July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
CHI loan approved, again (6/7/05)
Council
By By Rachelle Haughn-
The Portland City Council voted Monday night to again lend a hand to a Portland business.
The council members decided to loan $250,000 of the city’s economic development income tax funds to Community Home Improvement president and CEO Mike Mazur, so he can seek a loan through First National Bank.
Jay County Development Corporation executive director Robert Quadrozzi said the loan package is for $850,000, with the bank loaning $600,000 and the rest coming from the city.
Quadrozzi said for the first three months of the loan period, Mazur will only be required to pay the city the interest on the $250,000 loan, which will be 1 percent more than the current interest rate. At present, the interest rate is about 5.5 percent, so Mazur would pay 6.5 percent, he said.
After the first three months, the city will set up a monthly payment plan with Mazur based on what he can afford, Quadrozzi said. It will probably take Mazur about seven years to pay back the city. That loan will be used for purchasing inventory and for operating capital for the lumberyard and home improvement store, he said.
Community Home Improvement is doing very well, Quadrozzi said. The business actually turned a profit in May, he said.
The store opened in December of 2004 and is located at 1605 N. Meridian St., Portland.
“Community Home Improvement is very happy with where we’re at financially,” Mazur said this morning.
He said the company has met some financial targets, and he’s happy to be in Portland. “We’d be happier with more volume, but that just comes with time,” he said.
Mazur also plans to seek other funding sources for the business, Quadrozzi said. “You have my word that we will continue to pursue additional funding,” he added.
This isn’t the first time the city has assisted Mazur in getting a loan.
At the city council’s May 16 meeting, Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier announced that $580,000 of the city’s EDIT funds were being returned.
The funds were put into a CD account last year to establish a line of credit so that Mazur could get a $900,000 loan through First National Bank.
The funds were returned to the city on May 20 because the money could only be held in the bank for up to six months. Mazur was waiting for the United States Department of Agriculture to guarantee the loan. The bank received a letter of commitment from the USDA, but did not approve of the conditions of the loan guarantee, Quadrozzi said Monday. He did not know what the conditions were.
Quadrozzi said trying to get the new loan guaranteed by the USDA in the future is still a possibility. However, it’s not something Mazur is pursing at this time.
With little discussion, the council unanimously decided Monday to lend Mazur the money. Council president Glen Bryant abstained from voting because he is a Community Home Improvement employee.[[In-content Ad]]Two Portland businesses could soon be hiring new employees, thanks to a vote by the Portland City Council.
The council voted Monday to send tax abatement requests by Fortco Plastics Inc., 500 Industrial Park Drive, and Pennville Custom Cabinetry, 600 E. Votaw St., to the Portland Tax Abatement Advisory Committee.
Fortco is requesting a five-year abatement to purchase plastic blowmolding equipment and upgrades and secondary support for the machine.
Jay County Development Corporation executive director Robert Quadrozzi said the blowmolder makes plastic containers. The secondary support is extra equipment needed to set up the machine, and the upgrades will allow the blowmolder to make several different molds in the future.
Total cost was estimated at $1,433,850.
The new equipment is expected to add three more jobs, with salaries totaling $95,000.
Also, Pennville Custom Cabinetry president Mark Goldman is requesting a five-year tax abatement to purchase several items including three finishing booths, a sanding booth and a curing oven. Combined estimated cost is $226,616.
The new equipment is expected to create three to five new jobs, with salaries totaling $60,000 to $100,000.
A tax abatement allows companies to pay taxes in increasing increments over several years, instead of paying the full amount each year.
In other business, the council voted to begin the process to vacate an alley located between 148 and 154 E. Third St.
Gail Green, 154 E. Third St., Portland, attended the May 2 council meeting and asked the city to consider giving up ownership of the alley. Green said he owns a lot located at 148 E. Third St., and the alley runs between the two properties. He would like to tear down the house at 148 E. Third St., build a garage there and possibly use the alley for a driveway. Green did not attend Monday’s meeting.
In order for the city to give up ownership of the alley, Green would have to file a petition and hold a public hearing at his expense, city attorney Bill Hinkle said.
Also Monday, the council:
•Approved on first and second readings ordinances which lower the speed limit on Tallman, Jack and Orkney streets and change the yield sign on Tallman Street to a stop sign.
The ordinances reduce the speed limit on the three streets to 20 mph from 30 mph, and change the yield sign on Tallman Street — at the intersection with Jack Street — to a stop sign.
At the April 4 council meeting, Tom Holcomb of Jay-Randolph Developmental Services asked the council to consider replacing the yield sign with a stop sign. Holcomb said he would like a stop sign there so drivers would slow down and be more aware of their surroundings, making the intersection safer. A portion of Tallman Street runs past East Elementary School.
•Voted to create a non-reverting Portland forfeiture fund.
City clerk-treasurer Barbara Blackford said when officials with the Indiana State Board of Accounts audited the city last year, they said the city needed to create this fund.
When someone is convicted of a crime and told to pay restitution to Portland police, the money will be put into a bank account. Police can use the money for equipment or any other need, Blackford said.
Before this fund was created, the money was put into the city’s general fund, and any city department head could have access to it, Portland Police Chief Bob Sours said this morning. With this new fund, the money will roll over from year to year, and only the police department will be able to use it, he said.
•Approved a request by a Portland church to close a portion of Alexander Street for Vacation Bible School from June 20-24.
Steve Arnold, pastor of the Evangelical Methodist Church, 930 W. Main St., asked the council to close a portion of Alexander Street, located between Main Street and an alley north of the church. Arnold said the street would need to be blocked off between 6 to 8 p.m. on June 20-23, and 6 to 9 p.m. on June 24.
Arnold said children attending the Bible school have to cross Alexander Street to go from the church to the parsonage. Closing the street would make it safer for the children, he said.
•Heard street and park department superintendent Jeff Harker announce that spraying for mosquitos will begin on Thursday.
The spraying will start at 8 p.m. Thursday and end at 4 a.m. Friday. Street department employees will continue to spray every Thursday night and Friday morning until the first frost, he said.
•Heard Harker ask all Portland residents who collect their grass clippings to bring them to the dump site, located on west side of North Morton Street, behind Doane Pet Care. The grass is needed to make compost, he said.
The council members decided to loan $250,000 of the city’s economic development income tax funds to Community Home Improvement president and CEO Mike Mazur, so he can seek a loan through First National Bank.
Jay County Development Corporation executive director Robert Quadrozzi said the loan package is for $850,000, with the bank loaning $600,000 and the rest coming from the city.
Quadrozzi said for the first three months of the loan period, Mazur will only be required to pay the city the interest on the $250,000 loan, which will be 1 percent more than the current interest rate. At present, the interest rate is about 5.5 percent, so Mazur would pay 6.5 percent, he said.
After the first three months, the city will set up a monthly payment plan with Mazur based on what he can afford, Quadrozzi said. It will probably take Mazur about seven years to pay back the city. That loan will be used for purchasing inventory and for operating capital for the lumberyard and home improvement store, he said.
Community Home Improvement is doing very well, Quadrozzi said. The business actually turned a profit in May, he said.
The store opened in December of 2004 and is located at 1605 N. Meridian St., Portland.
“Community Home Improvement is very happy with where we’re at financially,” Mazur said this morning.
He said the company has met some financial targets, and he’s happy to be in Portland. “We’d be happier with more volume, but that just comes with time,” he said.
Mazur also plans to seek other funding sources for the business, Quadrozzi said. “You have my word that we will continue to pursue additional funding,” he added.
This isn’t the first time the city has assisted Mazur in getting a loan.
At the city council’s May 16 meeting, Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier announced that $580,000 of the city’s EDIT funds were being returned.
The funds were put into a CD account last year to establish a line of credit so that Mazur could get a $900,000 loan through First National Bank.
The funds were returned to the city on May 20 because the money could only be held in the bank for up to six months. Mazur was waiting for the United States Department of Agriculture to guarantee the loan. The bank received a letter of commitment from the USDA, but did not approve of the conditions of the loan guarantee, Quadrozzi said Monday. He did not know what the conditions were.
Quadrozzi said trying to get the new loan guaranteed by the USDA in the future is still a possibility. However, it’s not something Mazur is pursing at this time.
With little discussion, the council unanimously decided Monday to lend Mazur the money. Council president Glen Bryant abstained from voting because he is a Community Home Improvement employee.[[In-content Ad]]Two Portland businesses could soon be hiring new employees, thanks to a vote by the Portland City Council.
The council voted Monday to send tax abatement requests by Fortco Plastics Inc., 500 Industrial Park Drive, and Pennville Custom Cabinetry, 600 E. Votaw St., to the Portland Tax Abatement Advisory Committee.
Fortco is requesting a five-year abatement to purchase plastic blowmolding equipment and upgrades and secondary support for the machine.
Jay County Development Corporation executive director Robert Quadrozzi said the blowmolder makes plastic containers. The secondary support is extra equipment needed to set up the machine, and the upgrades will allow the blowmolder to make several different molds in the future.
Total cost was estimated at $1,433,850.
The new equipment is expected to add three more jobs, with salaries totaling $95,000.
Also, Pennville Custom Cabinetry president Mark Goldman is requesting a five-year tax abatement to purchase several items including three finishing booths, a sanding booth and a curing oven. Combined estimated cost is $226,616.
The new equipment is expected to create three to five new jobs, with salaries totaling $60,000 to $100,000.
A tax abatement allows companies to pay taxes in increasing increments over several years, instead of paying the full amount each year.
In other business, the council voted to begin the process to vacate an alley located between 148 and 154 E. Third St.
Gail Green, 154 E. Third St., Portland, attended the May 2 council meeting and asked the city to consider giving up ownership of the alley. Green said he owns a lot located at 148 E. Third St., and the alley runs between the two properties. He would like to tear down the house at 148 E. Third St., build a garage there and possibly use the alley for a driveway. Green did not attend Monday’s meeting.
In order for the city to give up ownership of the alley, Green would have to file a petition and hold a public hearing at his expense, city attorney Bill Hinkle said.
Also Monday, the council:
•Approved on first and second readings ordinances which lower the speed limit on Tallman, Jack and Orkney streets and change the yield sign on Tallman Street to a stop sign.
The ordinances reduce the speed limit on the three streets to 20 mph from 30 mph, and change the yield sign on Tallman Street — at the intersection with Jack Street — to a stop sign.
At the April 4 council meeting, Tom Holcomb of Jay-Randolph Developmental Services asked the council to consider replacing the yield sign with a stop sign. Holcomb said he would like a stop sign there so drivers would slow down and be more aware of their surroundings, making the intersection safer. A portion of Tallman Street runs past East Elementary School.
•Voted to create a non-reverting Portland forfeiture fund.
City clerk-treasurer Barbara Blackford said when officials with the Indiana State Board of Accounts audited the city last year, they said the city needed to create this fund.
When someone is convicted of a crime and told to pay restitution to Portland police, the money will be put into a bank account. Police can use the money for equipment or any other need, Blackford said.
Before this fund was created, the money was put into the city’s general fund, and any city department head could have access to it, Portland Police Chief Bob Sours said this morning. With this new fund, the money will roll over from year to year, and only the police department will be able to use it, he said.
•Approved a request by a Portland church to close a portion of Alexander Street for Vacation Bible School from June 20-24.
Steve Arnold, pastor of the Evangelical Methodist Church, 930 W. Main St., asked the council to close a portion of Alexander Street, located between Main Street and an alley north of the church. Arnold said the street would need to be blocked off between 6 to 8 p.m. on June 20-23, and 6 to 9 p.m. on June 24.
Arnold said children attending the Bible school have to cross Alexander Street to go from the church to the parsonage. Closing the street would make it safer for the children, he said.
•Heard street and park department superintendent Jeff Harker announce that spraying for mosquitos will begin on Thursday.
The spraying will start at 8 p.m. Thursday and end at 4 a.m. Friday. Street department employees will continue to spray every Thursday night and Friday morning until the first frost, he said.
•Heard Harker ask all Portland residents who collect their grass clippings to bring them to the dump site, located on west side of North Morton Street, behind Doane Pet Care. The grass is needed to make compost, he said.
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