Long discussion by Decorah City Council Monday night about the proposed tax incentives to the developer of the former Quillins building

Winneshiek County Development Executive Director Stephanie Fromm met with Decorah City Council members Monday night to discuss the proposed incentives being discussed with Hy Vee to bring the grocery chain to Decorah.

A mixture of a forgivable loan and abatements of additional property taxes is being discussed as incentives to convincing the grocery chain to spend over $3 million on remodeling and improvements to the former Quillin's store in the Centrum Plaza.

Fromm said the new tenant of the former Quillin's store would strip out everything and make "significant remodeling."  The tenant has not yet signed a contract for leasing the building, however.

The incentives being discussed would total around $750,000.  City council member Dan Bellrichard said he is not opposed to the project, but wants to see figures about what that investment could bring in return.  While Mayor Lorraine Borowski said bringing Hy Vee to Decorah would broaden the community's economic base, city council member Ross Hadley worried about the impact the project would have on downtown Decorah.

City council member Johanna Bergan worried the city council would be "picking a winner" by supporting one grocery store at the possible expense of others.  City council member Randy Schissel said he found the discussion about helping Hy Vee "interesting" in the wake what he saw as the city council's opposition to the Menard's application--a statement which drew strong opposition from several other city council members.

Since Monday night's meeting was a work session, no action was taken.