<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">- Sir Walter Scott</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Courtesy of today's (June 22, 2013) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">--------------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "></p><h1 style="font-size: 24px; outline: none; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 27px; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-align: left; ">Hawkins shopping center: Dead or alive?</h1><p></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's been more than five years since a swath of land just west of the Idaho border along the Pullman-Moscow Corridor was purchased and word of the near-future presence of a 714,000-square-foot shopping center spread through the area.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Five years later, the ground is still undisturbed except for a few test wells.</span></p><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the intervening time, there have been numerous negotiations, a contract signed and amended, allegations of violations of state laws and a lawsuit filed, but not a significant amount of earth moved.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The sign facing the corridor is still there, reading "COMING SOON MAJOR SHOPPING CENTER," but many wonder if it's just an empty promise.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's two issues," Whitman County Commissioner Michael Largent said in reference to the holdup. "There's the OVIC (Organization to Void Illegal Conduct) lawsuit and the contract between the county and Hawkins. Two different topics, but interrelated, of course."</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A situation, he admitted, similar to being between a rock and a hard place.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><strong style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The contract</strong></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Hawkins Company, a Boise-based firm, originally purchased the land in 2008 from Whitworth University with plans to build a Lowe's-anchored shopping center there. Shortly after the purchase, Hawkins approached Whitman County with a deal. They would build the infrastructure - the roads, water supply, electricity - the foundation of what would be needed for the future expansion of commercial real estate in the area.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The county would, in turn, reimburse the company for $9 million of that cost. The county's incentive was avoiding the initial outlay for the infrastructure and the eventual return on investment through sales tax generated at the site.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Whitman County Commissioners unanimously agreed to the contract at the time, thinking it was a good investment for the area.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Shelley Bennett, owner of Palouse Commercial Real Estate owner, agreed the investment may have been worth it.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The addition of a commercial site there would be a big boon. Palouse Mall is basically full. We've got a lot to offer in the area, we just need to grow a little, which includes additional retail."</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At the time, Largent, the only commissioner remaining in office who took part in the negotiations, agreed as well.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Without tenants, however, Hawkins couldn't begin construction. Whether due to the downturn of the recession, or lack of substantial incentive, Lowe's spokeswoman Karen Cobb confirmed Friday the home improvement chain no longer has any interest in the project.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Other suitable tenants do not seem to be presenting themselves.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><strong style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The amendment</strong></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Three years after the original contract was signed, Hawkins approached the county with an amendment asking for an additional $6 million to cover the costs of building the infrastructure.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The reason why they came in with the request for more money was because they were having trouble in the current economy at the time attracting tenants at their regularly proposed lease rates," said Gary Petrovich, Whitman County financial advisor.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Despite warnings from advisors cautioning against the move, two of the three commissioners signed the agreement, putting the county on the hook for $15 million in investment for the site.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Largent, who voted against the amendment, said he felt there were a number of problems with it.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There was the size of it, the lack of legal review, the lack of certain contingency provisions, such as contingency of financing. What happens if the county can't come up with the funding to reimburse Hawkins?" Largent said.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Largent's greatest concern, however, came down to the risk to the county - despite a personal guarantee from the construction company's owner, Gary Hawkins, to cover, after the second year, any of the county's infrastructure payments not covered by tax revenue generated from the site.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Largent said he had doubts not just about whether "the tax increments generated by the project would be sufficient to service the county's debt from the project," but that it would "provide returns over and above that debt service."</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Some of the former commissioners thought that the entire $15 million could be borrowed from the Washington Public Works Trust Fund," commissioner Dean Kinzer said. "That is definitely not the case."</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"In the best case scenario, we'd still have to issue bonds for about $10 million," Petrovich said. A prospect that, he admits, makes him uncomfortable.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Whether or not the county can come up with the funds to satisfy the requirements of even the original contract depends upon how the bond market responds to the interest that Hawkins gets by tenants for their project," Largent said.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">County officials were not alone in their concerns.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><strong style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The lawsuit</strong></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Shortly after the agreement was signed, the nonprofit organization OVIC was created by constituents within Whitman County to contest the new agreement.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A lawsuit was filed alleging the county violated the state's Open Public Meetings Act by not providing the public with the opportunity to provide input on negotiations during the first amendment process.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The lawsuit is currently still pending, but OVIC's attorney, Timothy Esser, said since no construction has begun, he feels it's currently unnecessary to pursue it at this time.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If construction were to begin, however, Esser said he believes he can force a halt.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"A Public Meeting violation, if established, absolutely absolves the contract, and would render it dead and void," Esser said.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He maintains his clients have nothing against commercial development in the area - they would, in fact, welcome it. What they have a problem with, he said, is that, "It's not the function of taxpayers to be subsidizing business development."</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The issue of the Public Meetings Act violation hasn't been pushed, he said, because there has been no construction.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"As long as they're not breaking ground, we're comfortable with just letting things lie," Esser said.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In February of last year Whitman County hired Foster-Pepper PLLC to represent their interests in the lawsuit, at $225 an hour. A $10,000 cap and one-year limit was set on those services. Their services, along with another $10,000 cap, were sought in negotiations over a second amendment to the contract with Hawkins.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As yet, no agreement has been reached on such an amendment.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Whether Hawkins has determined not to go ahead with construction due to concerns about the complications created by the lawsuit, or because they still haven't found two "big-box" tenants, as required by their contract with the county, remains unclear. Hawkins representatives were unresponsive to several attempts at contact.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><strong style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The deadline</strong></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This coming January, a two-year deadline will render the amendment void.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If Hawkins hasn't "commenced construction" on the site by Jan. 30, the contract reverts to the original deal signed in 2008.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Whether Hawkins would remain interested in developing under the terms of the original contract is unknown.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Esser said OVIC would have to re-evaluate their position when and if that day comes.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the meantime, county commissioners said they will proceed in good faith with the contract they have with Hawkins, despite the fact that all three currently in office publicly opposed the amendment when it was signed by former commissioners Greg Partch and Pat O'Neill. Both were defeated in the 2012 election cycle.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"On the Hawkins end, they're looking for interested tenants. From our end, once that's accomplished and they have some firm commitments, it'll be up to us to find financing," Largent said.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is some doubt whether those tenants will be found, though.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Shelley Bennett told a group gathered for the 2013 Regional Commercial Market Overview last week that she doesn't think it's likely there will be any construction at the Hawkins site any time soon.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"At this point, from everything I've heard from brokers and developers, that is dead, at least for the time being," Bennett said.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, there is some hope, she said, for development along the corridor in the near future.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "></p><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While she declined to give any names until negotiations are complete, Bennett said she is in the process of finalizing work on a contract with a local service provider to purchase the lot next to the Toyota dealership, just west of the Idaho-Washington border.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; "><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; outline: none; float: none !important; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We need to develop the corridor, because that's the way we're going to grow. We want to grow our communities together," she said. "I'm very optimistic about it."</span></p></div></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">--------------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Remember back on January 29, 2008 . . . </span></div><div>(I've got a complete copy of the agreement in case anybody's interested)</div><div><br></div><div><img src="cid:3B32196D-6DFC-4483-8561-0D8038ABC929" alt="image.jpeg" id="3B32196D-6DFC-4483-8561-0D8038ABC929" width="640" height="828"></div><div>And on October 6, 2008</div><div><br><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/WaterRights/Steed_CC_100608.mp4">http://www.tomandrodna.com/WaterRights/Steed_CC_100608.mp4</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div><span style="line-height: 21px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);">or (in Windows Media Video, .wmv, format) . . .</span></div><div><span style="line-height: 21px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/WaterRights/Steed_Stuff_100608.mp4">http://www.tomandrodna.com/WaterRights/Steed_Stuff_100608.mp4</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">And Wally Steed on June 4, 2012 . . .</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/WaterRights/Walter_Steed_060412.mp3">http://www.tomandrodna.com/WaterRights/Walter_Steed_060412.mp3</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "> </div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">There's room at the top they are telling you still</span><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "> </span></div><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill </span><br style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);">- John Lennon<br></span></font><div> </div></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br><br><div>Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div> </div><div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">There's room at the top they are telling you still</span><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "> </span></div><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill </span><br style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);">- John Lennon<br></span></font><div> </div></div></div></div></body></html>