Argos Town Council member approved the first application for their new Business Incentive program when members met last Wednesday. However, the approval was not unanimous.
After reviewing the application where Log House Restaurant was requesting the full $10,000 in assistance, Councilwoman Suzanne Umbaugh noted the three year financial projection that was supposed to be included was missing.
Argos Community Development Corporation President Mark VanDerWeele accepted the blame for that, stating that he supplied them with the application and must have given them an outdated version.
She also mentioned that she thought that the business plan wasn’t detailed enough and she didn’t feel a sufficient amount of research had been done to justify approving the application.
Umbaugh stated, “I almost feel like they’re taking 5-10 minutes, filling out this application and we’re going to hand them $10,000. It’s just too easy, just because we know them.”
She continued, “I feel like they should put some effort in. This is Town money, if you want to hand them $10,000 with money, that’s fine but this is tax dollars that we have a fiduciary duty to handle responsibly and I don’t feel good about it.”
Councilman Dylan Colburn provided his input about the funding.
He shared, “Right now, that’s the kind of situation that we’re in. We have to use tax dollars to invest in our private businesses because there’s not enough private investment. I’m not going to let one little typo mess this up.”
Umbaugh replied that she didn’t think it was a typo and felt that the section was purposely omitted.
In regards to research, Councilman Shawn Harley mentioned that he’s stopped in to see what work is being done and Councilman Charles Randy Snead added that he’s gone to look as well.
He added that he’s asked questions to gather more information about their ongoing project. They each also voiced that the business has been in Town for years and they know they’re here to stay.
After some additional discussion, Councilman Snead made a motion to approve the application and award the business the full $10,000. It was seconded by Councilman Shawn Harley.
However, Council President George Null, Councilman Colburn and Councilwoman Umbaugh opposed the motion so it died from a lack of support.
Councilman Colburn said he was simply opposed to awarding the full $10,000 but still felt the application should move forward.
Councilman Harley made a motion to accept the application and award $7,000 instead.
That motion received support from Councilmen Snead and Colburn. It was opposed by President Null and Councilwoman Umbaugh but passed with a vote of 3-2.
Click the following link if you’d like to hear what was said during the Argos Town Council meeting on Wednesday, June 5th. The business application conversation starts around the 36-minute mark.
