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Mayor, ARA strike a deal
Top Headlines City Councilor Brian Kirby, chairman of the capital improvement and city development committee, said he floated the proposal to the mayor over the weekend and he and Dumas hammered out the details today in a private meeting. Dumas said compromise has always been on the agenda. "I said two weeks ago that we'd consider an application for the industrial business park and I didn't waver from that," the mayor said after Tuesday's council meeting confirmed the deal. Kirby said he believed there was the possibility of a deal because the mayor has publicly said he was willing to work with the ARA. "There was room for compromise," he said. "I drafted it and proposed it to the mayor over the weekend and he agreed." The deal guarantees the ARA at least $75,000. If Dumas can find the money, the ARA could get up to $125,000. However Dumas said he believes the ARA still needs to trim its budget. "They still have adjustments to make," he said. "We'll be working with them." ARA member Don Smyth said the agency will do the best it can. "We're hoping for the best," he said. "Obviously we're hoping for the higher end of the range, but we know there are no guarantees. We presented our case. These projects are very important to the city and it would be a shame to abandon them now." The agreement resolves for the moment a heated controversy that erupted several weeks ago when the administration decided not fund a portion of the ARA's administrative budget as it has in the past through the Community Development Block Grant from the federal government. The decision left the ARA about $175,000 short, an amount that officials said would severely limit progress on the industrial business park on Ides Hill. Dumas said the ARA had failed to become financially independent as promised and that the city has economic development needs of its own to pursue. All told, there is $300,000 available in the $463,000 CDBG fund for economic development. The matter was complicated two weeks ago when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which administers the CDBG money, barred the city and ARA from spending any funds on economic development until questions about meeting HUD regulation on job development were resolved. Those questions still must be answered before the ARA gets any money, according to the deal. There was pressure on the city to solve the ARA problem because the CDBG budget must be submitted to federal officials by May 15. ARA officials said the lack of CDBG money would severely hamper administration of the industrial business park project. Without money to fight law suits on the price of land or to oversee construction of roads, progress on the park would "grind to a halt." The council voted 10-0 Tuesday to submit the CDBG budget as written by the administration, but recommended that the mayor allocate from $75,000 to $125,000 to the ARA from whatever source he deems appropriate.
Post Your Comments jose21 wrote on May 9, 2008 5:28 PM: " I just gave my opinion. I don't really care about your tax money. I can afford to pay the extra money, sorry if you can't. " attlebrockton wrote on Apr 30, 2008 3:56 PM: " Jose you are either ill-informed or a plant in the sense that you sit around and eat the bovine fertilizer that the ARA shovels on you.My tax money is not yours & the ARA's to take ,demand or steal . " jose21 wrote on Apr 30, 2008 2:50 PM: " yeah, i'm a plant, good catch! " attlebrockton wrote on Apr 30, 2008 1:06 PM: " jose is obviously a plant. " jose21 wrote on Apr 30, 2008 11:39 AM: " I can't wait until the downtown area has been fixed up, i think it will be great for the city. I have no problem paying a little extra on my taxes to make the city look nicer. " attlebrockton wrote on Apr 30, 2008 10:57 AM: " It's been three years since the idea of the Intermodal,Super,Retail ,Save the Downtown, renewal ,facitily was floated.So far the have bought Automatic Machine for 1.8 mil , bought the old Barn that was 500k ? They have been sued by Capinigro(and lost it was around 2 mil) & others over the taking of property at the Industrial Super,residential,Business,save the city business tax base ,park.They are moving the DPW to a smaller space that needs cleanup and won't accomondate them all.Oh yeah they need more money 150k here ,175k there its no big deal these guys are saving the city.What happened to the Cookson 800k? is that in the bank or escrow? " socal1 wrote on Apr 30, 2008 10:29 AM: " A compromise is a good solution at this late date and it should come with the understanding that the ARA will have to be self-funding in the next budget. " citified39 wrote on Apr 30, 2008 8:27 AM: " Here we go it's always the loudmouths that get what they want. Threaten then add some compliments to the council and brag about how hard you work and the city will give you anything you want. What a waste of four council meetings. The council has no control over the budget except to recommend and cut but 4 meetings were held for the benefit of the ARA over money that they shouldn't get but demanded and will probably get with a budget bloated for salaries and legal or professional expenses. We pay Milanoski 107000 dollars and some on his staff in the high 70000 range and they need money for professional expenses! What the heck are we paying them for? Fire the ARA staff and hire someone more qualified. " kevin h. wrote on Apr 30, 2008 7:51 AM: " "whatever source he deems appropriate." So.....Why do we have a council again? " Harry Hindsight wrote on Apr 30, 2008 7:13 AM: " Take it from the schools! Take it from the schools! " or
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