All About Skin Requests Improvement Grant from URA
Russ Baldwin | Apr 14, 2015 | Comments 0
Jo Goff, owner of All About Skin, at 201 South 4th Street in Lamar, requested a building improvement grant from the Lamar Urban Renewal Authority this past Monday, April 13. Shawna Hodge, Community Development and Urban Renewal Manager, informed the board the building’s roof is in need of replacement, amounting to $29,102. A letter submitted by Jo Goff states that the roof continues to leak, a result, she claimed, of an inferior repair project in 2008 by a firm that is no long in business. Goff stated she lives in the building and operates her business, All About Skin, from the site. She has made interior improvements and hopes to continue to make upgrades, as well as offer a site for additional retail ventures.
Board members requested more information on the size of the grant loan, with Mayor Roger Stagner commenting, “What we have is the renter of the building, not the owner, applying for the funds.” A document accompanying the request shows that Kansas resident, Marietta Nightengale, is the owner, which included her statement indicating that, “I will not be held responsible for the payment of the note should the applicant’s business default.”
Hodge said more background information on the nature of the business should be forthcoming on the mixed-use building. In the past, it housed several different health and beauty oriented operations, but now has only Goff’s operation as well as her Christian book and gift store. City Treasurer, Kristen McCrea inquired about Goff’s ability to pay off a loan based on the business’s income and if there would be additional renters in the near future. The board discussed several options of repayment on a loan, any cash match possibilities or the amount of a straightforward grant.
Administrator John Sutherland said the URA has about $105,000 in the 2015 budget at this point and Hodge commented that, “This is the first application for funds we’ve had this year, but we know that there are more in the works at this point.” Hodge said she’d develop more information for the URA board and contact them in the near future.
On another development, Sutherland stated that it would benefit the URA board and help open another line of communication with the county if a commissioner became a voting member of the board. “We know in the past, they and other counties throughout the state believe they have been left out of the process by the way urban redevelopment programs are set up through Colorado. I think having a Prowers County Commissioner on our board would be a beneficial way to maintain open communications between all parties.”
By Russ Baldwin
Filed Under: Business • community • Economy • Featured • Lamar
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