ACHTUNG: The following is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
Anyone who knows me understands that I hate like hell to agree with anything written by Ranger Rick. But as the Good Book says in Ecclesiastes, there is a time and a place for everything.
Rick in this week’s column opined, “After the brouhaha about the commercial land sale involving Josh Otto, Keith Nickels, Mayor Bala and the City Council — What is going on with the land? It was supposed to start development within two years of consummating the deal. Where are the plans, what is proposed, when will dirt be moved and building commence?
“Since the buyers got a great deal on the land, when is something going to be started?
Then Rick, as is his custom, challenged me to do some digging and investigative reporting, which I will not.
However, Rick is right to call out Otto, Nickels and city officials about the lack of transparency and lack of progress on just what is going in at an odd-shaped parcel in the industrial park that was purchased four years ago for the paltry sum of $20,000.
City officials rightly explained that had tried to peddle the property for 19 years with no takers. So, they reasoned, the $20,000 was better than nothing and they were looking forward to future tax revenue.
I agreed with city officials when the controversy arose then and even penned an editorial saying so:
“At first glance, there is good reason for outrage over the City Council agreeing to an offer of only $20,000 from Josh Otto and Keith Nickels… Indeed, that’s less than $800 an acre, far less than other businesses have paid in the Reno business district for their properties. It just doesn’t seem fair.
“However, closer examination reveals that the city has tried to unload that site for almost 20 years with no success. When it was learned that 25 acres of property has serious issues with wetlands, potential buyers lost interest because they were told it could cost as much as a million dollars to handle the problem.”
“The city earlier had offered that parcel to a valve manufacturer from Portage for $1 and even tossed in a 50% tax abatement for 12 years to sweeten the pot. The Portage firm promised between 150 and 200 jobs with an average annual wage of $48,000 over the next 10 to 15 years.
“Eventually, the Portage firm said no thanks to a deal that was even sweeter than what Otto and Nickels are getting.”
They maintained there was too much site work that needed to be done to avoid problems with wetlands.
Over the past four years I have come to regret my editorial, especially after a friend told me the city could have taken the $20,000 offer from Nickels and Otto and then put the parcel up for bids to see if anybody was willing to pay more. They could have used the $20,000 as the opening bid.
Now that it’s been four years and that property has sat idle with no announcement of plans for what to with it, I’ve switched sides and stand with my old nemesis Ranger Rick.
Trouble is, it’s too late, the deal has been made. But I’d like to have Otto and Nickels tell the city and the public what’s going on, if anything.
“challenged me to do some digging and investigative reporting, which I will not.”
Really? I thought that was the sign of a good journalist………Or is it easier just to assume, the latter probably makes for a better story. You follow Representative Johnson around like a dog in heat taking photos of him (weird) though you won’t go ask the though questions…….One thing for certain, your consistent.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cheers!!
Mr. Wilkens
Rep. Johnson is a public figure and yes people follow him to document any foolish actions or ” slip ups.” It goes with his job.
Now here is a thought (with no basis of fact). Let’s say you (the city) owns land they are trying to sell. A portion (25 +/- acres ) is wetlands on one parcel. You for (20) years could barely give it away… but alas you are approached by a development team.
You unload it with stipulations (but they are never adhered to or are altered due to circumstances you agree to).
No one even remembers this, but alas it suddenly rises to the surface again.
Now development companies understand some investments take much longer to gather a return on. Especially if wetlands, waterways, or critical habitat for a specific species is involved. Slowly removing the problem or wetland mitigation (the quickest way) turns a non-useable piece of property into the desired return for the developer.
This once again will disappear since no one really cares.
Now if Representative Johnson would just wear a mask in public, few if any would really follow what he does or how he votes on issues. Take a lesson from developers — don’t be a “Rebel,” just quietly get the job done.
Mr Smit,
Ah, you have a short memory. The Editor has been obsessed with Rep Johnson long before covid-19 and mask wearing…….Would you not agree that a good journalist would go to the source and ask questions verses just assuming like he (the editor) normally does?
Cheers!!
Mr Wilkens
I will most likely offend the editor and a few of the writers. This publication is more of a platform for discussion on controversial issues than a true news reporting entity. ( truth mixed with personal opinion. As the disclaimer states at the beginning of every editorial)
Currently there is no real source of news in this area . Especially for free. A bit of assumption injected in articles is better than no news
The City Council and Mayor are complicit in stealing from the taxpayers. That was tax money the city spent to purchase the land for speculation. What a poor investment. Instead of doing the proper and correct thing of auctioning off the land, as they would any other asset the city owned, someone in City Hall told Otto a $20,000 bid would be acceptable when the land had a realtor sign on the property.
The Mayor tried to hide the sale, but was instructed by the city lawyer it had to be done in the public meeting forum. The whole sale appeared to be staged – it was a “done deal” regardless of pushback.
Mr. Otto said in the TV8 interview “they” in city hall told him to bid $20K. Guess someone had the inside track on the sale, how convenient!