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Urban renewal may help Jacksonville complete wish list Council could vote on it in October By MELISSA MARTIN JACKSONVILLE - The City Council may create an urban renewal district that would generate between $3.9 million and $8 million over 25 years. The money would pay for a list of projects that include buying a new fire engine, flattening the high crown on California Street, burying power lines and rehabilitating the Britt Gardens. "We have a number of projects in our comprehensive plan that can't be funded based on our current revenue stream," city administrator Paul Wyntergreen told the City Council during a study session Tuesday night. "This would allow us to get these accomplished." The council could vote on an urban renewal district in October. A district could be created as early as Jan. 1, 2002. The projects also include: repairing a storm drainage system that contributes to seasonal flooding in Jacksonville's historic buildings; and repairing design flaws in the city's sewer system. But an opponent of the plan called many of the projects frivolous, including plans for a city-owned commercial building. "We need to live within our means, not say, 'Gee, wouldn't this be nice,' and then take money away from the county, city, education service district, transit district and others," said resident Carol Knapp, a critical care nurse and member of the citizen advisory committee. Wyntergreen displayed maps and charts to show council members how Jacksonville's urban renewal district would work. The assessed value of property within the district, which would stretch from the Texaco station to the Jacksonville Cemetery and the Britt Gardens, would freeze at its current level of $38 million until 2026. The $3.9 million to $8 million in projected assessed value increases would be given to the urban renewal agency and withheld from the other taxing districts that would normally receive it. Medford School District would lose $2.9 million in potential revenue increases over the 25-year period, for example; Jackson County $652,747; Rogue Community College, $282,124; and Rogue Valley Transportation District, $71,705. "It represents a minuscule portion," Wyntergreen said. But Knapp compared it to a widow taking money from an inheritance trust, not to buy food for her children, but to buy a party dress. "What you are doing is taking money out of one pocket and putting it in another pocket," Knapp said. "You might be talking about a patrolman, a fireman or a teacher." The projects are far from a party dress, according to city staff. The urban renewal district could help restore and preserve bricks on the city's 150-year-old historic buildings that rattle and shake when trucks rumble down California Street, Wyntergreen said. The money could also help purchase a new fire engine for a volunteer department that depends on equipment so old and inadequate, it couldn't handle a fire at the U.S. Hotel, the town's grand ballroom, Wyntergreen said. One of the visual aids he showed the council Tuesday was a list of pros and cons. The "con" list included: the city's losing $600,000 in tax revenue over 25 years; the city's spending up to $30,000 to create the district; and a new layer of government, along with its paper trail, that would be created. The "pro" list included: the city's gaining the funds for the projects; some staff salaries could be reallocated to the urban renewal agency to free up money in the general fund for things like police and fire services; and the new bureaucracy could be avoided by making the urban renewal agency and the city one and the same. But for Knapp, asking City Council members to wear two hats should move to the "con" column. "A lot of council issues require homework and City Council members already attend two meetings a month, plus study sessions," Knapp said. "Once you add on urban renewal issues, it's going to evolve into either the administrator making all the recommendations because the council doesn't have time to research it, or you won't get any volunteers to serve on the council." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.