Core Group purchase delayed

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

The Burlington Core Group II purchase of land in the downtown redevelopment area has hit a snag.

When the group – led by Tom Stelling and Bill Stone – offered to purchase the land for its assessed value of $70,000, they did ask if there was still an open environmental check on the site.

As it turns out, there is – and the cost to close off that investigation is likely in the $45,000 range.

City Administrator Carina Walters clarified Tuesday that the city is applying for a site assessment grant to help with that investigation so it can be closed out “for future redevelopment.”

The issue was brought up at the Community Development Authority meeting April 6 before the Common Council meeting. There were three options before the group – sell the land as is, work the cost of the closing into the sale or some combination of the two.

The grant needs to be filed by Friday, as the money is available as part of the 2015-16 state budget. Only municipalities can apply for that grant money, according to an expert the city brought in for the meeting.

The goal, according to city staff, is to find out the extent of the contamination and work on remediation if needed. The site used to house a gas station.

The initial move to purchase the land came up at the February Plan Commission meeting, as Stelling and Stone wanted control of the land. The move represented the first real action with the property in two years. Back in 2014, the Common Council balked at the idea of selling the land for $1 to the Core Group.

As Stelling pointed out at that meeting, improvements would already be made on the land had that happened. As it stands now, the empty space has gravel down and mostly serves as overflow parking next to the parking garage.

“If we had owned the property, there would have been grass growing there for two years,” Stelling said in February.

The land has remained vacant in spite of the other two parts of the downtown redevelopment – the Hampton Inn and the parking structure – having been long finished.

How the land will be developed remains to be seen. The consensus in February seemed to be leaning toward commercial – not residential, which has been raised in the past, and argued against for a number of reasons, including parking issues.

The CDA agreed, though, in February that the Core Group’s dedication to the project would likely make them the best owners.

CDA member Jack Eckola said, “I don’t know if you’ll get a better group than these guys.” He also said he trusted the members of the Core Upgrades group and that they are “here” as opposed to representing out-of-town interests.