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St. Cloud City Council approves business improvement district to attract new workers

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St. Cloud City Council approves business improvement district to attract new workers

ST. CLOUD — Downtown St. Cloud property owners took matters to revitalize the neighborhood into their own hands, asking city council for permission to create a business improvement district in hopes of increasing their own property taxes to pay for improvements.

The St. Cloud City Council on Monday took the first step in granting their wishes by unanimously approving establishing the district for five years, which will now undergo a public hearing to implement the tax. The public hearing to impose the tax is expected to take place on Oct. 7, according to city documents.

“We’re not talking about asking (the city) for an investment,” downtown property owner Michelle Henderson said. “We’re not asking you for anything but the permission to do it ourselves…because this is us paying for ourselves to take care of our community.”

The new business district covers both east and west downtown St. Cloud, according to city maps, and only those areas would be subject to the potential tax. It will work with a company called Block by Block, which saw success in cities like Fargo and St. Paul, to implement the additional services outlined in the ordinance creating the business improvement district. 

Block by Block focuses on safety, social outreach, cleaning and special projects. These areas include tasks like police support, safety escorts, de-escalation, landscaping and graffiti removal. 

“These are services beyond what the city offers,” Downtown Task Force Chair Greg Winfeldt said. “These are safety officers trained in de-escalation. They’re trained in a lot of different things.”

Block by Block will hire three to five full-time employees to assist with St. Cloud’s new district, Winfeldt said. 

These services will cost anywhere from $400,000 to $600,000 annually, according to a presentation, which will be paid for by the to-be-established tax and private contributions. Nearly 60 businesses have pledged to contribute upwards of $750,000 to the project.

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Businesses are excited to see the district get approved in part due to staffing concerns. Many business leaders spoke at Monday night’s city council meeting expressing the need for a more vibrant downtown to attract workers to live in the St. Cloud region. 

“People have a lot of opportunities and choices today about where they live and work, and when deciding on a community, the downtown is one of the first things individuals and families will look at,” Greater St. Cloud Development Commission Chair Joan Schatz said. “People want to be somewhere that is growing and dynamic.”

Business leaders spoke during the meeting, saying if downtown is an energetic place for employees to spend time outside of work hours, they’ll be more enticed to stay in their current positions and not relocate, helping with employee retention in addition to recruitment efforts.

Entertainment providers, such as those who work for the Great River Children’s Museum and the Paramount Center for the Arts, also spoke at Monday night’s meeting. They said improving downtown will entice more visitors and expand the downtown experience, saying customers usually spend roughly $25 — accumulating to $1.5 million annually for the Paramount alone — at other downtown businesses when visiting their establishments. 

“We consistently see people from St. Cloud traveling to the downtown area to participate in the arts and discover what St. Cloud has to offer,” Paramount Center for the Arts Executive Director Gretchen Boulka said. “Let’s invest in downtown to keep them coming back.”

St. Cloud State University Interim President Larry Dietz said improving downtown St. Cloud could help with student enrollment in light of a decreased enrollment, which created financial struggles for the university. He said while students hope to leave campus with a degree, a good experience is also desired and that includes off-campus entertainment.

Despite the district getting approved, Windfeldt said a large chunk of the work lies with the people of St. Cloud, saying there needs to be a shift in the rhetoric around downtown.

“When we talk about a downtown, it requires people to go there, try it and experience it,” Windfeldt said. “I get a lot of negative sentiment about our community and the downtown. The problem is if everybody’s talking bad about downtown, that’s what people believe.”

Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.

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