The agreement with the county should have been completed
prior to asking the city residents to fund a 2.5 million bond levy. If I
were a county commissioner, I would wait until after the election before
making an agreement, thus if the bond passes I would enter into a lease
arrangement that would cost the county fewest dollars possible, and if the
levy failed, would look at funding capitol costs.
While the intent may be to offset the costs to the city
residents with county money, the levy for 2.5 million is still asking city
residents to fund entire amount of construction. This is
putting the cart before the horse.
Quite frankly, I feel that building a new station in the
northern part of town, or even just north of town, is a good idea. The
growth to the north and east is continuing, with the housing construction in
the county also growing. Those houses, either in a city development or
on a county parcel, will need the station.
However, the reliance of property tax revenue, especially
limited to one segment of the protected population, needs to be
questioned.
John