Ahead of the years-long Route 47 widening project that’s due to get started this spring, the city of Woodstock is aiming to offer relief grants to businesses along the corridor who might be affected.
The City Council approved the relief fund Tuesday in a 6-1 vote. The city is putting in $50,000 from its revolving loan fund but hopes to raise private contributions.
Council member Bob Seegers was the only no vote.
He expressed concerns about macroeconomic trends and staff time, but that wasn’t his biggest concern. Seegers floated a hypothetical scenario of a massive beef recall that could hinder a fast-food restaurant’s ability to sell hamburgers.
“My single greatest objection is that taxpayer money should never be used to subsidize a private business,” Seegers said.
Mayor Mike Turner said he appreciated Seegers’ points.
But the mayor said businesses in Woodstock and throughout Illinois receive various forms of government money. He noted businesses get benefits from public incentives like sales tax rebates or the use of tax-increment finance districts, and he pointed out Woodstock had a restaurant relief fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turner also said businesses and the city are nervous about how the long-awaited widening project will affect the companies. City officials said about 150 businesses are in the Route 47 corridor that is being widened.
The mayor said the program gets “an A for creativity.” He added in order to have an impact, the city would need to commit $250,000, which it would not do. But having seed money could spur commitments from the community, he said.
Woodstock Economic Development Director Jessica Erickson said in regards to the hypothetical hamburger shortage that the program guidelines and application are set up so businesses will have to provide objective documentation of Route 47 construction effects.
Erickson said the fund would be a competitive grant program, and applicants would need to be as “competitive” as possible to prove the need is Route 47-related.
Erickson said she has heard claims, that she said have some truth to them, that businesses on the Square often get more resources than Route 47 businesses. She said the city is looking to get more resources to Route 47 businesses.
Erickson said the goal is to leverage the $50,000 in city seed money to raise more dollars. She said it’s an easier sell to potential donors if the city invests.
The city is working with the Community Foundation for McHenry County for the program. The city will handle receiving and reviewing applications and making recommendations to the Community Foundation, which will handle the rest, Erickson said.
The $50,000 is expected to be split into two different grant cycles during construction. Erickson said if there are third or fourth rounds of grant funding, businesses would only be eligible for two grants.
The award is capped at $5,000 per cycle, but a business might not be awarded all of that, Erickson said. Donations to the fund would be tax-deductible, officials said.
Construction on Route 47 in Woodstock is expected to begin this spring and last through 2028. It was delayed a year, which came after trees were removed and other preparation work commenced.