City of Decorah officials are discussing "a more formalized economic development policy"

City Administrator Chad Bird says the last economic development policy created for the City of Decorah was written in 1995.

With the Decorah City Council being asked to approve tax incentives for the proposed redevelopment of the former Quillin's building being the latest in a line of such requests in recent years, Bird had told city council members it would be a good idea to update the 1995 document and develop a framework for judging economic development requests.

The proposal is receiving support from city council members.  At-large Decorah City Council member Ross Hadley says the council should create a vision for what it wants for economic development.  He says too often the city council has reacted to a proposal instead of planning what it wants.  He believes projects in the Decorah Business Park have been examples of this.

Second Ward City Council member Dan Bellrichard believes an economic development policy also ought to include monitoring tax incentives to make sure they're performing as promised.  Bellrichard says "There isn't a history of going back and see (whether) this worked."