The development of the Park of Commerce "wish" has been trekking along. This has been Scott Maxwell's wish for years now and the rest of the commission has followed suit--get it all shovel ready and developers will come.
On August 26, 2009, the City was awarded a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to develop an infrastructure needs analysis for the POC. The City used matching funds and the Study was done with a total of one-half million invested.
Over the last four years, discussion has been virtually non-existent until lately. Now it's all a part of the Commission's WISH LIST to develop the POC with your $13 million dollars doing it. Maxwell and friends have suggested a possible general obligation bond for roads infrastructure to be approved by the voters with phases 1, II, and III of the Park to be included if the bond goes forward. The city is not being forthcoming as to the exact amount they want to charge the taxpayers or if they can even get the financing.
Tonight, the commission will be voting on a professional services agreement that has been negotiated with Mathews Consulting (yes, I said "consulting") to serve as the city's representative for Phase I of the Boutwell Road Infrastructure Project (Project) in an amount not to exceed of $349,930 for a term of thirty (30) months. I don't know why they don't round the figure up to $350,000. Considering this commission has always ridiculed Studies and Consultants, just proves the importance of them when politics dictates.
So, that will mean $850,000 into the project that we don't know will ever get off the ground. We can't even get rid of slum, blight and crime. Soon we will be looking at affordable rentals there that overlook Lake Osborne. The political WISH is to make it easier for developers by obligating taxpayers to spend millions of money over decades. It is a righteous, virtuous, good, honorable, upright, decent, worthy, moral, ethical and reputable pursuit, so they tell us.
7 comments:
The City has no tax base to support providing essential services. There is no money to do most things in this city and getting rid of slum and blight without money is not easy. Most of the homes in our city pay little to no taxes to the city but they still need police protection, fire, roads,etc. I would like to know how we get out of this mess. What's the plan?
Tackle the most important issues first.
Enforce laws on the books
Stop pussy footing around.
Collect the fines. Foreclose.
Get rid of the bums off the street.
If the neighborhoods could get rid of slum, blight and consequently crime, values will go up and we would, once again, have a tax base.
Until we do this, spending millions on other things won't solve our immediate problem. All development will do is make the developer wealthy.
We need to get serious on these issues, not coddling commercial developers--they won't solve our problems as the biggest tax base comes from residential properties.
The city needs a resolution on a War against slum, blight and crime and start coddling the residents who are paying the tab...a resolution that is SERIOUS. All those whose property values have tanked, want to pay the tab as well. We all want value to go up and the criminal element out of here.
We pay a fortune on a needed service of "police protection" as you say but we have NO protection. Slum and blight breeds more crime.
This city can't tackle more than one thing at a time and they have done a horrible job on the issue above.
Is this the official Katie McG for District 1 site?
9:19 you're asking that question of the blogger that doesn't pay ANY property taxes but constantly wastes staff and elected official's time.
When we finally get a hotel developer to commit to building on the NE corner of the POC, he has been limited to 3 or 4 stories.
The POC is the place to increase height rather than our low rise historic downtown.
If we allow building up to the charter approved 100' here, it is likely we will attract a corporation or developer who will himself add infrastructure to allow creation of his commercial venture.
To even consider saddling present and potential property owners with a huge bond and even higher annual expense shows lack of vision and understanding of how to attract investment in our city.
You are so obsessed with my ad valorem tax, anonymous at 9:58. Get rid of the slum, blight and the crime and my value will be up there like it used to be. But then, you wouldn't have anything to bitch about.
Think of it like this, anonymous at 9:58--I pay my bills and what is owed, unlike you I hear. I am not in foreclosure.
A quick addition:
POC is outside of the CRA district so all City property taxes go to the City to add to our general fund instead of to the CRA which has benefited from most of the development that has occurred here in the last 10 years.
The more density and height that is allowed here, the more revenue we will get to go toward maintenance of our infrastructure and roads.
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