Jill Moon

Jul. 29, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- GRAFTON -- Giving away free lots if purchasers build a house garnered a plethora of national attention this week for this small river town.

"We've had a splash of media coverage," Mayor Tom Thompson said. "I wish we could tell the New York Times it started here at home."

He credited The Telegraph for breaking the story about the city's innovative plan to sell lots in Grafton Hills, which the city acquired in a buyout plan after the Great Flood of 1993. With the purchase of a lot, the city will give a credit based on the value of a home built there within a year, making the lot essentially free. Until now, the city had been unable to sell the majority of the lots. But that seems to be changing under the plan devised by a marketing committee within Thompson's year-old administration.

After The Telegraph broke the story, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter wrote about the city's plan, and his article ran in The Seattle Times. Then, a New York Times reporter called Thompson and quoted him in a story about the creative ways in which cities are trying to save money and gain revenue. Since then, St. Louis television stations and national cable news networks, such as CNN and MSNBC, have picked up the story.

As a result, Thompson received several telephone calls from all over the continental United States and one call from Hawaii from potential buyers of the lots in Grafton Hills. Half of the approximately 40 lots that were available at the beginning of June now are under contract or sold.

"We have sold or contracted on at least 16 lots -- that's half the lots, and we have five appointments," Thompson said at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. "We will have 14 new homes to be built in Grafton this year with the potential for five more. Think of the income we're going to get."

Alderman Charles Linnemeyer reminded the council of another sweet deal the city has for homebuilders. That deal is a 50 percent refund on real estate taxes to people who build a home on non-city lots in Grafton within 12 months for the life of Grafton's tax increment financing district, or TIF, which expires in 2017. The entire city of Grafton became a TIF district after the 1993 flood.

Five residences are being built because of this plan, Linnemeyer said.

"I don't know how you measure the exposure we got," Thompson said. "We will save money by not cutting grass, get $3,000 per lot for sewer and water hookup, and get revenue from property taxes."

And new residents will have a new water system to welcome them.

City Engineer Charles Juneau gave an update on the city's ongoing water line projects during the meeting's public forum. The city's new system with Illinois-American Water Co. will be done in about two weeks. A probable disinfectant problem with the 12-inch line from Principia College to Elsah Road delayed completion of the project, Juneau said.

"It has good tele-metering and controls. It's computer-based," he noted. "Communication between the elevated tower at the plant area and the pump station will be by radio communication, so operations knows what pumps are running, the elevation at the water tower, et cetera."

Cleanup and street patching are near completion.

Phase 2 of a city water project that already has Phases 1 and 3 complete is one-third installed. Timber Ridge developer Jeff Lorton, who won the bid on the part of Phase 2 that is on his property, began installation approximately two weeks ago. Ehret Inc. of Belleville will start the second part of Phase 2 when Lorton is finished with his portion.

"The town will have a much larger line; it will apply more pressure to the old Downtown part of Grafton," Juneau said. "These are major water main projects for the community. It's nice to see them coming to an end."

The city also is seeking multiple grants for still more water main improvements, as well as infrastructure, small businesses and supplemental buyout program money for the city's portion of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant that requires the city to come up with a 25 percent match.

In other business Tuesday night, the City Council approved a business license for Bill Brendel of Brendel Architects for lodging and overnight stays on West Main Street. The council laid the item over from the last meeting's agenda, because aldermen needed clarification that the business license would pertain to rental from only the part of the structure that was out of the flood plain. They received clarification and unanimously approved the business license Tuesday night.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0241-47430532