Alturas Park Meeting

["bill london" <bill_london@hotmail.com>]

Peg Hamlett sent me the information below about the Alturas Park meeting.  
She agreed to allow me to forward this to the list.
I certainly like Peg's suggestions of increased public information-sharing 
on this issue and increased council oversight.  BL

-------------
>Hi Bill
>Here is a summary of what was discussed at the Admin. meeting.
>
>The Administration Meeting on Alturas Park was very well attended and a
>great education for many, including me.  Approximately 35-40 people, not
>including council or staff attended.  Two reporters attended, Ted from
>the Daily News and LJ Nisse from the Latah Eagle along with several
>students from Kenton Bird's class.
>
>Review
>    The first part of the meeting was a review and a report given by Gary
>Reidner, to allow everyone to understand how Alturas came to be and who
>is the overseer.  The EDC (Economic Development Council) is the main
>body responsible for decision making.  The City of Moscow's main
>involvement came in working with the EDC, University of Idaho and
>through the Moscow Planning and Zoning to create a new zoning district
>the RTO (Research, Technology and Office District) this happened on
>paper in 1994.  To allow for governmental involvement the city also
>empowered a URA (Urban Renewal Agency) to use tax increment financing to
>generate revenue to fund infrastructure for use in Urban Renewal
>Projects.  The URA is appointed by the City Mayor, there are 3 members,
>John Weber is the current chair.  The RTO zone is approximately from
>Fairco Mini Mart along White Ave. to Mt. View then south past Alturas
>Park.  The zone includes the Eastside Market Place, Wingers, McDonalds,
>etc.  The URA is authorized to sell bonds to pay for infrastructure
>improvement and can use the allocation fund to pay them back.  Tax
>revenues are generated by properties within the allocation area.  They
>were suspended at their existing levels when the zone was created, and
>any increase in those tax revenues (new businesses, improvements) as a
>consequence of development are diverted into the special allocation
>fund.
>
>Report
>Currently there are 47 jobs in this area due to the businesses located
>at Alturas Park.  Out of those 42 of those are technology based jobs.
>The other 5 are considered service business jobs.  I among others
>questioned how much "service"  the Walker and Anderson Law Office
>actually did, and it as a surprise that the other businesses located
>there do use their services, both Anatek and Pacific Simulation spoke on
>their behalf.  They also stated how helpful it has been to have
>attorneys on their board to help them work on attracting other true
>technology businesses.  At this point there are two new businesses
>looking at locating there, one which is now located in the business
>incubator.
>
>Questions and Answers
>
>Under what authority are the warrants purchased and does the council
>vote on the purchase?
>Warrants authorized to be issued by the URA and purchase authorized by
>City Finance Director.   They do not go before the full council or
>through Administration or Public Works.
>
>Where does the "surplus money" come from to purchase the warrants?
>The money came from the Sanitation Fund where there was a contingent
>liability fund that was invested at 3.5% the bonds are at 5.5%.
>
>Who is responsible for recruiting purchasers for the remaining lots?
>The EDC.
>
>Was the projection of selling one lot per year for six years
>unrealistic?
>The selling of the lots was close to accurate,  but the pay off of the
>bonds was not.
>
>Suggestions
>Increase the number of board member on the URA.
>
>Determine in advance the relationship between service businesses and
>technology businesses.
>
>Keep the public informed
>
>Perhaps use the council as overseer to the URA and in the purchase of
>warrants.
>
>This is just a brief summary of what was discussed. Hope this helps, I
>know the meeting helped me get a better understanding, it answered some
>questions and raised others.
>
>Peg Hamlett
>
>Also the EDC is holding a public forum on Alturas at the Eastside
>Marketplace on April 5th from 10 - 2.
>
>

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