RE: Alturas and the Future of Urban Renewal Business Forum

[Fritz Knorr <fritzk@moscow.com>]

B. J.,
I deeply regret that my message that was forwarded to the vision2020
listserver distressed you.  I understand that you feel that I wrote
falsehoods about the project.  I would like to retract the falsehoods, and
ask for your forgiveness.  

It's all Bill London's fault.  I went as a favor to ask his questions.  He
broke his leg, you know, and I volunteered to be his proxy.  Then, I
reported my answers back to him.  I did give him permission to forward the
message, so he didn't violate any confidentiality.  But it did make me look
like a fool, since I got it all wrong.

Could you please do me a favor, and answer Bill's questions:

Question 1:  What is the geographical area of the tax increment finance
district?
and, Is it true that all the property taxes from the "Wingers" building are
going to the Alturas Development?

Question 2:  Since the project was represented as a place for high tech
companies to "graduate" to from the U of I Business Incubator, why was a
downtown attorney's office recruited for Alturas?  and,  What kind of
restrictions and what kind of public oversight are on the types of
businesses that can operate in the park?

Thank you, I apologize for misunderstanding the presentation.

Fritz Knorr


At 02:18 PM 3/29/00 -0800, B. J. Swanson wrote:
>
>Everyone,
>
>I would like to reiterate Dave Potter's invitation to the community to
>attend the Alturas Forum on April 5.  Again, if you don't eat, it's free.
>Speakers will give background and numbers but the purpose is to encourage
>everyone to ask questions, make comments and become informed.
>
>There is obviously a wide gap between perception and reality on this issue
>with misinformation running rampant.  Why was the City meeting not better
>attended by those who don't understand or have some problem with Alturas?
>Gary Reidner gave a clear, understandable presentation on the history and
>purpose of Alturas.  I sat behind Fritz Knorr at the City meeting and, after
>reading Fritz's comments, wonder if we were at the same meeting.  The Daily
>News did a much better job at objective reporting and I trust LuJane will do
>the same.
>
>Do you think for a minute that if Alturas was not there and Eastside
>Marketplace had not been resurrected that there would be anywhere near $5.6
>million in growth in that area?
>
>Remember, the land where Alturas is located was previously designated to be
>zoned Motor Business.  Please compare the allowed uses in the Motor Business
>zone to RTO (Research, Technology, Office) zoning and decide which you would
>prefer for that area.  Understand that RTO includes OFFICE; ie, law offices,
>financial, engineering, etc., that lend viable support to research and
>technology.  Both Pacific Simulation and Anatek said that John Walker's
>legal expertise has been utilized by them and is a welcome addition to the
>Park.
>
>Finally, please take a look at the website in Stephen Cooke's post of
>1/27/2000, http://niip.wsu.edu/Idaho/selindid.htm, regarding Latah County
>population, jobs, income.  Pay particular attention to Total Industry
>Earnings and Average Earnings per Job and see that Latah County is falling
>way behind the State of Idaho and the United States in earnings growth.
>Then realize that the 47 jobs in Alturas contribute over $2 million annually
>in payroll to the community.  These jobs could have easily gone to
>Washington, Oregon, etc., who are able to pay incentives to lure away those
>types of businesses.  Let's not forget Advanced Hardware Architectures that
>was lured to Pullman because we did not have an Alturas or other suitable
>place for them to locate.  Now, Bend Oregon is trying to lure away Cylant
>Technologies with a substantial cash incentive.  Tax Allocation Financing is
>probably the best tool the State of Idaho offers to ward off the stiff
>competition.  It is complicated, but the economic benefits to the community
>are real.
>
>Again, please come to the Forum; listen, learn, comment and decide for
>yourself what contributions/benefits Alturas has made and will continue to
>make for our community.
>
>B. J. Swanson
>
>
>