[Vision2020] Important meeting at City Hall tomorrow morning

[Tom Hansen]

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
  
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 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
> 
> 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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