Tuesday, January 17, 2012

1/17/12 Ogden City Council/RDA Agenda Heads-Up

Several interesting items which ought to be of particular interest to our Weber County Forum readers

Here's a quick heads up concerning tonight's Ogden City Council/RDA action, wherein the various agendas contain at least a few items which ought to be of particular interest to our Weber County Forum readers:

1) Joint Study Session (5:30 p.m.). Of particular interest to our WCF readers may be one item on the agenda, the proposed vacation of a public easement/right of way along a portion of Buchanan Avenue between 28th and 29th Street. What's interesting about this otherwise seemingly routine agenda item is that although the planning commission has already reviewed and recommended Council approval with its own 5-2 vote, a very familiar face on the Ogden political scene, Chris Peterson, formally opposed this measure when it was before the planning commission, so its possible that Peterson and/or his representatives may appear at tonight's meeting, to renew his opposition during tonight's Council discussion:
Peterson's objection centers on the fact that abandonment of the public easement would reduce public parking opportunity near the 29th street trailhead; and as one gentle reader remarked in a private conversation on this topic a few days ago, "Of course he's already using the parking area for his commercial via ferrata business, but in addition one has to wonder about the newly fenced adjacent property and the new switchbacking clearcuts he's made up the northwest face of Malan's Peak."

2) Redevelopment Agency Special Meeting. During this meeting, which begins "immediately following the Council meeting that begins at 6:00 p.m.," the Ogden RDA Board will consideration the adoption of an "amended budget for the Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area as approved by the Taxing Entity Committee on November 10, 2011.":
We've already discussed this item on Weber County Forum, of course. As our regular readers will recall, this is the proposal Boss Godfrey sneaked past the Ogden RDA Taxing Entity Committee "in the dead of night," and which will extend the Ogden River Project Redevelopment Area tax increment period "through Tax Year 2027 (an Additional Eight (8) Years)" This amendment to the Ogden River Project Area tax increment amortization schedule, once approved, will reduce Ogden RDA taxing entity revenue, (including that of the cash-strapped Ogden School System) to a mere 28% of the tax money to which they would otherwise be entitled in the absence of this amendment, of course.

Although it's all signed, sealed and delivered, folks, we thought you'd want to know that tonight's the night it gets rubber-stamped.

Here's a quick side note to the above item, by the way, which our readers ought to consider in light of the Ogden School District's action in cavalierly giving up 72% of its River Project Area tax revenue until the year 2027. "Five schools in the Ogden School District are using approximately $7 million in federal grants to help bring them up to a higher level and keep them out of danger of being shut down because of poor performance," according to the S-E story below:
We're having some difficulty understanding the Ogden School Board's "thinkin'" in these tight financial times, we'll confess. Howbout you?

3) Redevelopment Agency Board Work Session:
During this special meeting, which also begins "immediately following the City Council and Redevelopment Agency meetings that begins at 6:00 p.m.", the RDA Board will discuss a proposed purchase contract and development agreement for The Four Foods Group, LLC, in connection with the opening of a new Kneaders Bakery And Café at 1951 Washington Blvd.:
We'll volunteer that this has to be interpreted, at first glance, as very good news for the otherwise moribund River Project Development area, even at this early stage in this new proposed project, although we'll also welcome our Gentle Readers' own possibly contrarian takes on this subject.

That's it for now. We'll leave the lights on of course, for anyone who'd like to comment before, during or after tonight's meetings.

Update 1/18/12 6:42 a.m.: The Standard reports this morning that just as we predicted, "[t]he Ogden Redevelopment Agency board adopted a resolution Tuesday night that will extend the Ogden River Project tax increment collection period by eight years":
Hopefully in the days to come, we'll hear no further whining from the Ogden City School District about cash shortfalls.

16 comments:

Bob Becker said...

Q:  is the via ferrata in fact "open" and operating as a business?

Smattguy said...

Sooo….
 
Kneaders needs to close on the property by the 28th of February.1.  Kneaders is anxious to get the REPC and Development Agreemen tcompleted so that they can meet their scheduled May 2012 opening date.2. The City is going to pay for soil remediation and half the access to Washington  Blvd…about a $110k to $115k incentive….thus brining the cost of the land potentially down to about 4.28 SF….BARGAIN!!…seeing as Scott Brown was pushing land here for nearly $18 Sf not long ago…of course Bingham came out golden on that…as Scott is/was one of the owner of that development…go figga…

3.  With the schedule as seen, have we seen a site plan for this project…let alone getting it approved through the process?....those reviews take time with the city…of course if you possibly have an inside track, maybe not….to Joe Shmoe, the city could careless about your deadlines., get in line and do it there way.  Not to mention there is also a zoning change .4.  Ogden City is going to obtain UDOT’s approval for Washington Blvd. Access…Sweet deal…Joe Shmoe typically has to wait 3 months for UDOT to even get a meeting scheduled….but this is going to be approved for a May opening…lol...is Ogden City paying UDOT's fees too?5.  The City hopes to have a Development agreement to the January 17 meeting…can you say ram rod??….so there must be a site plan somewhere out there….
 
My point is this…great, a new business on that block…but what is being given up for it…would they be walking if they didn’t get it?

rudizink said...

Good question as usual, Bob.  If you do a >google search of  "Via Ferrata Ogden", you won't find much about Peterson's "commercial via ferrata venture.

D_Dalton said...

Why were the switchbacks cut? I can see them from my driveway and wondered why I never noticed them when I'd moved in about three years ago. They pop right off the mountain when they're dusted with snow.

Smattguy said...

 opps...just saw the site plan in the packet....so there is "one"  in no way does that meet the submittal requirements of...

http://www.ogdencity.com/en/SearchResults.aspx?q=site%20plan%20checklist

Love that staff site plan....

Marko said...

Funny now with the Ogden School system, which us basically going broke, would decide to go along with this the cash-strapped Ogden Board of education decision.

This is one more reson, Rudi, that Weber County Forum needs to thoroughly "vet" all Ogden School board candidates around the time of the next  Ogden schoolboard election









shool Bio

Dan S. said...

Yes, it's open--or at least it has been. He avoided the need for a county business license and conditional use permit in a clever way. The LLC that operates the "guide service" business is a different LLC than the one that owns the property, and the former has a Salt Lake address and presumably a Salt Lake business license. Since the LLC that owns the property isn't actually charging money for its use, the Weber County Attorney's office decided there's nothing the county can do.

Disgusted said...

Smarttguy you are so right. This is a rush to give away the store. Take away the allowance the city is giving Kneaders for the access points (ususally paid for by the landowner or developer) and the environmental clean up (which the city admits that they do not think exists) and the true sales price is about 170k for almost an acre of land on the main drag in the heart of the city.Seems business as usual in Ogden under the new administration and BD department.

rudizink said...

That's what we're all wondering, DD.  What's the deal with the "switchbacks cuts" anyway?

That's a question all Ogden City citizens are "axin," lol.

How exactly do Peteron's big plans fit in in
Ogden's future?

D_Dalton said...

I feel like I've walked in on the middle of a conversation. I don't know who Peterson is, what service his business provides, who owns that part of the mountain or anything else. 

I do get the feeling, though, that there may be some folks in this city with carte blanche. And I'm not sure on whose account these cartes are being drawn.

I digress here (which isn't uncommon), but I don't know if I could be less impressed with the press in this city.  I have the sense that were a significant story that rocked the boat were dropped in their laps, they might run it. But on the same hand, they wouldn't find it independently.

That may be unfair and I'd be happy to change my mind if I'm wrong. I'm pretty new to the place (a resident for only three years) and my impressions of the local press may be based on anomalous one-offs rather than the big picture.

rudizink said...

Here's a little backgound  info on the locally notorious Chris Peterson, DD, derived via our WCF label on that subject:

Chris Peterson

D_Dalton said...

Oh, geez. From reading five or six of those linked pieces, it looks like fodder for a John D. MacDonald novel. I'll tumble through the rest of them later, but I'm beginning to get the picture.

Have also made a note to self  to have a look at the links on the left before outing myself as an ignoramus again.

Smattguy said...

Just like all the crap under the Junction Scottie B said wasn't there....

Smattguy said...

Can you say fom's? Truly nauseating ....

BikerBabe said...

Y'know ... i was a wonderin. ,,, if the pics over CP's mountain would show what is currently in the works: didn't think so ... we all know he's digging and spewing tree-trunks willy-nilly upon the valley floor and that IS NOT GOOD

JS

B B

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D_Dalton said...

I'm not done poking around yet, but nothing I've learned so far has disabused me of _any_ of these notions.

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