Just Like the Good (?) Ole Days

Monday night’s city council meeting was a replay of the good ole days: My kinsman Ken McDermott, a well-known mover and shaker, was there wanting to buy a vacated section of Washington Street for 50 cents a sq. ft. (The open lot kitty corner from Bent Rim adjacent with three old elegant oaks on it.) 

I was there having recently bought the vacated section of 2^nd Ave. NE. Beyond the obvious: 2 vacated city streets, there is virtually no comparison. Councilman Andy Kelchen inquired what I’d paid. Ans: $500 in legal and recording fees and $1,200 i.e. 15 cents a sq. ft.

Councilman Mick Delany did the math reflecting the differences between them and came up with $1.78 a sq. ft. Those differences include:

1)      It is on the high value end of town

2)      Not in or adjacent to the flood plain (or put there by city development)

3)      Little or no fill will be required to make buildable lots

4)      Sewer & water hook ups are readily available and no sump pump will be required to have flush toilets on the main level or lower levels.

My kinsman McDermott is interested in buying the property to subdivide it and use the street to make more spacious lots. He and his Mom & Dad have not mowed the property for 75 years! In fact, two other people currently own it. By contrast, I am not a developer and “my” is buyer having reservations about installing a sump pump.

My kinsman Ken is right about one thing however—he complained “the city was always-helping developers”— I couldn’t agree more. From the days of Dan, the Con Man, Conrad (late 1980s), to Callahan Construction (90s) to Beck (2000s) to the last $50,000 the city gave Jesse Loewen, too much tax money has gone to developers.

This is indirectly connected to the other major item on the agenda—the tennis courts in the community park, which council has been struggling with since last summer. Understandably, council does not want to spend $70,000 (the high estimate) to resurface the courts and nobody will guarantee any cheaper fix. Worse, the whole issue is complicated by drainage problems.

A critical eye cannot help but observe that when developers go off with a large share of the city budget and the state forces us to build a sewer plant to accommodate their businesses, there is not enough money to resurface tennis courts or rebuild the swimming pool. There isn’t even enough to provide all citizens decent water as my (See my 25^th Aug. post). If a developer wants to pay 50 cents a sq. ft., you can bet it is worth 3 or 4 times that.