Developers response to council meeting
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Monday evening, February 6, saw another exciting meeting at City Hall for the Microtel Hotel Development Project. A person decided to seize the opportunity to speak against the hotel development again, ending his speech by calling the whole project stupid. As a tax payer of Chester, I take offense of his calling the desire for growth and change, the opportunity to create jobs, both temporary construction and permanent, and the expansion of the tax base for both the city and our school systems stupid and, in my opinion, so should all residents of Chester.
During my research in this project, I discovered a few interesting figures. According to the Randolph County Treasurer's Office, Reids Best Western paid hotel taxes amounting to just under $35,000 for 2011. Those taxes are based on a 5% rate which the County has set. Knowing those public numbers, and doing the calculations, the amount that Best Western grossed for 2011 was approximately $700,000.
So many arguments have surfaced in opposition to the Microtel Hotel Development Project. One such argument stemmed from a group of 'concerned citizens' that did not wish to be identified. They took it upon themselves to hire an attorney in St. Louis who sent a letter to the City Council demanding an 'impact study'. The City hired a firm to do an impact study, which had never been done in the fourteen year history of the TIF district, and was completed about two months later stating that in the firm's opinion Chester could not support another hotel. After receiving a copy of the findings, the Microtel Hotel Group provided the City with a list of two fully typed pages of questions that have never been fully answered.
Another argument has been the use of TIF funds for competition. The first question that arises is "Where was this argument when Welge-Pechacek Funeral Home or Ace Hardware opened?" Regardless of the competition, TIF funds can be used for the improvement of a blighted area to promote growth and development. That's the whole purpose of a TIF district - to develop an area that is blighted. Who can argue that the old Hi-3 Hotel is not a blighted area?
Still another argument has been the use of TIF funds that are tax payers' money and the harm that it could potentially do to our school systems. By allowing the Microtel Hotel development, the real estate tax base for our city and school systems will increase as well as the amount of taxes that our city and school systems receive. It is money for all the taxing bodies. . I find the signs that are still displayed in people's yards, stating 'Support Schools, NOT a TIF Hotel', stupid.
Lastly, I have never seen or been a part of such an intense campaign waged against an extremely positive development. According to several citizens, if Best Western is full, there are plenty of rooms available in Perryville. Why should we give another municipality the benefit of our overflow when we could have the benefit here in and for Chester? The Microtel Hotel Development Group feels that there is a need for another hotel in Chester and decided it was worth the risk, financially and personally, to build it. Was anyone ever asked if another hardware store was needed before it was built? The owners have the risk of success or failure, not the tax payers. The Microtel Hotel Development Group feels that it is worth the work and risk. It is extremely disappointing and saddening to me and my group to see such a small but loud outcry against growth, development, and job creation for the town that so many of us have lived in since birth.
J.W. Best and Microtel developers