Dan and His Developer Buddies Once Again

Dan Coody will be Mayor of Fayetteville for two more meetings of the City Council, and it is looking like a "Two-Minute Drill" for the developers who supported him in his recent election defeat. Tomorrow's City Council agenda provides two examples that should be questioned very seriously.

Item B6 under Old Business is a resolution to approve approximately $744,880.00 as a 50/50 cost share with Southpass Development Company, LLC for the sewer installation costs for the Southpass PZD. Three-quarters of a million tax dollars to run a sewer line to the SouthPass Planned Zoning District of Misters John Nock, Richard Alexander, and Hank Broyles. Before the City goes obligating taxpayers for this massive expense, someone should check to make sure that SouthPass Development Company LLC has $744,880 in the bank for its share of the project. If they don't, you know who will get stuck with the full bill when they can't get financing. Take a look at our $3.7 million investment in their parking lot that they told us would be a fine hotel, and see what happens when they can't get it up for financing their promised projects.

Then there is Item C1 under New Business. Coody campaign backer Tracy Hoskins is asking for an ordinance approving a No-Bid cost-share agreement with Park West, LLC in the amount of $2,157,000.00 for the upgrade of the future location of Highway 112 through Phase 1 of the Park West Development from two lanes to a four-lane boulevard. Yessir, $2.157 million to build a four-lane boulevard through the middle of Developer Hoskins' proposed commerical strip mall. Do you think Mr. Hoskins has $2.157 million sitting in the bank to pay for his share of this gift from the taxpayers? Do you think his project should be moved ahead of all the other planned street work in Fayetteville?

I've had about enough of these favored developers using their connections with the lame duck Mayor to drain the city treasury for their pet projects. Let's table all of these giveaways for a couple of months. Let's decide whether this kind of corporate welfare is the best use of our tax dollars in these tight economic times. Let's put a stop to signing contracts for multi-million dollar deals that the city cannot afford and the developers can't get private financing to pull off in a free market. And let's get the developers to personally guarantee all contracts instead of foisting it off on some fictional paper Limited Liability Corportation that limits their liability and leaves the taxpayers buck naked.