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Allied project vote coming next week

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by Carolyn Potts

Thursday, November 8, 2007

The Madison City Council passed a resolution Tuesday to put off further discussion of how to fund the $3 million Allied Drive remodeling project until next week.

The meeting did not produce a heated debate, as it is expected to next week during the 2008 budget discussions, said City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4.

Even though a final decision as to where the money for the project will come from will not be made until next week, the outcome of the meeting Tuesday was a step toward resolution.

"The Council authorized the Community Development Authority $75,000 to continue work on plans for architecture and the market study in the area," said George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

The money will allow the CDA to work on the initial parts of the project.

"In order to do this kind of project, a financing package needs to be put together to get Affordable Housing tax credits from [the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority]," said Ald. Satya Conway, District 12. "To be able to apply for these tax credits, a certain amount of work has to be done."

The Allied Drive area, in which the city owns a large amount of property, will undergo major changes with the proposed renovation.

"The city has invested a substantial amount of money and has plans to demolish old apartment buildings and rebuild new housing developments. It is a multimillion dollar project," Verveer said.

The discussions next week will be about where the best place for the money needed to fund the Allied Drive project will come from. Cieslewicz proposed the funding for the $3 million project come from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. However, not all Madison residents support the mayor’s plan.

"Right now it is not legal to take that much money from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for one project," Conway said. "We would have to change our rules, and this leads to whether or not it is appropriate to get that much money from one place, and I feel that using the majority of the trust fund on one project is not the right thing to do."

However, Cieslewicz is flexible as to where the money comes from, Twigg said.

The discussion next week is expected to be a lengthy one because there are many different decisions to be made.

"There are three pieces to this: how much to spend, where to get it from and what the nature of the project is," Conway said. "We have tried to separate this out, but ultimately it is one question."

Although the decision to give the CDA $75,000 to begin work on the project is a first step, Conway said it really doesn't help in the overall decision making that needs to be done next week.

"What would really be helpful would be to know what the project actually entails," Conway said. "Unfortunately, though, that information will not be ready in time for the budget meetings next week."

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