The Bettendorf City Council routinely meets secretly to discuss controversial, contentious or complicated issues, avoiding violation of the state open meeting law by gathering in small groups of three aldermen at a time.
The small groups usually meet for lunch at city hall. Aldermen do not vote on the various issues discussed, but one of the purposes of the sessions is to help them form a concensus prior to the matter being placed on the council agenda.
The most recent private sessions involved discussion about selling the city-owned Eagle's Food Store building on 18th Street to a Moline contracting company for $1 million. The aldermen also heard a pitch from developer Dave Smith who is seeking public Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds from the city to build a low-income and moderate-income housing project along E. Kimberly Road.
City Administrator Decker Ploehn said the private small group meetings have been held for 15 years or more and they are legal because less than a majority of aldermen are present at each session and no votes are taken at the meetings.
Ploehn said he usually sets the agenda for the special meetings, and the topics involve "complicated" issues facing the city. Meeting notices are not posted publicly in advance nor is any record kept of what is said at the meetings.
After asking about the most recent secret sessions in March, Bettendorf.com was provided with the printed materials circulated at the meetings. The package included a letter from a Moline contracting firm offering the city $1 million for the old Eagle Food building and property.
The information about the vacant Eagle building and property said the proposed use of the building and over 3 acres of land would be for an office development and claimed it would bring 75 jobs to the city. The city paid $1.7 million for the property in 1999.
The old Eagle property currently is assessed at nearly $1.3 million, but the Scott County assessor admitted the value of the city owned land and building was not updated during the past 10 years because it was not on the tax rolls. Property values over that period were increasing at between 4 to 6 percent a year.
A strip office building on a one-half acre parcel next to the Eagle's property is assessed at $565,000. An oil change shop on one-third acre across the street from the old Eagle property is assessed at more than $330,000.
The city initially discussed building a new city hall on the property and later had plans to remodel it into a joint office facility for the Bettendorf School District, county extension office and Scott Community College culinary arts program.
The property is adjacent to the library and Family Museum, and the library board has sent a letter to the council stating its desire the city retain the property for future use by the city.
Here are the three scenarios outlined to aldermen at the secret meetings:
• Demolish the building and retain property for future use. Asbestos removal and demolition was estimated at $180,000.
• Demolish the building, sell the parking lot (1.7 acres) for commercial use. Asbestos removal and demolition was estimated at $180,000, with proceeds from the sale estimated at between $490,000 to $527,000.
• Sell the entire parcel with building. Proceeds after real estate fees would be $950,000 and the property tax from the development would generated $12,850 a year. "Enjoy new business in Bettendorf with 75 jobs," claimed the barebones note given aldermen as a reason for selling the entire parcel.
The city has not obtained its own appraisal of the property. Instead, it provided aldermen with a letter from a Davenport appraisal firm estimating it had a potential value of between $875,000 to $945,000. The appraiser providing the information cautioned his opinion did not constitute an appraisal, but was simply consulting.
The "appraisal" letter was provided a member of the Bettendorf Development Corporation, and was not sought directly by the city.
At the session involving possible TIF money for the low-income housing project, Hometown Harbor, the options given aldermen were:
• Offer no TIF
• Offer a 5-year TIF with cap - $375,000
• Offer a 10-year TIF with cap - $750,000
• Offer a 10-year TIF without cap - $884,000
The 116-unit apartment complex would be built along E. Kimberly Road, south of an existing restaurant. The motel on the property has been razed and the site, next to Duck Creek, is being filled to raise its level above the 500-year flood level.
The State of Iowa granted the project nearly $3 million in federal housing tax credits last December. The credits are a $1 for $1 credit off federal taxes for the developer. Smith also obtained TIF revenues from the city when he redeveloped the Duck Creek Shopping Plaza.
