As a followup to Monday's David S. writeup, we'll spotlight this morning's Standard-Examiner story, reporting that "the city's Redevelopment Agency board approved a $242,000 expenditure Tuesday night for the purchase of about an acre to aid the cleanup of a polluted downtown stretch of the Ogden River":
• Ogden RDA OKs purchase of land downtownNope. That's not a typo. That's two-hundred and forty-two thousand taxpayer dollars for "about" an acre of land, situated in the heart of dilapidated Leshemville, where existing structures will still have to be torn down at taxpayer expense, and valid soil tests yet need to be performed.
We don't know who negotiated on behalf of Ogden Chrome, but believe us, we'll be sure to find out and retain them, the next time Boss Godfrey's "A" Team decides to purchase a property from us.
In other news, "the RDA board adopted a fiscal 2011 budget that includes a $183,275 allocation to begin the process of demolishing 40 vacant houses in the Ogden River Project area owned by Ogden Riverfront Development Company."
The Standard course does not report whether Ogden Riverfront Development has actually agreed to this latter demolition plan, which includes provisions requiring "that funds used for demolition by the city be recovered through liens placed on properties or a value-for-value exchange for land in the river project for a public park."
Our guess? In classic Godfrey Administration style, the ever-agile "A" Team, at this point, no doubt "plans" to "wing it," as always.
Comments, anyone?
