Mayor Nancolas was clear the funding will come from the Caldwell Street Department and will be funded for the most part with property tax dollars. Some will come from other revenue sources but the majority will come from property taxes held back for major street projects in Caldwell.
Cost of the project will be as low as $1.6MM if done on the cheap and as high as $3MM if done with all new materials for the road bed. The meeting was attended by about fifty people as a quick guess. Most of those in the audience were from the developer community. One of the developers, Mr. Eisenberg spoke in support of the project stating it would clean up the permitting process and will establish ingress and egress to Hwy 20/26 for those wishing to bring projects to Caldwell once the economy rebounds.
There will be no signalization of any of the intersections as that will be a developer expense but the conduits will be in place for signals. One business owner in the Sky Ranch area was lobbying for signalization of Smeed and 20/26.
In summary, this is another roll of the dice in trying to get some business development in that area started. The hope is it will eventually bring more jobs of an unspecified nature to Caldwell. The life of the new pavement is expected to be around 20 years if built to IDT standards. For the Mayor and City Council everyone has to collective ask ... if they build it will anyone come?
I know burn barrels are illegal in Caldwell, so that must be the reason we need this project to dispose of "excess taxpayer money in the highest taxed locality an SW Idaho during the worst recession since WW2". If analysts from State Hospital South were present our problems would be over, as right about now the Mayor and Council would be being ushered off their "Padded bus" in Blackfoot.
ReplyDeleteWho's crazier the politions or the people that keep putting them back in office
ReplyDeleteBurn barrels were the norm in the 1950's and 1960's. You would have one in the back yard smoldering, put your garbage and grass clippings in and let it burn! Are we really any better off today? Now instead of a stinking burn barrel we have stinking garbage trucks, racing around early in the morning, burning $4.25 per gallon diesel! This folks, is environmentally unsound! It is close to a 20 mile trip from Caldwell to the dump. We have to put up with stinking garbage trucks driven by overpaid surly workers, to waste precious diesel fuel! Bring back the burn barrel to save the planet! Make it legal to to let your grass and weeds to grow over 8" tall, fire Sylvia, make garbage pickup optional, not mandatory. Let those that wish to continue the planet's destruction have their garbage picked up and over mow the grass and weeds. Give me burn barrels and long weeds. Repeal the silly laws and end the expensive garbage contacts. Live free or die! City of Caldwell, get off my back!
ReplyDeleteOk, let me get this straight...When Fred Meyer's wanted to come to town the story from City of Caldwell was that 20/26 was a state run road and the state would not grant ingress or egress to the property according to City Hall, so the deal died. But now there's no problem with the city dropping 1.6 - 3 million on a road they don't even "own"?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love the price swing. I wish I could run my business with that gimmick. "It might be this, but it could be double. We'll just do it and send you the bill later."
Mister Merryweather, (Little Big Man,) must be back in Caldwell hot breathing the Mayor and selling wolf tickets!
ReplyDeleteWill the waste of taxpayer money never end?
Is it true the commishioners are going to try for a new jail again this year Paul? Could it be this construction is the result of yet another cockamame plan hatched by the 3 amigos and supported by Nampas Tommy Boy and Caldwells Team Garrett? Have they aquired any new property lately on 20/26?
ReplyDeleteI can't respond to the absolute certainty of a jail bond in the near term, however, I got invited in to see the plan put together by the good people at 1115 Albany Street at the behest of Comm. Steve Rule. It is their effort to locate the jail next to the existing courthouse and the cost is estimated to be $24MM. Mr. Rule expects $14MM from a bond election and $10MM from the good folks at Caldwell East Urban Renewal Agency.
ReplyDeleteMy critique of this plan is the jail would not be connected to the courthouse and would require at least two more people and as many as six people to shuttle inmates to and from the new jail site.
Why not take the time and plan for connecting the jail to the courthouse and save the expense of a jail van(s) to shuttle inmates to and from the Jail?
Meanwhile, estimates from the former County Maintenance Supt. put the costs of hardening the tent at $33k and Comm. Rule's number is $330k. Somebody if off by a factor of 10.
Paul
Mayor Nancolas is certainly a booster for the City, no question about it. The problem is he has lost his way as Mayor. His first term was great. His second term he discovered he could pretty much put the city in auto-pilot and travel all over the place at taxpayer expense. His third term is marked by desperation to show some progress .... any progress, to do something downtown. Grades for his performance review would be A- for the first term, D+ for the second term, and F for this term.
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