Field of Dreams

Due to the brief amount of time I have to write this I apologize ahead of time for any grammar errors and verbiage. The vacant plot of land across from the Post Office on Racine Street has attracted a flurry of enthusiastic opinions from all angles since Dr. Larson made another offer to purchase the land for $57,500 which is ½ of the asked listing price. His intent is to build a parking lot on ½ of the parcel while leaving the other green space.  He has stated that acquiring the lot would be a benefit by allowing him to retain the current business that is leasing the upper level of his building located next to the Racine Street Bridge.

There have been many arguments from various people stating the offer was too low (which I am in total agreement with) but there has also been an array of statements as to why Dr. Larson should not be allowed to purchase the property at all.  They range from accusations that Dr. Larson is being a shrewd business man molded in the image of Donald Trump to the area of interest being a gateway to our downtown and something more than a parking lot needs to be placed on that property.  My position is as long as the offer is substantially close if not equal to the asking price it should be accepted, resulting in tax revenue and reduction in city maintenance…as long as City Hall can come to an agreement of which of the three total square footage numbers given for the property is correct.  Menasha should not be playing the future’s market with land…we have a bad track record of success.  There are many arguments against the sale and I would like to address them one at a time.

1)      The city spent $282,000 to acquire the property and we need to get a good return.  With some of the comments referring to the city acting like a business on the issue of selling this parcel, the first reminder is no business would spend three times the actual value of any property to turn around and sell it knowing that the sale would only recoup one third of the investment.  Relying on long term incremental income such as taxes to account for the remainder is very unwise as the future holds no guarantees.  The taxpayers spent $282,000 to acquire this property and today it takes $1.19 to have the same purchase power as the 2004 dollar.  It will take $335,580 today to pay back the taxpayers for the $282,000 investment when comparing dollars to dollars.  With the current rate of inflation, next year if the parcel is not sold means an additional $9,060 (2.7% increase each year) will have to be added to the present $335,580 value to receive an equal dollar amount back for the investment the taxpayer made for the acquisition of the property. The steam plant, Lake Park Villas and a large chunk of our 11 TIFs are a testament as to how a long term, city anticipated incremental payment plans turn out…disastrous.  The cold reality remains that the taxpayers, once again, will never see a full repayment of the investment their tax dollars paid for. 

2)      A parking lot will not generate much tax revenue for the city.  It is true that a parking lot will not generate as much tax revenue as a commercial building, however, it will generate more revenue for the city than it does as a vacant plot of land sitting in the hands of the city and not taxed at all.  The unique aspect of the situation is the only devised plan that was ever conceived for the property in the past which was presented to this current council was outlined in Resolution R-39-04 dated December 20, 2004 where it states that the purposes for this land included a parking lot…and a diagram dated September 24, 2007 was given to the current council and it depicts a parking lot on ½ of the property and green space on the other half…same concept Dr. Larson wants utilize the land for.  There appears to be a back-slide on that original plan by the city and on November 19, 2007 Resolution R-19-07 was passed that required other options to be explored for the property and directed the Plan Commission and Redevelopment Authority to study all uses for the property…the results from those studies, if they occurred, have not been presented to the current council.  It appears as though the city is flying by the seat of its pants and does not have a goal or plan for this vacant property.

3)      A parking lot will not have an aesthetic look to it.  With the current requirements by the city when it pertains to parking lots this is not correct.  The city adopted regulations that require new parking lots to incorporate green space to make the appearance of the area more aesthetic.  This, at least in my opinion, is an invalid point.

4)      If Dr. Larson agreed to develop his current property more so the city would collect a higher tax amount from it then the parking lot would be acceptable.  Making a demand that someone needs to develop or increase the tax value of another owned property in order to purchase a separate piece of land in my opinion is counterproductive on enticing businesses to consider Menasha as a home and borders on extortion.  Imagine owning a home within Menasha and deciding to invest money and purchase a vacant piece of property for sale by the city, but you were only allowed to complete the transaction if you doubled the current square footage of your existing home so the city could be guaranteed to collect more tax revenue from you. 

5)      It is a gateway to our downtown and a prime location.  Business growth should be guided by what the free market can bare, not by an artificial determination governed by elected officials and municipal bureaucrats.  When you force a wrong key into the ignition switch of a vehicle you can only do damage.  If a future business wants to construct a building on the Racine Street lot between First Street and Broad Street it will have that desire whether there is a parking lot in the location or if it a vacant lot.  The market dictates where businesses want to be located and current structures are not a barrier just as the homes that were present on Broad Street were not a deterrent for the Headwaters condominium project.  Traffic flowing past that location has diminished overall 15% since 2000 traffic counts (DOT data) and has dropped over 13% alone since the acquisition of the property in 2004 compared to current traffic counts.  Our “Gateway” is less productive since acquisition which makes it a less desirable location compared to other areas of increased traffic flow such as Appleton Road which has seen a 47% increase in traffic and Hwy 114 heading east which has seen a 46% increase in traffic (DOT data).  Labeling an area a gateway should require the area it is a gateway to be well developed, however, there are many eye-sore structures within the downtown area that escape the attention of possible blighted areas.  A “Gateway” label is of no importance when the traffic value has continually diminished over the years.  As a comparison Sherwood has the same amount of traffic flowing through its downtown as Racine Street has on a daily basis. 

Accepting a low offer would be foolhardy, but that does not cede the city having superior knowledge over the market for the best use of the vacant lot, it has been proven time and time again that the city’s realty skills and insight are frightful at best.  If a fair market value offer is presented to the city for the purchase of the vacant property it should be accepted unless the intended use would do direct harm to the city, it should not be rejected due to a graduated long term monetary income deficiency the city feels they can increase if they sit and keep fingers and toes crossed in hopes someone at sometime may want to build a small commercial building in an area that has had decreasing traffic over the years. 

We have had some great businesses invest in our downtown area such as Vertigo 1894, The WeatherVane and Theresa’s Treasures…we have also lost some great businesses such as Gilbert, Banta and more recently R.R. Donnelley and Inspiring Interiors.  I also spoke with the new owner of Art Affair recently and was told that as of right now his two year business goal and plan is to relocate out of Menasha…we have other issues to attend to in our downtown, “gateways” and city that are more important than the vacant lot on Racine Street.  Acquiring or purchasing perceived blighted property is not a substitute for an intelligent and comprehensive plan to address the true issues that are plaguing our city, and such acts and aspirations of attainment will not nudge Menasha into prosperity.  

Taxpayer Money vs. Private Money Investments

There is a stark difference in the ideology of the current Menasha Common Council compared to the previous… and that is directly related to putting other people’s money at risk.

Half of the current council derives an income from the operation and owning of a business. They possess a unique perspective on the gains and fallouts from putting money in jeopardy in an attempt to reach a goal.  Not every investment turns out the way it was intended and there are large risks that have a great ability to harm the investor by the lose of massive amounts of assets.  This has also happened to Menasha through the steam plant, however, there is one very major difference…private investment vs. taxpayer investment.

It is acceptable for anyone in this country, who has the nerve, to try and obtain the American dream by placing their money at risk in an attempt to achieve a financial benefit from such.  These same people, however, would not take the pleasure as past councils have to force others into loosing money in a risky project or goal.  When a person places their own wealth on the table they accept, with full knowledge, the risks and odds involved to obtain the goal…many of these risks are not for the weak hearted and every person doesn’t possess the ability to handle the stress and volatile situations that come with the territory, nor should those people be forced to participate in the activity against their will.

The low drum lecturing from former and current politicians through willing advocates is disheartening and insincere.  The surrogate lectors demean the intentions and goals of newer council members in a veil attempt to divert the attention of residents away from elected officials who still hold office and who could not resist the temptation to reach their hands into the $42 million steam plant cookie jar.  As of today there has been a magical spin allowing culpable current and former officials to place a perspective on the situation that hides their very involvement where millions of taxpayer dollars have evaporated into thin air. Placing a cloud of doubt over newer council members as a form of compensation for past blunders that others have made is puerile and shameful.  It would be more advantageous for the City of Menasha if the owners of disgruntled commentary would emerge from the shadows and offer constructive avenues to guide Menasha out of the black hole debt and leave behind the David Copperfield imitation attempt of placing a shadow of doubt upon those that have done nothing more than step to the plate in an attempt to correct what predecessors have created. The same predecessors who took the irresponsibility upon themselves and created a financial mess with the taxpayer’s money.  An investment those officials would never have made if they had to use their own life savings to accomplish the same goal.

Dialogue is good, but using it to transfer ownership of extremely poor decision to those who do not own them is ruinous.