meeting, and board members agreed that they needed more information.

“A goal of mine is to become better informed, so give us some time, give us some support,” Vial told the board. “I think we’re asking for more clarification, and I think in both directions.”

After he meeting, Vial said the changes in personnel certainly had left people “excited.”