Danville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to appropriate a $230,830 grant to assist with stabilizing and making external cosmetic improvements to the Commonwealth Machinery building in the River District.
The money comes from the Virginia Tobacco Commission. The Danville Office of Economic Development applied for the money after the Danville Industrial Development Authority purchased the building in 2013. The building is located on Loyal Street.
At this time, the economic development staff does not anticipate using additional city funds for improvements.
Jim Watlington owned the building and operated a machine shop there for a number of years. He retired in 2013, selling the business and equipment to Hybrid Vehicles. The company leases the building on Loyal Street for the Commonwealth Machinery operation.
The IDA uses the money received from the lease for future economic development projects.
The vote was the only item on the agenda for council’s business session. City Council meets in business sessions on the first and third Tuesday of each month. The meetings are held in the Council Chambers located on the fourth floor of the Municipal Building on Patton Street.
Following the business session, council reconvened in a work session for a preliminary discussion of the upcoming budget preparation.
In the work session, City Manager Joe King told council members that the upcoming budget process would be as tough as any. Preliminary revenue and expenditure projections will be ready for council’s meeting on Feb. 4.
A working draft of the next fiscal year budget will be prepared based on City Council's guidance, and then presented on March 4. A formal budget proposal must be introduced by April 1. Council must officially adopt a budget before the start of the next fiscal year, which is July 1.