Published: July 01, 2009 09:13 am      

City wants store proposals in writing

The fate of the Minco and Tuttle grocery stores is still up in the air.

While Williams Grocery Store owner Jeff Williams has approached the Tuttle City Council about a special tax break to rebuild the existing Tuttle store, rather than rebuild the Minco store that was destroyed by fire in May, Williams has not offered the council anything in writing.

“There has been no proposal in writing, it’s all verbal,” said Tuttle Mayor Bobby Williams. “He’s given us two- and three-year-old proposals and we will not vote on it until we get a proposal in writing.”

Williams said the council’s decision will have nothing to do with the Minco store.

“Minco needs a grocery store, it’s critical to the town whether it’s Jeff’s or someone else’s,” Williams said. “We want to keep a good relationship with Minco, they’re our neighbor and we want to work with their city council.”

Williams said the council has discussed several possible solutions to the problem, including creating a TIF, or Tax Increment Financing. However, because a TIF is meant to attract new business, it would not apply in this situation since the grocery store is an existing business.

“We’ve discussed three or four ways to handle the situation, but until something is put in writing that we can vote yes or no on, we’re not going to vote and it’s nothing to do with Minco,” Williams said.