A revolving low or no interest loan fund to assist local businesses plus development of a city website and community promotional items rose to the top of the list of projects when the Boulder Development Fund (BDF) Board met July 11.
Under the proposals, $100,000 from the $500,000 granted by the state legislature would become a revolving loan fund to help expand, enhance or improve businesses and their buildings. That could include a wide array of items, including bringing in high speed internet and other technology advances, said the board.
Other funds, estimated just under $50,000, would be dedicated to creating a city website, along with training staff to post updates and make changes to keep the site current. The project would also cover developing a community brand, including a logo, typeface, tagline or slogan, and adding that brand to community signage. Gateway signs welcoming visitors to Boulder could also be part of that project, said the board.
Land Solutions was asked by the board to oversee the preparation of those two proposal packages for consideration by the city council. For their economic development facilitation, helping the community to move projects along and write grants, that firm would be paid $20,000, said the BDF board.
The board agreed to make those recommendations to the city council at their July 16 meeting. After hearing the recommendations Monday evening, the council voted unanimously to approve sending those proposals to the Department of Commerce for review. They also voted to hold a special meeting on Monday, July 30, to accept public comment on the proposals. That meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at city hall.
At the BDF meeting, Boulder Mayor Rusty Giulio expressed optimism that the board is moving in the right direction. He also said he considers getting high speed internet into town a top priority.
“If we can get that done, I really believe there’s a lot of positive things are going to happen,” he said.
The BDF board also discussed a number of other potential projects: expanding infrastructure near the cemetery to allow for housing development; carrying out an inventory of city buildings; improving the parks with bathrooms and playground equipment; and improvements at the fairgrounds.
After discussion, though, they decided to limit their recommendations to two packages plus the Land Solutions assistance. Those have to be presented to the state Department of Commerce for review, and the BDF said the two initial packages would provide guidance on how that process will go.
“This will sort of test the waters,” BDF liaison and council member Drew Dawson said.
