SILT, Colorado – A new dollar store reportedly has been approved for construction along Main Street here, though officials said on Tuesday that they were not sure when work will begin, and a store representative declined to confirm any such plans.

“We’re hoping for early spring,” said Mayor Dave Moore, confirming that the chain store managers have only to pick up a building permit from Town Hall in order to start building on a Main Street lot bordered by Third and Fourth streets.

Town Administrator Pamela Woods said the building permit has been authorized, and will be available on Friday.

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Joshua Braverman, communications director for Family Dollar, told the Post Independent on Tuesday, “At this time, I can’t confirm a store scheduled for the town of Silt. Please feel free to follow up again soon.”

The Silt Board of Trustees on Tuesday night vacated an alleyway between Third and Fourth streets to make room for the store.

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The alley vacation, said Woods, would give the Family Dollar corporation an undivided parcel on which to build a 9,000-square-foot store – part of the town’s plans to boost Silt’s economy.

The ordinance vacating the alley also calls for relocation of utility lines from the alley to a proposed utility easement elsewhere on the property.

Silt has embarked on an ambitious economic development plan that is based on creation of a “blighted area” and an Urban Renewal Authority set up to facilitate development in the blighted area.

Moore said the dollar store’s construction will be part of that broader plan, along with continuing efforts to attract a grocery store, pharmacy, bank and other retail businesses to town.

“We have offered many incentives,” said Moore, although he declined to discuss the incentives until the Family Dollar corporation has closed on the property on Main Street.

“I would say they are really healthy incentives,” the mayor added.

Moore also declined to name the current owner of the property, saying that information will become public once the sale goes through.

According to the Garfield County Assessor’s office, the land currently belongs to the Silt Land Group LLC.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office lists the Silt Land Group as a corporation in good standing.

The group’s current registered agent, Carole Cooke, is not listed in local telephone directories and could not be reached by the Post Independent for confirmation of ownership.

Kevin Helmer of Glenwood Springs, who was listed as the corporation’s agent in 2004, said he is one of four partners in the group. He declined to name the other local partners due to privacy concerns, but said the group is currently negotiating the sale of the property to the Family Dollar corporation.

According to the language of the ordinance, the vacation of the alley will not be effective until the sale of the property is final.

In other action the Board of Trustees:

• Approved an ordinance to “allow for flexibility at commercial site plan review and building permit” concerning development applications in the B-2 and B-3 business zone districts (see Ord. 1, series of 2012, on the town’s website).

• Agreed to expand the lists of permitted and special uses within the downtown “mixed use overlay” (see Ord. 2, series of 2012, on the town’s website).

• Approved an ordinance setting water and wastewater system improvement fees, holding the fees at the same level as in 2011.

• Gave preliminary approval to amend the town’s fire code regulations, to eliminate requirements for sprinkler systems for buildings smaller than 12,500 square feet (look for Ord. 4, Series of 2012, on the town’s website).

jcolson@postindependent.com