Following the City Council meeting this evening, a Work Session focused on budget cutting, I talked to Finance Director Sonia Andrews. We discussed the amount of funding going towards JR from the General Fund, which she stated as $180,000 for debt service on a line of credit to cover our obligations per Les Schwab. All potential cuts in the JR budget as presented last fall have been undertaken. We are still waiting on ODOT for a number of trips that can possibly result in land sales this fall.
Ms. Andrews characterized the City's position as "crossing their fingers" in hope of everything working out. If not, it's dead in the water for now, and the City is paying debt service on the $6 million we will end up in the hole until things turn around. Ron Garzini and, to a lesser extent, John Russell are the rainmakers. Ms. Andrews even admitted that even if the trips are OKed, she has no idea where the money to fund the $40 million Cooley/97 interchange will come from. That's on the Garz/Russell plate.
In a realistic aside, Ms. Andrews stated that even if they can sell 50 acres for only $5 a square foot, half of the $10 that Russell is promoting, but far more realistic for undeveloped land considering Les Schwab paid $7 for shovel ready with no SDC's, that she is off the hook because that $10 million will pay for costs incurred.
There was very little discussion of Juniper Ridge at the actual meeting. Much more time was spent on saving a $100K here or there, than on the big parts of the budget. My guess is that if the voters don't decide to fund the transit system this fall, it's gone. Capell and Telfer already question it's priority, especially considering the deep cuts to public safety.
But strangely, no one questions the developers subsidies through unrealistically low SDC's and permit fees, which has led us to this point. Growth has simply not paid for itself. Councilor Clinton is the only one who even brought this up.
Low SDC's and permit fees-->Planning/Engineering/Road/Utility deficits-->General Fund hits-->Public Safety cutbacks
As an example, consider the city of Troutdale. Per their SDC worksheet, a one-ERU residential hookup costs $4426, while according to the Bend worksheet, a one ERU hookup to the sewer is only $2038. Is Bend's cost really less than half of Troutdale's? Or are Bend taxpayers picking up the difference for the developer?
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. Yes, our fine City Council voted tonight 6-1 (Telfer voted not) to give JRP (Kuratek, et al) a $146,000 windfall and counting. The said windfall being the Suterra sale, which had absolutely nothing to do with JRP.
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Yes, but KURATEK has enough dirt to bring this town down. Thus he must be paid off.
A mysterious accident? Insurance?
The last KURATEK money came from Les Schwab, it can only be assumed, that this money will come from the purchaser of the land.
THE PUSSY is an idiot, this we all known, but he's a good pussy at heart.
The thing to remember is that while the city got $7/sq-ft from LS they spent $20/sq-ft ( knife-river ) in excavation prepping the site at taxpayer expense.
You can be SURE as hell that SUTERRA, is buying 'shovel ready' as well, as its fucking idiotic, to assume that they would spend $7/sq-ft, and then another $13/sq-ft to level the building site.
Lastly, Bend paid $1 for 1500 acres, the last is worth nothing.
What hurts is the $13/sq-ft that we're spending, that all goes to knife river, to make the worthless solid rock known as JR, buildable.
It's all corporate-welfare for knife-river nothing more, KR will makes over $2Billion on excavation, and so far its all came from the taxpayer.
Then like LS we spend ten's of millions to prep their site, but they'll be out of business, very soon, or sold out to a major.
Just another cluster-fuck.
The good news is that by the time the Oregonian reports the city-council will have long retired.
Kuratek's $100k is the PUSSY's 'take your eye off the prize'.
The prize is the $2B that Knife-River gets, and the PRIZE is that all of the surrounding HOLLERN land becomes more valuable.
The KURATEK payout is only a distraction, orchestrated by the PUSSY's HANDLERS.
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