ELKINS — The Elkins City Council unanimously approved the advancement of several Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District projects, including Riverfront Redevelopment, beginning an “engineering phase” for the projects.

During the council’s May 21 meeting, all 10 council members voted to approve Resolution 1919, “authorizing advancement of certain TIF District #1 projects and related engineering and procurement actions.”

Resolution 1919 permits the City’s TIF Advisory Committee to move forward on the Downtown Streetscape Improvements, Riverfront Redevelopment and Beautification and Glendale Park Skills Area projects. It also further authorizes the “utilization of available TIF Fund revenues and awarded outside funding sources to support engineering, design, planning and related project activities.”

In January 2023, the City of Elkins submitted an application to the state to issue bonds in order to fund projects through Tax Increment Financing, or TIF. The TIF application was approved in April 2023.

The TIF allows the city to collect any tax increases on the properties that are mapped in the TIF area for the next 30 years. The tax collections that go towards the TIF come from the City of Elkins, the Randolph County Commission, the Randolph County Board of Education and the State of West Virginia.

“This (resolution) identifies certain projects that we can finally get rolling on this year,” Elkins City Clerk Sutton Stokes told the council before their vote. “Unfortunately, none of them are what you’d call ‘shovel ready,’ and so what lies ahead is an engineering phase.”

Stokes explained that the Streetscape and Riverfront projects already had federal earmark funding for their engineering phases, so TIF funds would most likely not be needed “right up front” with those projects. According to the agenda item report for Resolution 1919, the City has approximately $500,000 in federal earmark funding for the two projects.

The agenda item report also notes that there is approximately $210,000 in TIF funds on hand, approximately $400,000 in West Virginia Division of Highways grant funding for the Glendale Park Skills Area project and the potential for approximately $1.5 million in future TIF bond proceeds.

Resolution 1919 also allows the TIF Advisory Committee to initiate the procurement process for engineering and design services “pursuant to West Virginia Code §5G.” The resolution states that these engineering and design activities are anticipated to be supported through available TIF revenues, awarded FY 2026 Congressionally Directed Spending funds, potential grant funding and such other available project funding sources “as may be appropriate.”

Stokes explained to the council that the committee would function as a “§5G procurement coordination team,” who would file the necessary paperwork, interview engineering firms and make recommendations to the City Council on which engineering firms they should work with for the projects.

Also with Resolution 1919, the City Council reaffirms its intent to support advancement of the Glendale Park Skills Area project in coordination with the local funding match.

The council previously authorized the use of TIF funds to support a 20% local match of approximately $25,000 for the design phase of the Glendale Park Skills Area project with Resolution 1915 during their May 7 meeting. The 20% local match was required to be met after the Elkins Parks and Recreation Commission was awarded funding for the project through the West Virginia Department of Transportation Recreational Trails Program, which provides approximately 80% of project costs and requires a 20% local match.

Before the council voted on May 21, Fourth Ward Council Member Andrew Carroll asked Stokes if the public should expect to see “dirt moving” a year and a half or so after the engineering phase. Stokes stated that the answer was outside of his expertise and that it would be hard to say without the consolation of an engineering firm.

The Elkins City Council will meet again on June 11 at 7 p.m. at the Phil Gainer Community Center.