tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post1743516767049019673..comments2024-03-25T17:49:41.408-07:00Comments on Salem Breakfast on Bikes: Two Police Stations: Eugene's Car-Dependence and the Civic Center's Desolateness - updatedSalem Breakfast on Bikeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-73419353560805595572013-12-05T19:24:44.381-08:002013-12-05T19:24:44.381-08:00In the packet for today's North Gateway Redeve...In the packet for today's North Gateway Redevelopment Advisory Board meeting is a letter from the Northgate Neightborhood Association:<br /><br />"<i>Dear Mayor and all, <br /> <br />Members of the Northgate Neighborhood Association voted unanimously at our November 12 meeting to ask city leaders to consider building the next police facility in the Northgate area. <br /> <br />Salem Police crime reports show that crime rates are consistently highest in the north Salem area. <br />http://www.cityofsalem.net/Departments/Police/HowDoI2/Pages/CrimeStatistics.aspx <br /> <br />We believe that building the proposed project within our Northgate neighborhood and within the North Gateway Urban Renewal Area will improve response time to calls for assistance as well as act as a deterrent to crime. There are numerous distressed properties along Portland Road, as well as the vacant land known as the Epping property. <br /> <br />We suggest that a police facility can be the anchor of a public-private development project that could include a park with basketball courts, housing and retail shops. The project can make a dramatic impact on urban blight in the area and strengthen quality of life for the many residents who live and work nearby. Youth can especially benefit from personal interaction with police in the park and on the basketball court. <br /><br />Please include our request in the current planning process. Thank you.</i>"<br /><br />The "Epping Prperty" = Rose Garden Motel parcel.<br /><br />So this is a fine instance of where the City does itself no favors in communication. They could have shared with the N/A why that parcel doesn't work - and equally, with better communication they might have landed on a public-private mixed-use kind of development that really makes sense.<br /><br />Who knows.<br /><br />As Curt reminds us, the analysis of these parcels have been out in public, though without addresses or other obviously identifying information, since at least December 2011. I'm sorry I didn't dig deeper into them <a href="http://breakfastonbikes.blogspot.com/2011/12/city-council-december-5th-sidewalks-and.html" rel="nofollow">back then</a>, but who knew it would become so contentious!Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-46987233821514256972013-12-02T12:48:21.585-08:002013-12-02T12:48:21.585-08:00Wait there's more! Slides on a possible GO Bo...Wait there's more! Slides on a possible GO Bond. As Mark Wigg pointed out during the bridge debate, Salem has a debt limit of $2.42 per $1000 of assessed value. Salem doesn't have anywhere near the borrowing capacity to fund a bridge. If by some miracle a Civic Center bond measure passes, even less will be available for any bridge. Can we stop treating it like an eminent threat and recognize it for the pipe dream it is?<br /><br />http://www.cityofsalem.net/CityCouncil/City-Projects/PoliceFacilityAndCivicCenter/CouncilActions/2013.08.05-Work-Session.pdfCurtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-87977245138738829992013-12-02T12:39:46.351-08:002013-12-02T12:39:46.351-08:00Nice work! Those options went to council on Dec. ...Nice work! Those options went to council on Dec. 5, 2011:<br /><br />http://www.cityofsalem.net/CityCouncil/City-Projects/PoliceFacilityAndCivicCenter/CouncilActions/2011.10.05-Police-Facility-Staff-Report.pdf<br /><br />Not a secret.Curtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-30795540627827327122013-12-01T17:39:34.888-08:002013-12-01T17:39:34.888-08:00You wrote"It's right that there should be...You wrote"It's right that there should be more discussion, right that the City should share more of its analysis of other sites and approaches. The Police have said they wanted a single central location, but if the Civic Center became isolated in a disaster, what then? There should be more public discussion about why a single centralized location is best."<br /><br />On this point the members of Salem Community Vision totally agree!<br /><br />Maybe the "Eugene model" is not the best for Salem. It was just used as an example to show that there are other approaches to how to address the need for more safety services (including the police) in Salem than just building on the Civic Center. <br /><br />I think that some SCV members agree with you about some of the other points about the Civic Center flaws. Again why we urge more community dialog.<br /><br />One of the group's concerns is that voters will just reject the bond outright and Salem will be left with dangerous public buildings and long overdue facility improvements. <br /><br />We are asking that the City Manager and Council go back to the drawing board and this time to include a comprehensive dialog with the community about something that we can all support.<br /><br />BTW, excellent dialog here. The kind that I would hope more people would engage in. Salem needs a community vision!<br /><br />Susann Kaltwassernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-67157013868284705242013-12-01T17:33:31.038-08:002013-12-01T17:33:31.038-08:00What the heck! It's gloomy and rainy out. Up...What the heck! It's gloomy and rainy out. Updated with the other two sites the project team analyzed.Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-11203158679421511162013-12-01T16:48:52.718-08:002013-12-01T16:48:52.718-08:00updated with the City's own estimates and anal...updated with the City's own estimates and analysis of a Eugene-style solution. Their conclusion: $8 million in savings, not $30 million.<br /><br />It also adds other costs.Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-42997500391163946472013-12-01T15:27:23.658-08:002013-12-01T15:27:23.658-08:00"It is best if you use the City estimates, li..."It is best if you use the City estimates, like we do." -- Salem Community Vision"<br /><br />So when someone observes that Salem Community Vision can't agree on its own numbers--leave it to Brian Hines to post more evidence that they can't agree on their own numbers.<br /><br />The $18mil. in hidden costs is consistent with what environmental and land use groups like Strong Towns, the Sightline Institute, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and Smart Growth America have been saying about the dangers of sprawl for years. When you look at bankruptcies of other low density sprawltopias similar to Salem (San Bernardino, Stockton, Harrisburg, Birmingham, and Detroit), you can see that it has been driven by people like Salem Community Vision--always with the best of intentions.<br /><br />Those hidden costs are an even bigger concern than the up front capital costs because voters won't be asked to raise taxes to pay for them. So as they accumulate, they will be competing with other services and lead to more cuts.<br /><br />But Salem Community Vision is almost entirely retirees over 60. So they are just passing the pain on to their children and grand children and paving them into poverty.Curtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-87362348017072446722013-12-01T14:02:39.070-08:002013-12-01T14:02:39.070-08:00So you are more concerned with a supposed theoreti...So you are more concerned with a supposed theoretical $18 million in costs over 50 years, than with saving $30 million or so right off the bat by spending $20 million on a Eugene-style police facility rather than the $45 million Civic Center proposal?<br /><br />It sure seems like saving $30 million, plus the cost of borrowing that amount, is a heck of a lot greater than $18 million -- even if that figure is halfway correct (which I doubt).Brian Hineshttp://hinesblog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-29170248637910704152013-12-01T09:27:35.709-08:002013-12-01T09:27:35.709-08:00updated with clip from Council work session on lon...updated with clip from Council work session on long-term operational costs - $18 million in costs hidden by a Eugene modelSalem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.com