At the 4 PM informational meeting today, the Planning Department released the names of all the RFP’s to the project; JDI, Legacy, Signature, Affordable Housing Solutions and Lloyd. They admitted that Lloyd was picked for the project because it was largest in density. They also admitted that some fo the other RFP’s DID not ask for a TIF.
During the discussion, it was obvious that most of the council support the project (or at least the TIF). When Stehly pointed this out, she said it “Seems like a done deal”, council chair Kiley had a hissy and threatened to shut the meeting down. Stehly had a question for the project manager, Erica Beck. After Kiley calmed down he let Stehly ask her question. She asked if all of the money for the TIF is going towards soil remediation. As we know, that is NOT the case. Beck admitted that also and said some of it is going towards ‘utilities’.
I’m sorry, but I still don’t support this TIF. The city should have cleaned up this soil before selling it, then offered ‘clean’ lot with NO TIF’s. They have had OVER a decade to do it. We could have done this a long time ago, for a lot less, why didn’t we?
Why do they bid? They never get the contract. If they do, they can’t get paid (Daniels Constr., Falls Cafe). City ordinance does not collection appeal into Circuit Court. Lloyds higher price always gets the bid and there’s a 4 million dollar bonus TIF. Are the others paid to bid so there’s something to shred and everything looks ethical?