A waste of time
Mike Mercer, Emporia
Saturday, November 29, 2008
AS A CITIZEN of Emporia I attended the town meeting about the Lowe’s development, hoping that I would get some answers. There were other citizens there like myself that had their own questions, and I would say that the atmosphere was very professionally handled at the start of the meeting.
As people realized that the most important item on the agenda for the night, and in recent history, were Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 on the agenda you could sense the atmosphere changing. Something of this magnitude for the City of Emporia should have been No. 1 on any agenda, probably should have been the only thing on the agenda.
As people sat there and waited through things like can we drink alcohol at the Granada Theatre and other important things, you could sense a doubting attitude in the crowd. I myself came to the meeting with an open mind, hoping that the Lowe’s deal was not a done deal in the commissioners’ minds.
As the meeting progressed through the other “items” on the agenda, and into the hottest topic in town for who knows how long, I like many others were perplexed at why the developer and his people were given an eternity to present their case, and we as taxpayers of Emporia were given five minutes apiece. The sense crept into the minds of many that this was a done deal before the meeting even started; I sincerely hope that Mayor Agler holds true to his word that this is not over, and really looks into this.
The questions listed below need to be answered and clearly defined to the taxpayers of Emporia:
1. Please explain how the TIF works and what is its purpose? How much of the financing are we the taxpayers responsible for? What is the developer responsible for?
2. How in the world are we going to prove a pasture is a blighted area? Do the cattle have mad cow disease? Seriously, what are the criteria here and how are we going to prove that blight exists here?
3. I personally asked about the traffic issue on Industrial Road, and appreciated seeing the traffic studies at the meeting. The concern here should be the weight of the vehicles. Does traffic study take into account the weight of the vehicles? Argument was presented here about the detour from the highway construction going through here, and also the fact that Graphic Arts Road was closed. The bottom line here is that the amount of semi-trucks delivering things to the businesses there, as well AS leaving from the industries there, the amount of truck traffic will always be there. School bus traffic will always be there also, as well as truck traffic going to travel plaza there. The comparison of traffic here to 12th Avenue and Chestnut Street is an unfair comparison because there is not the same weight of traffic.
4. Why was it necessary to overturn the zoning committee’s decision? 5. Do we have enough industry-type jobs to support more commercial growth? When Emporia was really strong, we had a strong Iowa Beef, Modines, Diddes and jobs like these to support our local retail businesses. With the Hill’s plant coming to town this will help, but we really need more Industry.
I agree that the city needs to be progressive in its growth, but I also believe that the taxpayers deserve that their questions are answered truthfully and to the point. There has been a distant relationship between most citizens here and the city government for a while now. For the city of Emporia to grow this has to come to an end.
Personally I feel The Gazette could have and should have done a better job of reporting the town meeting, a lot of facts and figures here that most of the public didn’t see. Maybe we should use Channel 18 better and have a continuous message board on there.
I know that sometimes I seem like I am over critical, but as a parent of four children as well as a grandparent, I have a vested interest in the growth of Emporia. Where are my children and grandchildren going to work? I have two children in college now, and I really don’t see the growth of jobs for college graduates that we really need. Comparisons of Emporia to Overland Park and Lawrence are unfair and not practical.
The town meeting was a great idea that turned bad in a hurry. If you really want to serve Emporia correctly, more listening and better communications is the key.
Comments
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Posted by gardenman (anonymous) on November 29, 2008 at 7:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You are absolutely right in your feelings Mr. Mercer in the
fact that everything was "cut and dried" so to speak. The
current city commission does not possess the ability to see
past the end of their noses nor think about present and
future benefits or pitfalls to Emporia. Someone has painted a
rosy picture and sold them a bill of goods whereby someone's
pockets may be further lined; perhaps maybe even some of
the current commissioners.
Posted by photobuggy2 (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 4:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. Mercer has several good questions. What say you Comminisioners, got any good answers?
The same people that want to build Lowes here, also own the old Big Lots store...why don't they want to use that area?
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