Bill Knobloch was invited by a few friends living on Grow Avenue to talk about his City Council candidacy and answer any questions we could have. The core of the discussion was about the cost and funding of Winslow Way's renewal (13 to 20+ million).
Participants were incensed that public works recommended that most of the bill be footed by 10 per cent of the population as if it was the typical utility project.
This "solution" would apparently hike their utility bill by 50%. People at the meeting were quite upset to discover so late and by chance such a proposal that would have them carry such a heavy burden without any previous discussion nor community approval (a first public meeting is planned for monday evening 6:30 at city hall, but how many people will be able to attend?): why not send a letter to everybody?
Bill Knobloch said he did not feel this funding proposal was fair and he is offering an alternative having more of the whole island contribute to a project that is benefiting the whole community. He also thinks that the community should vote on it. Participants felt no significant tax hike should be levied without their express approval.
Doubts were also expressed about the contribution requested from the most obvious beneficiaries: landowners on Winslow Way (many dowtown businesses are renters). Someone thought it would be good to know who those owners are and the city should make the list public along with their respective contribution.
There was a general feeling of frustration with the way the city does not share critical information with the community. Bill Knobloch pointed out the capacity of the city to borrow money was limited and not everything could be funded.
My most obvious saving would be the monumental and useless parking garage. Apparently there is no plan in the Winslow Way streetscape to install parking meters in case it was found they are needed (a much cheaper way to deal with parking problems than a garage).
What about electric connections so that electric cars can recharge?
Thank you to Bill Knobloch for taking the time to talk with a neighborhood group :)
As for the Winslow Way Streetscape website, the content remains in my opinion overly techspeech. You know my motto: a blog would do better (and cheaper).
As usual I should have started by reading the local blogs to know what's going on.
Postcript is giving a brilliant exposé in a post about Urban Renewal Bainbridge Style: highly recommended reading and a wake up call to arms for the citizenry... or be ready to widely open your checkbook.
I have extracted this part:
"Surprisingly, there is no plan to create a Local Improvement District (LID)
to recover costs from Winslow Way property owners. LID’s are imposed on
properties directly benefiting from an improvement – including street
paving, streetlight installation, sewer installation and the
undergrounding of overhead utility wires. For some reason, the
properties fronting Winslow Way will not be paying their proportional
share of the project costs. (my emphasis)
Here’s
where the rest of us come in. Depending upon how much outside funding
can be found, every Island household not on City water and sewer could
be assessed as much as $8.30 per month for 20 years, or nearly $2,000.
Those unfortunate enough to be on City water and sewer could face an
increase in their utility bills of up to $39.20 per month for twenty years (that’s a total of more than $9,000 per household).
The
questions the community needs to be asking now, and which deserve
honest answers, are how much of what is being proposed is truly
essential and are the consultants and administration really exploring
the least costly alternatives?
It doesn’t take an expert to see that Winslow Way is not crying out for “economic revitalization”, and given the City’s current financial situation and other pressing community needs what is currently being proposed is not a realistic option.
We need a simple public works directed sewer project, not a state of the art urban design project, and we should expect those most directly benefiting from the project to pay their proportional share."
Thank you McCoy :)