I guess there is several ways to look at this, so here we go.
This is what we know so far, the city is going to put out an RFP for a Hotel on the Elmwood Golf Course property, the contract deals are not final, but the city is looking at leasing the land and maybe profit sharing with the hotel.
Some questions;
• Why doesn’t the city just sell the property to a potential hotel and stay out of a private/public partnership?
• This is a precedent because the city has never, as I can recall, gotten involved with a partnership with a private lodging business. Why now?
• Our recent track record of providing lodging DT resulted in millions in river landscaping and even more $$$ in property tax cuts. How is the taxpayer going to benefit from this,
• And how much investment will the city make with a private entity that provides lodging?
There are some positives here. The EC task force said that another hotel would have to be in that area to support lodging for the new EC. But why not closer to the EC? And what about David Graham’s empty lot that he has been trying to sell for lodging? The city has harassed him several times when it comes to code enforcement of his property, why not encourage him to build a hotel?
Is the city doing this to prove they have potential prospects when it comes to building more hotels in the area?
While I am all for more hotels in the area, I am a bit leery about us partnering with a private business for lodging. It is not in the taxpayer’s best interest to make sure visitors have a place to stay. Hotels are private enterprises, they should stay that way.