I was pretty curios a couple of weeks ago when I started noticing Ed Butts Ford listed on closed session items for the La Puente City Council meetings.
No, they’re not negotiating for that infamous Hacienda Boulevard parcel again.
Looks like after that deal fell through, they decided to go to Plan B: asking the city help for help in remodeling their service center.
This story will be running in tomorrow’s paper:
LA PUENTE — In an effort to ride out the economic storm battering the nation and the automobile industry, Ed Butts Ford wants the city’s help in improving their service center.
The dealership is in talks with the city for a proposed earn-out plan that would allow them to get a percentage of their sales tax revenue back to pay off upgrade costs.
Ed Butts Ford is La Puente’s largest sales tax generator, earning city coffers an estimated $300,000 a year.
Among the proposed upgrades are new service equipment, computers, extension of the service drive, new asphalt and added amenities to the customer service lounge.
Ed Butts initially went to the city asking for help with $970,000 in construction work.
But the project has been scaled back and the Iannones are now looking for help with $640,000 in upgrades. The city would not be loaning any money up front.
The story will be fleshed out in the paper, but that’s the jist. Apparently, Ed Butts officials are trying to work out a deal with the bank for a loan. Once that happens, they’ll have to go back to the city and work out a deal.
We’ll see what happens this time.
