Jeffersonville gives $10,000 to ice cream shop

Clark County

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April 26, 2012

Jeffersonville gives $10,000 to ice cream shop

By DAVID A. MANN david.mann@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Apr 26, 2012, 01:40 AM EDT

JEFFERSONVILLE — Jeffersonville’s Redevelopment Commission agreed Wednesday night to give $10,000 to Chillers Microcreamery, a new ice cream store coming to Allison Lane next month.

The money — to be used for improvements to the new shop — will be coming from the commission’s operating budget, which comes from tax increment finance district and other revenue.

Chillers requested the money under the commission’s facade grant program, which doles out funds to businesses looking to improve their buildings.

What makes Chillers’ request unique is the fact that the building is new construction and in the past the facade program has only given money to those looking to fix up older buildings. Hence the commissioners’ decision to pay it out of operating funds, rather than the grant program.

According to Executive Economic Development Director Rob Waiz, Chillers franchisee Gary Tretter was told by the previous administration last year he would get the money.

“If he was promised something, regardless of the administration change, we should at least consider doing it,” said Dennis Julius, a commission member.

Following some discussion in which board members agreed to tighten up the program so that it only applies to existing buildings, members unanimously voted to approve the grant. Further, the board agreed that it would not hear any more requests from applicants who say they were promised money by the previous administration. If such cases exist, they’ll have to re-apply for grant money.

Chillers is a spinoff franchise of Zesto, a New Albany favorite. It’s to open at 2314 Allison Lane, just across the street from Jeffersonville High School, in May.

They offer original recipe ice cream made in the store, fruit-mixed yogurt, as well as quarter pound all beef hotdogs, chicken sandwiches and pulled barbecued pork.

The business has other locations in Sellersburg, Scottsville and Louisville.

BOND ORDINANCE UPDATED

In other business, the commission updated a recent bond ordinance to include mention of the Market Street interceptor project. That $30.8 million project — which is to construct a 4,500-foot long, 12-foot by 8-foot pipe under Market Street and up to 10th Street — is being offered as a fix for combined sewer overflows. The city is under legal pressure from state and federal regulators to fix the overflows, as they violate the U.S. Clean Water Act by washing untreated sewage into local waterways.

It’s a sewer project, not a redevelopment project but a bond is being issued in part to reimburse the commission for property acquired for that effort.

Attorney Les Merkley said Wednesday’s update was necessary as the bond ordinance needs to specifically mention the project for which the commission is being reimbursed. Previously the bond ordinance didn’t mention the interceptor but instead listed a stormwater conveyance system — or canal — proposal.

The canal proposal is still in the bond ordinance language but officially on hold as of January.