When the Atlantic City Council gathers at 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, they’ll start the meeting by paying special recognition to the Trojan varsity Girls Softball Team. The girls finished in 4th Place at the State Tournament. Prior to their strip to State the Trojans beat Anamosa in a memorable 11-inning game. They ended their season at State 34-7, setting a record for the program. The Mayor and City Council have made it point to recognize the positive achievements of Atlantic’s students.

Afterward, the Council will receive a presentation from SWIPCO Community Development Director Alexsis Fleener, with regard to an Upper Story Housing Grant Conversion Program offered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), through the CDBG program. During the Council’s last meeting, Fleener said they’re looking to obtain grant funds for a project at 509 Chestnut Street, which would see the upper floors converted into two new residential units.

A public hearing will be held after the presentation, as part of the application process to IEDA, for the aforementioned CDBG program. If the Council approves SWIPCO proceeding with the application, and the funds are approved in the next round of grants, the City would simply act as a “Flow through” agency for those monies, and otherwise will not have a financial stake in the matter.

The Council will also act on approving an agreement with The Retail Coach, for retail recruitment and related services, at a total cost of $32,500, which is less than their original proposal of $35,000, and includes reimbursibles for some services. City Administrator John Lund says he has completed re-working the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) Progress Budget to accommodate the proposal, if the Council approves the agreement. He says to recover the cost of the investment, new retailer(s) in Atlantic will need to generate over $7.1-million in net taxable sales over a period of several years. New sales taxes generated would be distributed to all the taxing authorities in Cass County, according to Lund, and new commercial property value will benefit all the taxing authorities within the City limits, thereby creating downward pressure on the tax levies.

As part of the agreement with The Retail Coach, the City will receive the following services:

• A market analysis of competing communities, a customized retail trade area map with demographic and psychographic profiles, based on current cellular geolocation data.
• A determination of retail opportunities, including gap analysis and consumer propensity report.
• A development and redevelopment strategy, including 310 development sites and 20 retail site profiles.
• A list of 35 retailers and 20 developers, with their contact information.
• Development of a custom marketing and branding package for retailers, developer opportunity package, online retail dashboard and interactive site mapping, to track progress and response to proposals.
• Recruitment of retailers and developers by The Retail Coach, with status updates on the dashboard and monthly recruitment updates.
• Attention to the downtown retail trade area, with its own custom retail map, workshops with business owners, and more.
• And, ongoing coaching and support from The Retail Coach team, as well as representation of Atlantic at regional and national retail industry events (including the International Council of Shopping Centers [ICSC] recon, in Las Vegas.