TIF 4 plan changes worth the wait
WHO KNEW “I’VE BEEN
Working on the Railroad” had so many verses?
It took a long, tortuous path, but the amendments to the tax incremental district 4 project plan finally won approval from the City Council last week.
All that’s left is for the Joint Review Board to give its stamp of approval and the way will be cleared to do the work to bring the Plymouth-Kohler rail line back to life and bring hundreds of new jobs to Plymouth’s County PP/Willow Road industrial park.
Though the council still has to approve any expenditures included in the $9.1 million amendment, approval will make that spending possible, where denial of the amendment would have closed that door for the city and the county.
The company that would be the major beneficiary of the projects, AMworx (now located in rented space in Sheboygan Falls), could bring 400-600 new jobs to the city with a revolutionary — and secret — new process that purports to be green and have great potential.
It was the secrecy involved in the negotiations with AMworx that contributed greatly to the difficulty in approving the plan amendment. City officials involved in the AMworx negotiations were bound by a confidentiality agreement from revealing a lot of details, and that understandably chafed many on the council — and the Plan Commission — who had to vote on the plan with little other than faith to go on. It seems quite probable, though, that that faith will be rewarded.
While city officials had to negotiate in secret with AMworx and limit those to whom the full picture was available, it would have behooved Mayor Donald Pohlman to try to involve at least one member of the council in the negotiations from the start, in an effort to build some communication with those who eventually had to vote on the issue.
By the time of the council vote, however, enough information had come out to justify a vote in favor of approving the plan amendment, which as several people noted in the long debate was not a commitment to spend money.
The county had enough information to commit a quarter of a million dollars in a revolving loan to the company, with a commitment to loan more in the future. Given the county’s record of wise fiscal management and responsibility over the past decade, plus its past successful support of economic development efforts, that’s a strong endorsement for the project.
That was not enough, however, for several aldermen, who opted for an attempt at obstructionism in lieu of opposition.
Aldermen Ronald Lade and John Anderson, rather than vote no on the plan amendment, chose to abstain. It was a parliamentary ploy, as one more abstention would have invalidated any vote on the amendment, even if all the rest of the council had voted in favor.
It was simply a scheme to try to thwart the will of the majority that fortunately was unsuccessful.
Aldermen, if they wish to be true representatives, should cast either a firm positive or negative vote on controversial issues. Attempting to subvert the process by abstaining in hopes of negating a majority vote either way is a cheap trick and a gross disservice to their constituents and the city.
At issue: Something or other Bottom line: Do something about it
