Norco Manufacturing Corp. plans to build a 130,000 square-foot facility on 15 acres of a 187-acre parcel of land that WisPark LLC has agreed to defray some of the infrastructure costs.
Raymond-based Norco manufactures doors for the aeronautics industry and has entered into memorandum of understanding with Caledonia and WisPark. The terms of the sale have not been settled. Raymond-based DNKC Holdings Inc. owns DNKC Property Management LLC and Norco Manufacturing Corp., which are located at 2713 Nicholas Rd. WisPark is the development arm of Milwaukee-based We Energies.
“WisPark has agreed to pay $128,000 in up front pre-development costs,” said Cathy Schulze spokesperson for We Energies. “In the future, WisPark could decide to partner with another developer on the business park, but WisPark would not develop the property on its own.”
In a 6-0 vote, the Caledonia village board approved the memorandum of understanding between WisPark and DNKC Property Management at its meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 8.
“Here’s what I will say about the memorandum of understanding: It was done thoughtfully,” said village administrator Tom Christensen. “This was the right way to go and our concern was how we got the infrastructure from Highway V to the Interstate paid for. We’re not on the hook for the costs and that was the direct results of what happened with TIF No. 1.”
Caledonia still owes WisPark $280,000 from the start-up costs they invested in the TIF No. 1 project, which never got off the ground.
“We’re going to figure out how to pay them back,” Christensen said. “We’re not going to stiff them on that.”
The industrial park is bounded between 4 Mile Road, Adams Road, the East Frontage Road and just west of Highway V. Harold and Carol DeBack will sell the 15-acre parcel to DNKC Property Management. The exact location of Norco has not been determined as the sale has not been completed.
Caledonia village attorney Elaine Ekes explained to the village board that the agreement includes a contingency amendment that requires the village to expand the tax incremental financing districts No. 1 and No. 4, and to expand sewer and water out towards Interstate 94. The Village of Caledonia already has plans to extend sewer and water up Highway V to Highway K.
A TIF district is a development tool municipalities can use to attract business. The way it works is that a financing district is created and a base value of that district is established by the taxing jurisdictions. The increased value of the property is still charged at the base rate, but the district uses the increased tax revenue to pay for the infrastructure projects.
This means those taxing entities (Village, County, Racine Unified and Gateway) still receive the same amount of tax revenue before the district was created, but the increased tax revenue pays for the infrastructure costs over a 20-year period.
The village will pay $128,000 of the project cost to WisPark, but only if the project goes forward and it will only be used for TIF eligible expenses, which includes water, sewer, and storm water and road projects.
“Administrator Christensen made it clear that regardless of who develops the land, the village would be reimbursed for any incurred expenses by the TIF,” said village board member Ed Willing.
Construction on the Norco project is expected to begin in the spring. Christensen wasn’t sure whether the facility would be in addition to Norco’s currently facility or if would be replacing their facility in Raymond.
Editor’s note: This version of the story corrects the previous version to reflect that WisPark is not buying the property, but is rather helping to pay some of the infrastructure costs of the project.
