Response to Mr. Koehler's Letter to the Editor

I just finished reading a misinformed letter to the Editor from a former City employee – Keith Koehler. http://isanticountynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7702&Itemid=68#jc_allComments

The Rail Industrial Park concept plan has a not to exceed $10,000 limit. This plan will need to be done whether or not the land is used for a rail park or a normal industrial park. This land is currently zoned industrial. A not to exceed $20,000 will be used for a facility plan on the waste water treatment plant. Again this is a plan that needs to be done regardless of a Rail Industrial Park. The City is faced with ever tightening standards for our wastewater discharge into the Rum River. We fully expect that in the next few years the standards will be further tighten as has been the pattern the last couple decades. Mr. Koehler additional states the existing plant would be removed – false. The existing plant would be retrofitted to improve its quality of waste water treatment and the ponds would be turned into tax generating industrial land. The retrofitting and pond removal would only be done if we could prove the tax base generated would make it cost effective. I would only want to pursue this project if the City were successful in apply for Federal and State dollars. Therefore his statement that this would cost the taxpayer millions of dollars is completely false.

Mr. Koehler also confuses commercial property with industrial zoned property. In his scheme for new industrial development he would have heavy industrial and its intense vehicle traffic next to a daycare and bank east of highway 65. Terribly destructive planning and zoning such as this would devastate a city. By my count Mr. Koehler has attended three Council meetings recently, one to speak against the Mayoral term being changed to 4 years after this year’s election, next to ask to be appointed to the Park and Recreation Board and lastly the February 3^rd meeting. If he had attended the EDA meetings and Council meetings over the years or listened to the years of recorded Council meetings he would have known better than to make inaccurate and politically motivated statements.

If and only if a Rail Industrial Park is deemed feasible would the City ever invest in such a project. We – and other cities - have had businesses inquire of a rail park as there is none in the entire region. These are lost opportunities that would provide numerous good paying jobs and a strong diversified tax base for our entire region. Once the concept plan is completed I hope to share these results with the County and our regional economic development partners so the entire region has a chance to participate in this project. It only makes sense to leverage the information we have to gather anyway and see if we can bring jobs and a strong tax base to our community.