How about this millage?
I see the city has decided not to put a road millage on the ballot. Good move. It would have failed miserably. Now they're talking about combining it with a millage for renovating the United Furniture building for a library. Or maybe doing nothing until they get a better idea of what the citizens want.
Right now the citizens DON'T WANT new taxes. It means any millage put on the ballot probably within at least the next year will be defeated. Doubling up the millage request will only get it doubly defeated.
These aren't really millages anyone can feel real strongly about supporting. The road millage is a nice thing to have but the roads in my neighborhood aren't that bad and haven't had much attention in probably 20 years. Most city streets are in similar condition. It doesn't mean they don't need work, but it doesn't mean we need an ambitious program to redo each road in a methodical manner that's comparable to cutting our grass or raking our leaves each week.
No one can get excited about the United Furniture building because A. It's been vacant for years and B. everyone THOUGHT there might be some other partners so that it wouldn't be just a city play (like IT IS a LIBRARY after all, and SOMEONE thought that MCCC might be convinced to join in on this one).
Here's a more ambitious idea that might be an investment in the future. Seek a millage to buy the IKO property and the vacant bankrupt Modern Packaging property next door. Do something like a Mason Run or other residential-commercial mixed use with them. Obviously, the time isn't right for a full fledged subdivision, but some of the hottest selling residences still are condos and townhouses.
This would accomplish a couple of things -- it would clear out blighted empty factories that are sandwiched between residential areas and provide a little bit of tax base while bringing in new residents. Maybe those high-minded developers who were looking at the IHM property might be interested. Yeah, right.
Right now the citizens DON'T WANT new taxes. It means any millage put on the ballot probably within at least the next year will be defeated. Doubling up the millage request will only get it doubly defeated.
These aren't really millages anyone can feel real strongly about supporting. The road millage is a nice thing to have but the roads in my neighborhood aren't that bad and haven't had much attention in probably 20 years. Most city streets are in similar condition. It doesn't mean they don't need work, but it doesn't mean we need an ambitious program to redo each road in a methodical manner that's comparable to cutting our grass or raking our leaves each week.
No one can get excited about the United Furniture building because A. It's been vacant for years and B. everyone THOUGHT there might be some other partners so that it wouldn't be just a city play (like IT IS a LIBRARY after all, and SOMEONE thought that MCCC might be convinced to join in on this one).
Here's a more ambitious idea that might be an investment in the future. Seek a millage to buy the IKO property and the vacant bankrupt Modern Packaging property next door. Do something like a Mason Run or other residential-commercial mixed use with them. Obviously, the time isn't right for a full fledged subdivision, but some of the hottest selling residences still are condos and townhouses.
This would accomplish a couple of things -- it would clear out blighted empty factories that are sandwiched between residential areas and provide a little bit of tax base while bringing in new residents. Maybe those high-minded developers who were looking at the IHM property might be interested. Yeah, right.
posted by The Observer at 12/19/2006 10:09:00 AM
1 Comments:
Let the people who chased IKO out of town buy the dump and fix it up. Call Compora and have her use her IKO settlement for her share of the downpayment. No one in their right mind would develop property in the economy which we are facing with the closing of Ford/Visteon/ACH. There will be more than enough homes on the market. That is probably why the IHM project people left and never returned.
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