By JOSEPH S. PETE, Daily Journal of Johnson County Staff Writer
Greenwood taxpayers will pay the bill for attorneys and a financial consultant who put together an incentive to lure destination outdoor retailer Cabela's.
The effort to bring a Cabela's store left the city of Greenwood with $130,000 in bills and an uncertain future for a tract of torn-up dirt.
The city owes $68,000 to a bond attorney at Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller, $28,000 to a financial consultant and $34,000 to the redevelopment commission attorney.
In addition, city officials spent dozens of hours courting and planning the site for the Nebraska-based retailer, anticipating a boom of economic development.
The Johnson County Devel-opment Corp., to which Green-wood will contribute $40,000 this year, spent a year-and-a-half selling Cabela's on a Greenwood site. Even state government employees reviewed the project, all at a cost to taxpayers.
Because of flagging sales and a downturn in the economy, Cabela's announced a slowdown in its national expansion plan, putting off stores slated to open this year, including one in Greenwood.
As the economy has soured, the company's stock has dropped 40 percent since October, closing at $13.93 per share on Wednesday.
Cabela's has no timeline for when the Greenwood store will open, but it wouldn't be until 2010 at the earliest, a spokesman said.
"I hope this isn't another instance of spending money to get nothing in return," city council member Ron Bates said. "You don't want to throw tax dollars after nothing."
Fees for the financial consultant and redevelopment commission attorney will be paid for out of the city's eastside tax-increment financing district, which captures property taxes from new development in the area.
Those property tax dollars go to infrastructure improvements in the area instead of schools, libraries and city services. They also pay the monthly bills for an attorney and financial consultant, who help plan TIF projects such as the upcoming expansion of Graham and Worthsville roads.
Normally, Ice Miller would have been paid from proceeds when the bond was sold, redevelopment commission attorney Stephen Watson said. With the project's delay, those fees probably will be paid through tax-increment revenue funds instead of the bond.
If Cabela's closes on the bond, the proceeds Ice Miller would have received would be returned to the tax-increment financing district and used to pay debt for projects such as widening Worthsville Road.
Ice Miller hasn't brought up with subject of payment with either the redevelopment commission or the city clerk-treasurer's office.
The city invested more in the project than just professional fees.
After the project was announced, city planners and engineering staffers spent collectively more than 50 hours helping Cabela's develop the site, senior planner Bill Peeples said.
Because of the size and complexity of the project, planners met with Cabela's representatives eight times, instead of the customary three times with commercial projects.
Cabela's has paid the city nearly $3,000 for the staff's time in standard fees to review its plans for site development and sanitation.
City staff helped Cabela's contractors with drainage, sanitation and synchronization of the development with the planned expansion of Graham Road this year.
The 102-acre site, which is south of County Line Road and between Graham Road and Interstate 65, falls into the airspace of the Greenwood Municipal Airport, meaning it's regulated by the federal government.
Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration became concerned with migratory birds, which can interfere with planes taking off and landing. The seven-acre rainwater collection pond Cabela's planned would have attracted such birds.
So federal officials required Cabela's to put landscaping around the pond to discourage the birds, Peeples said. Birds avoid ponds surrounded by brush so they won't be vulnerable to predators.
Cabela's also needed federal approval to add an access road off of County Line Road to give customers more than one entrance to the site. It requires special approval to put in a turn so close to an interstate interchange, Peeples said.
When Greenwood officials last met with Cabela's, city of Indianapolis and Indiana Department of Transportation officials sat in on the meeting to discuss road issues. Indianapolis planners decided that Cabela's wouldn't be required to pay for any improvements to Arlington Road, a two-lane road that turns into Graham Road south of County Line Road.
Other than extra meetings, there was no more public expense for the Cabela's project than for any other project that comes before city planners, Peeples said.
Planners often invest time and effort into projects that are later abandoned, although it's more common with residential subdivisions than with retailers, he said.
But most developers bring their plans before the city, while Henderson and Johnson County Development Corp. executive director Cheryl Morphew spent months trying to attract Cabela's to the site.
Morphew, who called Cabela's officials shortly after the announcement, said she's sure the time, tax dollars and effort invested will pay off eventually.
Given the economic climate, Cabela's no longer could build eight new stores a year, as it had planned to do, Morphew said.
"People have less disposable income, and they won't be looking to spend that at a Cabela's," she said. "They'll spend that money on gas, groceries and school supplies."