Urban Renewal Board

The Urban Renewal Board is made up of five Council Members and the Mayor. Meetings are schedule for the second Thursday of each month in the City Council Chambers at City Hall located at 23 2nd St NE. The Council Chambers door is open to anyone from the public that would like to attend the meetings. The meetings are currently held at 7:00 AM with agendas posted on the City website. Please use the notify me feature to sign up to be notified of new agendas and minutes of the Urban Renewal Board actions.

An Opportunity Study was presented to the City Council showing various facade and building changes that could be done to revitalize the Uptown and give it more of a historic feel.

From the Opportunity Study, a Charrette was conducted facilitated by MSH, Architect from Sioux Falls. The completed Charrette is available and will be discussed at the May 2, 2016 City Council work session.

Urban Renewal Revolving Loan Program

Through grant funds, the Urban Renewal District is able to offer low interest loans to businesses within the Urban Renewal District boundaries. These loans are through local banks funded by Urban Renewal revolving loan funds.

Loan funds can be used for facade improvement only. The maximum outstanding loan amount for any one borrower is $20,000. The maximum loan period is three years at a fixed interest rate of 3%. An application must be submitted to the Urban Renewal Board along with a letter of credit from the bank authorizing the loan for approval at the next available board meeting. The applicant is encouraged to attend the Urban Renewal meeting to answer any questions the board may have on the improvements or building materials being used. Urban Renewal approval of loans is also based on available loan funds at the time of application.

Once approved, the letter of credit from your bank approving the loan amount and terms along with the application will be attached to the next Council Meeting for Council approval.

Once approved by the City Council, the bank can request funds from the Finance Office in exchange for a copy of the loan documents to be kept on file in the Finance Office. Monthly amortization payments will be made to the bank, which in turn will be submitted to the Finance Office to satisfy the loan.

A business can have a maximum of two outstanding Urban Renewal Loans at any one time. Any current loans must be in good standing prior to receiving additional funds.