The Open House on the Commercial/Industrial uses topic was well attended by (you and) your fellow citizens. The gathering was facilitated by the TKDA planner, Merritt Clapp-Smith, with the C/I "work group" sitting at the table at the side of the room.
Metropolitan Council member Wendy Wulff and County Commissioner Mike Slavik were also in attendance,
at the request of some citizens.
(When Chair Palmquist had brought up at the previous Board meeting to have Met Council representation in attendance at the Open House for input, this idea was shut down. As Butch Hansen stated (supported by recording), "They won't know anything."
Since Wendy Wulff's previous input on the topic at a different Board meeting was continually being misrepresented, certain citizens felt otherwise and acted.)
Overview of Result: Citizens were overwhelmingly
against this type of use in the Township.
Topics brought up by various citizens:
There was a motion passed by a significant majority at the 2019 Annual Meeting to spend no more money on this effort. Why hasn't the Board acted on this? Why do citizens even attend Annual Meetings to give input if this input is effectively ignored?
Why hasn't the Market Study with C/I real estate brokers been updated
as recommended in the earlier Task Force report? We need an
objective assessment of the current conditions such as how much C/I space is still open in surrounding communities and the resulting consequence of having no sewer and water to offer. This formal study update has been brought up several times and yet it, too, has been ignored. Why do we spend time and effort and money on Task Forces if a "work group"
just ignores all that hard and thorough work done with the TKDA planner? (Sherri Buss at the time)
A member of that earlier Task Force and his wife came up and talked with me during the open house. They were dismayed that the recommended actions in the report were just being cast aside. I agreed.
Eventually, Eureka
will receive sewer and water services. If we allow the likely "lesser" (read tax revenue) uses such as truck depots, contractors' yards and outdoor storage now, then we are "stuck" when we do get MUSA services, as those "lesser" uses are not going to move out to open the space to "mortar and brick" uses.
Why hasn't the
fiscal impact study been done? The earlier Task Force report recommended this study as the next step if "Phase II" were to be entered into.
We need hard facts as to what this is going to cost taxpayers and what revenue it can realistically be expected to bring in. What is the net result? We're talking about added services such as streets with assessments perhaps possible only immediately at the C/I use. What about everything in between? Saying that the developers are going to pay for everything is perhaps naive at best.
Citizens were each asked to put
3 "red dots" and 3 "green dots" on the posters placed around the room depicting various C/I uses. Red indicated "no," and green was in favor. They were also asked to place Post-It notes with reasons for their "votes" on the various posters. A former Board Supervisor asked why must people place
any green dots if they don't even like the whole concept? The planner responded that that way, if the concept goes through, the Board would have input as to which uses were preferred. This, of course, ignored the idea that citizens did not want this use at all! Someone even proposed saving time and having a show-of-hands vote on the matter.
It was later suggested to me that placing green dots was like going to a restaurant and ordering a medium-rare rib-eye steak. The waiter responds by saying, "Well, we may shifting to serving only fish at this restaurant, starting tonight. If that happens, which type of fish do you want?" Response: "I'm allergic to fish. I don't want
any kind of fish. Please bring me my steak."
Waiter: "But which fish should I order for you if our policy changes?"
As it happened, the citizenry responded by placing
an overwhelming number of red dots along with their Post-It notes. A few in attendance took pictures of this response to preserve it. Very few green dots appeared. I hope the Board is listening now to the citizens and will not sanction this effort going forward.
Through question-and-answer after the "dot episode" it was (again) revealed that the Met Council has signaled loud and clear that it would not allow sewer and water in our Township until 2040 or after. It was (mis)represented that the Board in the past hadn't done anything to find out if Eureka could get sewer and water. This is
not true as was called out at the meeting. In order to get a yes or no answer, the Township would have to file a
formal request for these services. What some members of the "work group" still can't seem to understand is that, not only must there be 1,000 acres designated for more intensive development, but these 1,000 acres (which the "work group" has stated it has "covered" by its suggested zones) must be for
many uses, not just C/I, and
must include high-density housing. High density meaning three houses to the acre. Rural living at its best!!!
Not only that, but the Township would have to invest large sums for the engineering and other work required for sewer plans and a complete application
before hearing any answer from the Council. This means we could expend hundreds of thousands of dollars only to receive the already signaled answer of, "No, not at this time."
Those in attendance at the first Open House (which answered no one's questions) will recall that
Butch Hansen then stated that he had in his possession a letter from the Met Council saying it would give Eureka sewer and water. He later amended that to say he "could get" a letter from the Met Council saying it would allow Eureka sewer and water. This "miracle letter" has yet to materialize.
No real clue as to how the whole process works.
The planner has indicated that her staff would compile the results of the Open House and forward it to the Board and the "work group." The stipulation of
including the Board to simultaneously receive the information had to be added/clarified
by attendees!
I could go on, but you get the idea. Stay tuned or better yet attend the meeting for what the Board decides on August 12th.
