By way of background: the Moscow/Latah County Economic Development Council
has been developing a plan for the Business Park for several years. It is
intended to provide space for firms that grow out of the Business Incubator
on Sweet Avenue. The Council proposes to build the park on land just east of
Tidyman's. The site has already been zoned to meet the requirements of
building such a park.
Vision 2020 originally planned to have a widely publicized and fairly
ambitious forum on the Park sometime later in November. In addition to
inviting local stakeholders, we planned to bring in people from outside the
community to talk about experiences of other similar towns that had built -
or alternatively, decided against - a park. However, we decided to go ahead
with a less ambitious forum this Sunday because on Monday, the City Council
will vote on a critical issue related to how the park will be financed. In
light of Monday's vote, we thought it was important to give people a chance
to learn more about the park as soon as possible.
Vision 2020 is commited to giving voice to a range of opinions on how Moscow
grows and develops, and clearly, the proposed Business Park is part of that
debate. During the past week, Susan Palmer and I have been struggling over
how to bring diverse perspectives to Sunday's forum without allowing it to
disintegrate into confrontation and accusations. We're still working on it.
That said, we certainly hope to see you on Sunday. Please call either of us
at home (rather than e-mailing) if you have thoughts or suggestions.
--Priscilla Salant