I’m back from a week away and it’s obvious things have been shaking around here! A School levy meeting last week, another School levy meeting at the Mica Grange next week and the Ed. Corridor forum coming up too. Now the Library is short of money and the CdA City Council will talk about it at their meeting tonight (6:00pm on Channel 19). There’s a theme in all of this somewhere. Any ideas on what that theme is?
Comments or suggestions?
Susie Snedaker made a great point on this blog last week, under the topic of the new use for the old library. She said “I wonder what the savings would have been to the taxpayers had the building been sold and the proceeds applied to the bond as promised. The library issue is fraught with inconsistencies and lack of candor on the part of the administration. But then, that seems to be the way they prefer to do business.”
Comment by Susie Snedaker — May 6, 2008 @ 6:29 am |Edit This
Comment by mary — May 6, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
Tonight at the City Council meeting, the discussion on the lease of the old library to the Salvation Army for the Kroc Center offices, at a very low price mind you, was interesting. Troy Tymeson, the City Finance Director, told about how expensive it has been to maintain the building through the winter and fix the leaking roof. He then basically said the city should not sell the building and should keep it for some future use. NO ONE mentioned that back in 2005, during the library bond election, the city pledged to sell the building for about $1 million dollars to fill the construction budget need. They are just ignoring that pledge, pretending like it never happened. Yet they came to the taxpayers for an additional $600,000 already and are now poised to add 2 additional full-time librarians, with full benefits, at a cost that will be significant and ongoing.
Comment by mary — May 6, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
I watched the Coeur d’Alene Council meeting last night. Here are a few observations. Troy Tymeson stated that the new library was on budget. Did he forget about the $600,000 we as taxpayeyers were asked to pay? Who owns the old library? Is it owned by the city or the library foundation? It must be the city since the approved entering into a lease with the Salvation Army. They certainly couldn’t do that unless they owned the property. Troy Tymeson took ownership of the lease deal. It seems he holds all of the cards and deals them out when instructed by city leadership.
City water rates increased last evening with no fanfare. This is an effort to make us save water. Call it forced conservation. This block usage plan will create problems for the city later when residents who are responsible for maintaining grassy swales come forward with their personal costs to maintain city property.
The most important action was to table until May 20th, the discussion of the city plan to claim property taxes left off of the County Tax Rolls because of the software snafu. At this May meeting, we will also hear the proposed amendments to the fiscal year 2007-2008 during the public meeting. PAY ATTENTION. Since the Library was over budget, do we have any hope that the new Kroc worship center under construction now, faced with rising transportation costs and material costs(except timber) will be?
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — May 7, 2008 @ 9:00 am
Don’t forget that the city likes to put “hot topics” on busy, inconvenient days when people are distracted by other activities and won’t be paying as much attention…May 20th is the school levy and trustee election.
Comment by mary — May 7, 2008 @ 9:14 am
Also, how could Troy Tymeson, the city’s finance director, say at last night’s meeting that the new library was on budget when he was quoted in yesterday’s Press as saying there was a “funding gap”?
Comment by mary — May 7, 2008 @ 9:18 am
Mary,
Turn on your computer’s sound.
Here’s the theme.
Don’t like that one?
Okay! Here’s the Coeur d’Alene City Council theme song.
Comment by Bill — May 7, 2008 @ 12:46 pm
I needed a good laugh. That was funny!
Comment by Stebbijo — May 7, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
Bill, your humor is priceless. I couldn’t get the second link to work, but the first one took me back to childhood, and it’s perfect…Looney Tunes, it’s so true.
Comment by mary — May 7, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
Mary,
You’re much too young to remember the second one…
“Hey, there,
Hi, there,
Ho, there,
You’re as welcome as can be…
M-I-C…K-E-Y…M-O-U-S-E!
Comment by Bill — May 7, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
Oh, Bill, wish it were true, but I remember the club well. And Mickey Mouse is an apt descriptor of what we face today. Hum along as we think of all the silliness going on…”a funding gap” for the library, but we haven’t even tried to sell the old building like we promised…(“M-I-C…, see you real soon…”) Hazel stating under her watch the school levy money will be dedicated to what it was promoted for, like she hasn’t been part of the whole thing up until now…LCDC hiring a person for PR for $35,000 to improve their image, then also paying $25,000 for someone with no affordable housing background to gather info on MidTown’s affordable housing attitude…(“K-E-Y…, why? because we love you”) Deanna Goodlander suddenly being all concderned about the increasing water rates and their affect on citizens, but she voted to approve them anyway moments later…And the city giving the Kroc Center folks a screamin’ deal on leasing the old library building for their offices, rather than sell it for the needed money as promised. (“M-O-U-S-EEEE!”)
Comment by mary — May 7, 2008 @ 10:07 pm
rational discussion? reads just like all the other local sites.
Comment by reagan — May 7, 2008 @ 10:11 pm
Speaking of which, “reagan”, where are your quotes for downtown leasing? The ones you told me were only 33¢/sq. ft.? Was that “honest information”?
Comment by Dan — May 8, 2008 @ 8:04 am
reagan,
Thanks for your contribution.
Comment by Bill — May 8, 2008 @ 8:05 am
honest information and rational discussion unless you all decide to be snarky? i though you wanted this site to be different. that is disappointing. i don’t think the owner uses a real estate agent but check out the building with the dance studio on east sherman and the one next to it that was a dollar store or something. and during the last state election the county gop rented an office across the street in the building next to burts music for about 25 cents a square foot.
Comment by reagan — May 8, 2008 @ 10:08 am
In the downtown Sherman Mall, there are 300 sq ft. of space available for $12 per square foot, one year lease. Here is the link.
Here is 3,000 sq ft for lease on Shearman and 15th for $10.80 per square foot.
Honest information. I’ll leave it up to you “reagan” to provide the rational discussion.
Comment by Dan — May 8, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
Dan, the two links you offered show buildings from 1909 and 1950, both still in full use today and renting for very good money. Funny isn’t it, that our local school district insists that Lakes Middle School is beyond its years because it was built in 1952.
Comment by mary — May 8, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
I’d like to mention that even if “reagan” is correct with the 25¢ figure the GOP paid, that it is still above the 16¢ amount being charged by the City in its sweetheart deal for the old Library. Not only that, but the entity renting to the GOP is private, not a public institution that carries a responsibility to the taxpayer.
Comment by Dan — May 8, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
mr gookin, why do you put my name in quotation marks? do you do that to all those who post here or only those who ask questions that challenge you positions? isn’t one of the reasons this site was launched was to get away from the attitudes and personalities that were infecting discussions? thank you for the links. there is some clarification needed. according to the information on that website the rent is 90 cents per square foot.
“1522 Sherman Avenue
Office/Retail located on Sherman Ave. Completely remodeled building ready for one tenant or more. Open area inside with the ability to build out to tenants desire. Common Restrooms, Sherman Frontage with a NNN lease. Only .90psf.”
Comment by reagan — May 8, 2008 @ 5:35 pm
The predominant method of expressing lease rates across the county is in annual rent per sf (i.e. $/sf/yr).
In some markets, such as Coeur d’Alene, rents are stated in monthly terms (i.e. $/sf/mo).
$10.80 per square foot, per year, is exactly the same as $.90 per square foot, per month (divide by 12).
Carry on!
Comment by Damn Yankee — May 9, 2008 @ 9:12 am
Damn Yankee,
Thank you. I followed the link Dan provided and saw the $0.90/sf and wondered the same thing as reagan did. Thanks for the information.
Comment by Bill — May 9, 2008 @ 9:24 am
That’s fine, reagan (no quotes), because you proved my point. I originally stated that the rent should be more like 90 cents. You said 33 cents. I believe this confirms that you were mistaken. Regardless, there is no one I’ve met who justifies the City charging 16 cents/sqft for property they promised to sell two years ago. That was my point. Carry on!
Comment by Dan — May 9, 2008 @ 9:27 am
The building housing Dance Tales, Democratic Party headquarters, Lutheran Church thrift store and whatever else on Sherman was (and might still be) owned by Rick Garnett.
Comment by Susie Snedaker — May 11, 2008 @ 8:09 pm
having driven by the [old] library in the last few weeks i see alot of construction activity has anyone given the public the cost of accomidating the s.a. in this facility, so they pay 1500.00 dollars per mo. and we pay 2500.00 dollars per mo.to accomidate their needs? seems like everyone is focused on the cost per sq.ft. lets see how much it’s costing the tax payers. do i hear triple net?
Comment by casper — May 12, 2008 @ 7:04 am