The City Council on Tuesday night voted to approve a lease agreement and a purchase and sale agreement for a new police station.
The project will be a combination of new construction and historic restoration of the former Dan River Mills executive office located at 2291 Memorial Drive. The City will lease the existing building once renovated. The purchase and sale agreement will be for a separate lot adjacent to the former executive office. The new construction will take place on this lot.
The developer plans to use historic tax credits to lower the cost of the renovation of the existing building. The historic building will be subdivided from the rest of the property and the plan is to lease that portion for 15 years with a first right of refusal during the entire 15-year term of the lease.
The developer will build an additional building adjacent to the existing historic building on a separate lot for $8 million. The City will enter into a purchase and sale agreement for this property, and the developer will owner-finance the cost of construction.
All obligations are contingent upon passage of the casino vote referendum on Nov. 3.
Should the casino referendum pass, the City will use $5,924,000 from the initial $20 million payment from Caesars to pay toward specific tenant up-fits for the new construction and to set aside two years of lease/purchase payments. After the initial two years, the City will use gaming tax revenue proceeds to pay lease/purchase payments.
Should the referendum fail, the structure of this agreement will likely change and the City Council would need to determine whether it is willing to raise taxes to cover the cost.
In other matters, City Council voted to:
- Support the creation of a regional economic development alliance.
- Support five applications for proposed Virginia Department of Transportation Smart Scale projects. The projects would provide pedestrian access improvements on Piedmont Drive, improvements on Riverside Drive from Arnett Boulevard to Main Street, improvements on Riverside Drive from Piney Forest Road to Audubon Drive, improvements on Riverside Drive from Park Avenue to Westover Drive, and construction of a roundabout on Mount Cross Road at Dimon Drive and Parker Road West.
- Authorize a cable franchise agreement with Verizon.
The City Council also held a first reading on a budget amendment for a $91,550 federal grant for use by the Police Department to establish a program for proactive police response to prevent domestic violence. A first reading is an introductory step required by City Code before some issues can be voted upon by the City Council. This step serves to provide public notice of pending action. The City Council can vote on the grant at its next meeting.
These matters took place during the Council’s business session. Also during the business session, Mayor Alonzo Jones issued a proclamation for Head Start Awareness Month and a proclamation for Fire Prevention Week.
Following the business session, the Council met in a work session. In work sessions, Council reviews non-routine matters that will be voted upon in future business meetings.
In last night’s work session, the City Council reviewed appointments to the Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Danville Utility Commission and River District Design Commission.
In other work session matters, the City Council reviewed the proposed acquisition of parcels on Stokes, Paxton and Lee streets.
Also, the City Council held a closed meeting as allowed by state law to discuss a prospective business or industry related to economic development and to discuss the acquisition of real property or disposition of publicly held real property.