[Vision2020] Important meeting at City Hall tomorrow morning
Darrell Keim
keim153 at gmail.com
Wed Feb 25 14:04:46 PST 2015
Thanks, Art. Always nice to see proactive and participative city council
folk.
On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 2:03 PM, Art <abettge at gmail.com> wrote:
> Here is a link to the request for proposal document that was used for the
> 6th and Jackson.
>
>
> http://moscowura.com/content/WYSIWYG/RFP%20for%206th%20&%20Jackson%20Property%2012-01-14.pdf
>
> Note especially the document at the end concerning the Legacy Crossing
> Overlay Zone and Design Guidelines, as well as the stipulations within the
> bid document that needed to be addressed by those contributing bid
> documents to the URA.
>
> You might check with the interim URA Director, Gary Reidner for further
> documentation.
>
> Thursday morning will feature presentations from the 3 bidders (City Hall,
> Council Chambers promptly at 7AM). The URA Board will discuss the
> proposals and may make a decision, or may postpone that decision until a
> later date if they feel more time is needed to deliberate.
>
> I hope this helps cast a little more light than heat on the subject?
>
> Best regards, Art Bettge
>
> On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 1:44 PM, Darrell Keim <keim153 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> This matches the vibe I got from one of the folks at Gritman when they
>> mentioned it to me last week.
>>
>> I wonder why Gritman can't do something similar elsewhere in the URA.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 1:41 PM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The way I read today's Daily News article, it is my opinion that it is a
>>> done deal in favor of Sangria.
>>>
>>> "Project review results indicate a mixed-use plan submitted by Sangria
>>> Development for property at the southwest corner of Sixth and Jackson
>>> streets in Moscow would best fit the long-term vision for the area.
>>>
>>> A six-member review committee gave the Sangria idea top marks. A Gritman
>>> Medical Center concept for offices was rated No. 2. Two plans submitted by
>>> the Anderson Group, which owns the nearby former grain elevator, came in
>>> third."
>>>
>>> Pity, isn't it?
>>>
>>> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>>>
>>> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
>>> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>>>
>>> Tom Hansen
>>> Moscow, Idaho
>>>
>>> "There's room at the top they are telling you still.
>>> But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
>>> If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
>>>
>>> - John Lennon
>>>
>>>
>>> On Feb 25, 2015, at 1:13 PM, Rosemary Huskey <donaldrose at cpcinternet.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Visionaries:
>>>
>>> Tomorrow morning during a 7:00 a.m. Urban Renewal
>>> <http://moscowura.com/content/WYSIWYG/Agenda%2002-26-15.pdf> meeting at
>>> City Hall, Gary Reidner will announce the winner of the proposals for the
>>> Legacy Landing development at the corner of Sixth and Jackson. The Daily
>>> News covered this story extensively this morning (Thank you Terri Harber)
>>> but I wanted to add some additional background. I’ve spent the last week
>>> trying to get up to speed on the issues because the outcome has a profound
>>> effect on Moscow the surrounding area.
>>>
>>> Gritman Hospital, in collaboration with Latah Community Health (CHAS aka
>>> Community Heath Association of Spokane) proposes a building that will
>>> provide expanded health care services including dental and mental health
>>> (which are desperately needed) on a sliding fee schedule or at no cost for
>>> low income and uninsured citizens. Gritman’s ethically grounded and
>>> beautifully designed facility which will serve unmet medical needs on the
>>> Palouse will also provide significant professional and skilled staff
>>> employment opportunities with commensurate wages. It is positioned to
>>> become a model for communities throughout the Northwest, notwithstanding
>>> the rapidity with which it will become a valued member of the local
>>> business community. The Clinic plan includes a cooperative training and
>>> mentoring program with WAMI medical students at the University of Idaho.
>>>
>>> In competition, is a project proposed by the present partners of Sangria
>>> Grill, Carley Lilly and George Skandalos. Their three story building
>>> includes a restaurant / commercial space on the ground floor; 18 (300 sq.
>>> ft.) mini- apartments – which do not appear to be handicapped accessible (
>>> I hope that issue will be clarified tomorrow) on the second floor; and a
>>> roof top bar and raised bed planters on the top floor. For the life of me,
>>> I can’t imagine how the oh so trendy mini-apartments in the over-crowed
>>> urban spaces of London, New York City, Seattle, and Portland found their
>>> way to Moscow, but it does not seem to fit any recognized demographic or
>>> commercial need. Moscow is not an urban center, with limited housing
>>> opportunities. How eager would any of you be to live within a stone’s throw
>>> of the only North – South highway in Idaho, (gotta love those chip trucks)
>>> stacked above a restaurant / potential commercial space and wedged under a
>>> roof top bar? This is a veritable Dagwood Sandwich of a building. It
>>> seems silly to think for even a nanosecond that the mini-apartments will
>>> provide what is commonly known as “affordable housing.” Nothing is sadder
>>> (or more transparent) than substituting what I believe are the deeply held
>>> community values of caring for those in need of accessible medical, dental
>>> and mental health services in order to accommodate the elitist desire for
>>> another restaurant/ chic housing/ and a pretentious roof top bar (partially
>>> funded by local tax payers).
>>>
>>> According to URA guidelines:
>>>
>>> “Urban renewal and revenue allocation financing are the most significant
>>> tools available to Idaho communities for attracting and retaining
>>> businesses, generating economic development, promoting job creation and
>>> encouraging development of deteriorating and underutilized areas.”
>>> Source <http://moscowura.com/content/WYSIWYG/AICUrbanRenewal101.pdf>
>>>
>>>
>>> If economic development and promoting job creation is a URA goal, how
>>> does a restaurant and bar fit that criterion? Typically food service
>>> establishments are low wage (often below minimum wage) jobs with no
>>> benefits and high employee turnover. In this instance there may be limited
>>> job creation since an existing Sangria restaurant will simply be switching
>>> locations. I suppose the tenement-like arrangement of mini-apartments is
>>> intended to generate additional income for investors. But who knows what
>>> financial plans are pending since the Sangria proposal contains not a
>>> single word about financial issues. This absence represents a major
>>> oversight. How seriously can proposal reviewers, let alone taxpayers, take
>>> a proposal that refused to include any information about funding
>>> expectations, private investor or financial institutional backing, or even
>>> expected financial support from taxpayers via the URA? A slickly designed
>>> proposal is meaningless when it is composed of unverifiable fluff and pie
>>> in the sky thinking. Why is all financial information absent? How did the
>>> failure to provide financial data escape the notice of Mr. Reidner and the
>>> review committee? This lapse alone should have been a monstrous red flag.
>>>
>>> What will these proposals cost tax payers in URA funding? The Gritman /
>>> CHAS proposal is clear. They are paying market value for the land – and
>>> are not asking for any URA funding. The Gritman /CHAS building will be
>>> ready for occupation in ten to twelve months – i.e., early 2016. The
>>> Sangria proposal is a five year construction project with obviously long
>>> term traffic disruption on Highway 95 south and unsightly and intermittent
>>> construction at a busy community corner.
>>>
>>> The attraction of another restaurant amongst a veritable cluster of
>>> similar businesses offers little in the way of fresh, innovative uses of
>>> the land. Compared to the unique academic contributions offered by
>>> professional collaboration between the CHAS clinic and the UI WAMI program,
>>> which could reasonably be expected to bring long term benefits to the
>>> community and surrounding area, the Sangria proposal lacks both imagination
>>> and lasting connection to the community. The CHAS clinic building will
>>> offer a permanent home for local blood drives which also reinforces the UI/
>>> community connection. Students are strong supporters of blood drives and a
>>> dedicated space in a medical facility serves as another link between campus
>>> life and the larger world. The number of professional providers and
>>> para-professional staff will enrich the local economy – the old cliché “A
>>> rising tide raises all boats” is applicable in this competition.
>>>
>>> So, speaking of rising, please rise and shine early tomorrow morning to
>>> attend this meeting. The outcome matters.
>>>
>>> Rose Huskey
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> =======================================================
>>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>>> http://www.fsr.net
>>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com <Vision2020 at moscow.com>
>>> =======================================================
>>>
>>>
>>> =======================================================
>>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>>> http://www.fsr.net
>>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>>> =======================================================
>>>
>>
>>
>> =======================================================
>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> http://www.fsr.net
>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> =======================================================
>>
>
>
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