What Really is the Issue Over Expansion of Valley Center Technology Park?
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Premier Manufacturing has its sign up and work going on inside the former United Technologies plant on Mackinaw Road, largest facility in Valley Center Technology Park. Officials expect the water bottling plant to employ several hundred.
Valley Center sign beckons firms, the facility offering ready-made development sites.
Bay County commissioners are facing a crucial choice:
1-Stop development of Valley Center Technology Park, perhaps forever, and instead of using tax money generated for park development spend it on regular county services like senior citizens programs, home health care, libraries and other general fund needs.
2-Drop opposition to the park, settle a dispute with developers over "capture" of county property taxes to allow the park to expand, thus providing more sites for business development and jobs.
At stake is about $145,000 a year in county taxes and about $33,000 a year for Monitor Township.
The county has already "opted out" of allowing tax "capture" for development of the park.
Now they're weighing a proposal to block future development of the park, perhaps even by legal action.
Is Bay County going to have a policy of growth, or not? That is the question on the lips of business leaders who are fighting to remake the local economy.
Since commissioners are pouring money into economic development and publicly stating support for development, the recent course of anti-development initiatives is causing confusion among business leaders andcitizens alike.
They ask: If county government is not going to support the most impressive economic development effort in this part of the state, why are we spending money on economic development?
If we did attract the interest of new business investors, where would they go to locate a new plant or building?
One of Bay County's major problems for years has been the availability of large chunks of land with installed infrastructure -- roads, sewers, water lines, utilities, etc. -- ready to offer to companies.
That problem supposedly was partially solved with the development of Valley Center Technogy Park (VCTP) on Mackinaw Road. VCTP's 220 acres have attracted about 20 businesses which provide about 850 jobs over the past 15 years.
Public support for the park was shown in a vote on a referendum on the Valley Publishing Company's plan to exceed height restrictions on a new press building. Township voters approved the expansion by a 60 percent to 40 percent ratio. And a $20 million investment in Bay County was allowed to proceed, securing dozens of jobs that easily could have gone elsewhere.
Now VCTP leaders want to nearly double the park's size by adding 197 acres. They stress that there are many prospects for land purchase that will add even more jobs to the local economy. They feel the county commission's diversion of tax dollars from development to regular county expenditures like the library and senior citizens isshort-sighted. Besides, those functions are already funded adequately by special millages, development advocates note.
The money spent on services soon will be gone but funds dedicated to industrial park development will yield dividends inthe form of payroll income, and resulting tax revenues from family homes and consumer spending for years, they note.
Remember the line by Paul Newman from the movie "Cool Hand Luke?"
"What we have here is a problem of communication."
Communication should be front and center as Bay County heads into one of the most crucial weeks in recent history.
Why is this week so important?
Because on Monday night the Monitor Township Board votes on a proposal to expand the Monitor Township Downtown Development Authority, which operates the industrial development area known as Valley Center Technology Park.
And Tuesday a group of the most influential economic developers in Michigan comes here for a MEDC Downtown Revitalization Conference at the DoubleTree Hotel - Bay City Riverfront.
What will these folks think of Bay County if we are telling the world we want new businesses and jobs on the one hand and blocking development on the other?
The sticking point that has been brewing for nearly a year probably could be settled with a five minute conference among the parties.
That kind of meeting over coffee on Monday morning wouldn't be a bad idea. The county settlement and township approval of the park expansion could hit the headlines and airwaves by Tuesday morning, just in time to offer a unified front for the arrival of the state's key economic developers.
An impartial review of the issues should be done. Let's examine the questions that have been raised about park expansion:
Q-The park is only getting local businesses that already are located here.
A-According to MEDC research, 90 percent ofnew jobs are created by the expansion of local businesses. However, local businesses that don't find the room to expand here will no doubt move, thereby losing jobs and tax base for the local area.
Q-The park is taking valuable farmland.
A-There is plenty of farmland in Bay County, much of it selling for $1,500 to $3,000 an acre. By offering strategically-located, fully-developed property, we support business retention and attraction programs that otherwise might fail. Also,this is a specific area of the township set aside for development by the township board about 15 years ago.
Q Isn't Valley Center Technology Park run by "greedy businessmen" who are profiting from a land grab?
A-The board ofthe Monitor Township Downtown Development Authority receives no pay for their service; all members are interested in development for the good of the area. Of course they hope that having a thriving development area like the park will contribute to the success of their own businesses, too.
In summary, this week offers local government officials and business leaders a chance to make a bold statement one way or the other: 1-Bay County is ready to grow. 2. Bay County doesn't want development. The choice is clear and now is the time. This is either going to be the week that was, or the week that is.###
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