EDMOND —
The City of Edmond continues to wind its way through negotiations with developers on what could be one of the largest public-private projects in city history.
The city is already committed to $11 million in public tax dollar investments into a hotel/conference center project at Interstate 35 and Covell as well as a potential indoor sports complex. The idea is that the city purchases the land for both projects now and the developers have the option of leasing with a later option to buy back the land once the projects are built. The city also would contribute tax dollars to infrastructure improvements into the area.
The overall plan for the four corners at I-35 and Covell is large in scope. Potentially, residents could see two new hotels, the conference center, the sports complex, a movie theater, another big box store, five to eight restaurants and convenience stores all as part of the future development. This area also potentially could house a future fourth high school for Edmond Public Schools and Francis Tuttle Technology Center already has broken ground on its new campus facility on Covell.
The City of Edmond sees this area as a huge opportunity for potential new sales tax revenue, and plans to recoup most of its tax-dollar investment within 10-12 years when the entities buy the land for the projects they have built. Additionally, the city is not buying the land for all of these projects, but solely for the hotel/conference center and the indoor sports complex.
A city task force learned recently, that more public dollars may be needed to finance the infrastructure needs in this area, including moving up the timeline for the final phase of road widening on Covell.
There’s much to debate among these proposals, and city leaders have been careful to note during discussions that many details remain unfinalized and still could change by the time the final memorandums are signed. The trick for the city is to get these projects online as quickly as they can so that revenue starts pouring back into city coffers while at the same time making sure they protect all residents’ interests in our natural resources.
The upcoming 2013 Southern Regional Championship soccer tournament set to be hosted in Edmond June 20-26 is one really good example of why the city needs the development at I-35 to move ahead. This regional tournament will be hosted at the Service-Blake Soccer Complex on Danforth and is expected to bring in 208 teams from 12 states. Organizers estimate that 3,000 hotel rooms are needed for the anticipated 6,000 attendees for an event that could bring a $5 million to $9 million economic impact into the area.
As things stand now, most of the hotel rooms that will be booked and used during this week-long tournament will be booked in Oklahoma City and surrounding communities. Edmond hotels will accommodate about one state worth of teams, leaving the rest to find lodging and thus pay hotel/motel taxes and sales taxes to other cities besides Edmond. If the tournament goes well, then Edmond can anticipate hosting three more of these regionals in the future.
And this is just the example of one event for one sport. Edmond is home to other major sporting tournaments including the Endeavor Games at the University of Central Oklahoma and the upcoming Senior PGA tour at Oak Tree National in 2014.
While we absolutely want the city to be diligent with taxpayer dollars and make sure they are getting the best deals possible, we see the need for moving forward with a project of the caliber proposed for Covell and I-35. As to whether the city should issue any new bonds for this project is a broader discussion that we believe the public should have after the Nov. 6 general election gives us all a better sense of the country’s and economy’s direction.
Opinion
OUR VIEW: City still on track for I-35 plan
- Opinion
-
-
It takes a dad as well as a mom
Orlando Shaw earned his 15 minutes of fame with a dubious distinction: fathering 22 children with 14 women. The Nashville man’s story made news when the mothers of his children sued for child support.
-
Excuses for data sweep sound hollow
Perhaps 2013 will go down as the year privacy and civil liberties became too inconvenient for government. Listening to assorted officials defend massive programs that scoop up vast amounts of data certainly gives that impression.
-
I pay property taxes ... please fix my road
Imagine paying thousands of dollars every year in property taxes and at the same time watching your roads literally crumble under the strain of increasing traffic. Unfortunately, some won’t have to imagine this because I’ve just described your reality.
Maybe you have even asked your County Commissioner why property tax money isn’t being used to maintain your road. He probably responded, “Almost all of your property tax money goes to public schools. Only about 15 percent goes to the county and most of that is not for roads.” -
Vision 2020 conference loaded with speakers
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer — playing in the water, grilling, enjoying time with family; maybe preparing for vacation. But for Oklahoma educators, I hope your plans include a trip to Oklahoma City, July 9-11 to attend the State Department of Education’s Vision 2020 professional development conference.
The conference is free to all Oklahoma educators. -
The Oklahoma Standard
The “Oklahoma Standard” was a term coined during our state’s response to the tragedy of April 19, 1995. The connotation has many layers: the standard of trained first responders, the standard of non-trained first responders (neighbors helping neighbors), the standard of our faith community, the standard of welcoming out of state relief workers that arrived to help. In short, meeting the need and answering the call without reservation or inhibition.
-
The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock on farm bill
The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock
on farm bill
With a hopeful sound of gridlock cracking, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that he will vote for the House farm bill even though he has “concerns.” He reasons that “doing nothing means we get no changes in the nutrition programs.”
He may be merely pragmatic but we’ll take it. Rural Republicans are tired of the delays and want the five-year subsidy measure enacted. -
Crazy Kim and the Tippy Twos
Kim Jong Un certainly seems crazy. But sound mind isn’t a requirement for predictable action. Tyrants often mask steady goals with wild behavior. One need only think of world pests like Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein to realize entire regions can be thrust into unwanted global crises.
Like Castro and Saddam, Kim Jong Un has made clear he’s dedicated to expanding his ability to harm America and her allies. The difference is, he has a nuclear capability, not a borrowed or boasted one. North Korea has a proven record of long-range missile development that could ultimately hit the American mainland. -
Don’t blame the President; it’s us
June 17 marks the 41st anniversary of the second Watergate break-in. This is a good time to take a look back and reflect on what can happen when a corrupt administration throws a protective cloak around the misbehavior of a gang of unscrupulous cheats, liars and crooks.
On the morning of June 18, 1972, millions of us were unaware of the festering corruption that would ultimately rot our confidence in the president. We did not know that his administration was using the FBI as a tool to wiretap telephones of reporters regarded as unfriendly to the White House. We were oblivious to the fact the administration encouraged the IRS to audit media representatives whose reporting criticized the president. -
2 bills aid Oklahoma students
I recently attended two ceremonial bill signings at the State Capitol to celebrate legislation I feel is of vital importance to Oklahomans.
-
Time to roll back the Patriot Act
It’s time. It’s time for President Obama to live up to his own words. It’s time for Congress to do its job. It’s time to contract the ever-expanding national security state. And it’s time to roll back the Patriot Act. In Washington, elected officials are circling the wagons. The Obama administration claims that its Internet and telephone surveillance programs are legal; the ones we know about, indeed, are. But just because something is legal and can be done does that mean that it should remain so and continue to be done? No. Laws are made and unmade all the time. And the argument that vast, dragnet-style surveillance has stopped terrorists at the lamentable expense of privacy is exactly the same argument that the Bush administration made about torture: Better to sacrifice our principles and a few people in the hope of saving many.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
It takes a dad as well as a mom
