By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The developer of a proposed new Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Alabaster has until Oct. 1 to approve an agreement with the city after the City Council voted to delay the closing date for a second time.

During its Aug. 19 meeting, the Alabaster City Council voted to delay the closing date for the project’s developer, Highway 11/31 II, to give the company more time to finalize its deal to purchase the property.

The delay came more than a month after the council voted to delay the closing date until Sept. 1 for the proposed development, which would be constructed next to Target in Alabaster’s South Promenade shopping center.

“There are a lot of moving pieces with this,” said Alabaster Council President Scott Brakefield. “Every parcel (in the South Promenade) has to sign off on every aspect. It’s been an administrative challenge for them to get everything in order.

“We delayed it until October, but they feel confident they will still close in September,” Brakefield said.

In May, the Alabaster City Council approved an incentive package for the development, which could total up to about $1.9 million over the next 10 years.

The incentive package is tied to the city’s sales tax, and uses a tiered system over a 10-year period.

Alabaster currently charges a 4 percent city sales tax, with 1 percent going to the city’s school fund to support the upcoming Alabaster school district. The incentive package will only apply to 3 percent of the city’s sales tax collected at Dick’s and any outparcel development built between McDonald’s and O’Charley’s, leaving the 1 percent earmarked for the school fund intact.

Alabaster will reimburse the developer for 90 percent of the 3 percent city sales tax collected at Dick’s and the outparcel development during the first year the Dick’s store is open.

The city will keep 5 percent more of the sales tax revenue collected at Dick’s and the possible outparcel development each year through the 10^th year the Dick’s store is in operation.

The total maximum value of the incentive package is capped at a little more than $1.9 million. If the cap is reached in fewer than 10 years, the incentive deal will end. If the cap is not reached in 10 years, the incentive deal will still end.