Village TID expansion for American Roller is on a roll – public hearing planned soon

By Jason Arndt

Correspondent

      Union Grove planning commissioners voted Monday night to recommend expansion of the village’s Tax Increment District (TID) to make room for a larger American Roller facility.

      A public hearing is expected to be called within a month to address any concerns from residents regarding the proposed expansion of TID boundaries.

      “It is not a requirement (to hold a hearing), but it is the best way to go about it,” said Trustee Gordon Svendsen, who chairs the plan commission. “We want to gather public input and see what others have to say.”

      The planned public hearing will discuss the expansion of TID boundaries. The hearing needs final approval by the Village Board in order to be held. “It has been approved so far and the Board has the final say,” Svendsen explained.

      Developer Michael DeMichelle indicated approval of the plan will double the size of the existing American Roller facility.

      However, discussions about the precise TID boundary expansion need to be held at future meetings.

      “We do not know yet, we are going to meet in two weeks to discuss that,” Svendsen said. “Whether we are just going to add where the American Roller building is going to go, or if we are going to add more parcels to it.”

      In anticipation of the TID expansion, American Roller agreed to reimburse the Village up to $20,000 for legal and engineering fees at a Jan. 27 Village Board meeting.

      The company has told village officials in prior meetings that its Kansasville facility, located on Beaumont Road in the Town of Dover, is too small and offers inadequate land space to expand.

      The proposed expansion of American Roller in Union Grove will still have to overcome some hurdles.

      “We have to establish TID boundaries and then we will actually be able to move forward and then the company will have to do a certified survey map,” Svendsen noted.

      American Roller was established in Chicago in 1938. It expanded its operations to Union Grove when it purchased Wisconsin Rubber Products in 1954.

      Subsequently, the company opened an ARCON facility in Union Grove in 1973 and has maintained its corporate headquarters in Union Grove since 1993.