|
October 18, 2007
Dear Friends,
Today I called for the City to release to the public full details concerning the City’s option agreement for the purchase of the former OmniSource headquarters property, referred to in recent months as the “North River” or “North River Development” property. I also asked the City for a detailed public update on the status of the environmental issues concerning the property.
Earlier this year the Mayor’s office announced that the City spent $25,000.00 to obtain an option from OmniSource to purchase the 29-acre parcel north of the St. Mary’s River and along its banks, between North Harrison and Clinton Streets. According to City press releases, the purchase price is a “projected 4.3 million,” and the option is set to expire at the end of this year.
There are approximately ten weeks left for the City to make some decision about this property. If we want City Council to have time to deliberate and to seek input from their constituents, we need to make the terms of the proposed deal public now. There is no reason for this decision to be made at the last minute.
I am interested in the City exercising some control over the property, as it is a strategic parcel for Fort Wayne’s downtown. Current zoning would permit the property, potentially, to be used for purposes similar to its prior uses. For 60 years or so, that property has been storing and handling waste and scrap, some of it hazardous. The property should be used for a purpose compatible with longstanding efforts to create a vibrant downtown.
Earlier this week, the Mayor’s office responded to my request for a copy of the option agreement, which I also provided to local news outlets. I thank the Mayor for providing a copy of the agreement. What I have seen makes me think it is all the more important that we start the public discussion now.
I am particularly concerned with the environmental issues. When the North River project was unveiled several months ago, the City made mention of favorable environmental remediation efforts by OmniSource and said "the option agreement for the land contains environmental provisions." I think most of us thought that if the owner had confidence in the clean-up already performed, the City would have received some type of an indemnification from the owner—in case their confidence turns out to have been misplaced.
The agreement provided to me by the City does have a provision concerning environmental matters. The agreement states: “The seller will convey the property to Buyer AS IS, without any warranty as to condition or environmental matters.” So, the City was correct in saying there is a provision. What they didn’t say is that according to the provision, the Seller is apparently unwilling to stand by any of its representations about the environmental matters or take any risk in connection with the future cleanup of the land. If we exercise this option, all of that risk moves squarely and solely to the shoulders of Fort Wayne taxpayers.
Without further information about the environmental status of the property, it’s not possible to make an informed judgment about the deal the City has outlined. Several months ago, the city said "further testing will be orchestrated by the City to verify the status of the site." Have we completed this testing? What are the results? What else needs to be done? These are critical questions that should be addressed now, not when the option expiration date is imminent. Recent City-initiated projects have shown that the details do matter, and we need to start talking about them.
Despite my concerns about the environmental matters and the terms of the option, I am not opposed to the purchase. This isn’t farmland we are talking about; it was a scrap yard. I’m concerned that the owner won’t give us a warranty, won’t give us an indemnification and, apparently, won’t even stand by its own representations about prior cleanups. It’s very clear they want to wash their hands of that potential liability. The question is: Do the taxpayers of Fort Wayne want to take it on? Eight months have passed. By now the administration should have some information to start the discussion.
I am calling for the City to disclose publicly all test results so the citizens can examine the information and comment to their elected officials before we are up against the option deadline.
We have spent months talking about what we might put on the land. We need to spend the time it takes to discover what is underneath the land; because whatever it is, it’s going to be our problem if we move forward with this option.
Sincerely,
|
