A property tax rebate agreement for a new downtown business was approved by the Riverside City Council.

The council held a public hearing at their recent meeting for an economic development grant not to exceed $80,000 over a seven-year period to be given to Terry Stumpf of ICE IT, LLC. Stumpf plans to open a restaurant at 70 West First Street, where the Icehouse Bar & Grill was formerly located. No comments were presented during the public hearing, and the council awarded the tax incentives. Mayor Allen Schneider explains the council’s reasoning, “Well, I think we’ve talked for a while now about trying to get some growth in the downtown area, and this is a building that’s sat vacant for a number of years. So I can only speculate, but I think the city council would like to see something spark that downtown area and we hope this at least helps with that.”

Schneider says Stumpf is working on cleaning and upgrading the building right now and expects his business to open sometime before RAGBRAI comes through town in July.