Janesville City Council approves incentives for SHINE
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Janesville residents are raising concerns about a 9-million dollar incentive package for SHINE Medical Technologies, approved by the city council Monday night. Kyle Geissler reports.
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JANESVILLE — The city of Janesville and SHINE Medical Technologies are in business after a council vote on Monday approved a $9 million development agreement.
SHINE CEO Greg Piefer said amid celebration outside council chambers that he understands why some members of the community might be uncertain about his company's proposal.
"It's got the word 'nuclear' in it, which is a scary word for a lot of people," Piefer said, pledging to get offer more answers for those interested in hearing them.
City officials have been working on the SHINE project for two years, and Piefer urged residents to trust them. Piefer praised city officials and said he is already spreading the word to other interested businesses about how easy it was to work with them.
The development agreement reached Monday includes $5 million in incentives and $4 million in a loan guarantee to private investors.
SHINE would make isotopes that would be used in more than 30 different medical diagnostic imaging procedures.
The 4-1 vote came after a lengthy public hearing and a question-and-answer period between company officials and council members.
Council members Yuri Rashkin, who voted no, and Tom McDonald, who abstained, said they did so because the public did not have adequate time to digest the development agreement. Russ Steeber, Kathy Voskuil, Deb Dongarra-Adams and Sam Liebert all voted yes.
McDonald said the council has been working on the agreement for two years but the public had less than a week to review it.
"Two weeks from now, I very well may have voted in favor of this project," he said.
Piefer said his board of directors needed an answer Monday or he might have been directed to look at locating in another community.
"I want nothing more than for it to succeed, but somebody has to be fiscally conservative in this whole mix," Rashkin said. "This is a big gamble."
Councilman Russ Steeber said the vote will define Janesville's future and the council must be bold and look at the big picture.
"In the long run, the city, the region and the state will benefit from what we're doing tonight," he said.
Most of the residents who spoke before the vote urged the council to use caution in the development agreement. They cited environmental concerns, the use of precious farmland for the project and the cost of the incentives.
Julie Backenkeller asked why the city has to guarantee $4 million in loans for the project's private investors.
"Why would the taxpayers want to take this risk?" she asked. "I realize we want to create jobs, but something's not right."
Backenkeller noted the city would run utilities past vacant land to get to the SHINE facility and warned residents about increased utility costs.
Also, if SHINE is unable to raise enough money to open its facility, Backenkeller wondered if it would it come back and ask the city for more.
Tim Weber, a local builder, said Janesville needs SHINE to begin its path back toward becoming the thriving community it once was.
"Is there a risk? Yes, but there always is," he said. "I guarantee you that Mr. Piefer is refining his business model to ensure success."
Piefer and his team answered questions about the radioactive byproduct, which would be produced in small amounts. They also stressed the type of uranium used in production is not the kind used to make nuclear weapons.
While his product is still conceptual, the individual pieces of the production have all been successfully completed, Piefer said.
When asked why his company needed the $4 million guarantee, Piefer said he really likes Janesville and wanted to locate here. But it all came down to competition, and there were four aggressive communities courting the company.
The guarantee is what Janesville needed to do to be competitive, he said.
Feb 21, 2012 at 8:13 p.m.
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Way to go city council! Your short sightedness and gambling habits with other peoples money are nothing short of stunning. Good job on showing Janesville what graft and corruption is and why all four of you should get kicked out. Good luck next election you're gonna need it!
Feb 17, 2012 at 1:23 p.m.
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TTTT writes -- "Democrats have been lying about this for years, trying to get the mindless to beleive that government can support them. Unless the government has the corporations to support it, the government will fail."
Well, well, well. Guess who gravitated to government with hat in hand looking for a hand-out for support? By the time SHINE's freeloading entitlement CEO masquerading as Bill Nye the Science guy is finished, I'd guess government will have up to $40 million invested into his little scheme without a single note or bond in exchange. SHINE is just one of thousands of start-ups and corporations that has proved without a doubt that unless corporations have the government to support it, the corporation will fail.
Feb 17, 2012 at 1:11 p.m.
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One thing about that biased blog is, it doesn't pretend to be something that it isn't like most of the folks posting here at the Gazette. totellthetruth, instead of spouting your nonsense, why didn't you just post a link to Club for Growth or the RNC?
Feb 16, 2012 at 7:24 p.m.
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graymatter, with that kind of logic on TIF Ditricts, why isn't Janesville one giant TIF so we can all benefit from our own little closed-loop property assessment kickback scheme? It would be nice if everyone got 90% of their property taxes back, huh? Just think, everyone could put a new deck on their house every few years and buy all sorts of home remodeling goodies, create jobs from demand and build a nice nestegg. Who would pay for local government, roads, schools and public services? The people outside the district of course!
Feb 15, 2012 at 5:28 p.m.
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If I understand this deal, the loan guarantee will cost taxpayers $0 if all goes well. If this is a bust, it will cost the average homeowner ($120,000 assessment) about $16 a year for 10 years. The $600 grand the company will pay in property taxes pays off the bonds from the TIF. Again, if all goes as planned, the cost to taxpayers equals $0. With that kind of potential burden, Egghead, you are right. You should move away. That $16 bucks would be just brutal.
Feb 15, 2012 at 3:30 p.m.
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Here's another viewpoint on this....
http://rocknetroots.blogspot.com/
Feb 15, 2012 at 3:27 p.m.
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Give the taxpayers money away so corporations do not have to pay their way. Great idea.
Feb 15, 2012 at 1:47 p.m.
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There are no laws or ordinances that was stopping SHINE from entering Janesville. Nothing. They were free to set up as they please. Only their own greed was stopping them if the council had voted no on the extortion package.
Government IS the solution to all of our problems.
Feb 15, 2012 at 1:24 p.m.
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"The region and the state will benefit." But will Janesville?
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(1) Putting up $4 million in loan guarantees means that Janesville residents, not private investors, will be accepting the risks involved in this project. And there's no guarantee that SHINE will not be back asking for more.
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(2) The city will run utilities past vacant land to get to the SHINE facility, and Janesville residents will pay for this.
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(3) The manufacturing process will produce a radioactive byproduct. Oh.
Feb 15, 2012 at 1:08 p.m.
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SHINE Medical Technologies? Shouldn't it be GLOW? Will the plant be located anywhere near the Tuls CAFO? And what kind of operation will be locating here next? A world-class mega landfill for radioactive waste?
Feb 15, 2012 at 9:10 a.m.
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Not a good time to be a home owner in Janesville. Best of luck to you all & goodbye.
Feb 14, 2012 at 10:45 p.m.
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Rashkin was interrupted, but then told he could resume. He spoke his part, but it was nothing new. He was just restating what was already said. The council had 2 years to make up their mind about this project I don't think allowing them to hop on their soap box was going to bring any clarity.
Feb 14, 2012 at 7:58 p.m.
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I would like to propose an anthem for our city council to adopt - "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it SHINE." It could be sung prior to the opening of any city government meeting. If this seems an unwise selection, perhaps we could adopt "Home on the Range."
Feb 14, 2012 at 7:29 p.m.
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This could be either really, really good or really, really bad.
Feb 14, 2012 at 7:28 p.m.
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This could either be really, really good or really, really bad.
Feb 14, 2012 at 6:15 p.m.
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No mention in this article of the violation of Roberts Rules of order. I hope people note that Rashkin was interrupted with a nefarious move to end discussion, trying to stop disclosure of the risks for residents. Mcdonald was not allowed to voice his concerns which was a violation. Voskuil, Steeber, Liebert and Dongarra-Adams voted to stop discussion and force a vote. Who is representing residents, here, and who is representing Shine's interests? With two years of closed meetings about this deal, giving residents less than a week to review, and cutting off discussion about the financial risks, residents should be outraged, even if you support the project. Remember this at election time.
Feb 14, 2012 at 5:58 p.m.
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"Piefer praised city officials and said he is already spreading the word to other interested businesses about how easy it was to work with them." Translation: He's telling others that Janesville is full of a bunch of desperate suckers who easily hand out millions of dollars to unproven businesses without allowing time for public input. Come one, come all - get yours now, before they wise up.
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