Council approves development agreement with local retailer, continues project to plant more trees
Decatur, IL – Highlights from the April 7, 2025 Decatur City Council meeting include approval of a development agreement with KC Finds to support the newer retailer, and a contract with a tree farm to continue planting new trees in Decatur.
Development agreement with KC Finds
On Monday night the Decatur City Council approved a development agreement to support a newer retailer, KC Finds. After sitting vacant for two years, KC Finds remodeled the former Ace Hardware building at 2809 N Main Street, making necessary ADA compliance upgrades, and to fit the needs of their business. They invested over $275,000 into the building and the developer asked the City to provide an incentive to offset a portion of that capital expense.
KC Finds sells overstock and discount merchandise and has space for 100 independent vendors to sell their unique merchandise, a concept similar to the national retailer Painted Tree Boutiques. Council agreed to support this unique retailer by rebating a portion of the sales tax collected from sales at their store back to the business. This is essentially a pay-for-performance model where the business is incentivized to increase their sales in order to recoup a portion of the sales tax. The agreement is to rebate 50% of the sales tax collected for five years or when the developer has received a maximum of $25,000 – whichever comes first.
New tree planting using USDA grant
Council also approved a contract with Paul Tree Farm, LLC to continue planting new trees in Decatur using a portion of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) tree grant. For this batch, approximately $146,500 of the $750,000 USDA grant will pay for the planting of 185 various size trees.
The farm agreed to donate the 185 trees (estimated savings of $211,650) and is only charging for transportation, installation, root injections, fertilizer packs, and a two-year replacement warranty. They
previously donated 150 trees the first time the City contracted with them. This second batch of USDA-grant-funded trees will be planted primarily on City property such as the former Centennial/Coppenbarger School site, the Decatur Civic Center, and the Decatur Public Library.
In other business…
Council agreed to commission a compensation study for City of Decatur employment positions. It is the City Manager’s goal to make the City of Decatur an employer of choice, and an analysis of the classification and compensation of non-union positions has not been done since 1990. This study using Arndt Municipal Support will:
· Review the competitiveness of City salary structures relative to other public sector and private sector employers
· Review the alignment of classifications and compensation with market conditions
· Make recommendations to address pay disparities, if necessary, to enhance employee satisfaction and retention
The study and recommendations will take approximately four months. The study cost estimate is $35,070.
More information about these topics can be found in the City Council meeting packet, downloadable/viewable here: https://decaturil.gov/389/Agendas-Minutes
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