Myths scuttled Oregon project

Here are the top 10 myths used to cancel Oregon’s downtown development plan.

10. Placing a Sullivan's store close to Super Valu would drive Super Valu out of business. Early in the process, Jim Kaufman was asked by Mayor Stone and Finance Commissioner Williams if he could compete against Sullivan's. Kaufman stated he could compete.

9. No public input into the process. There were three public input sessions, and the information helped guide the design elements that would have appeared in the final plan. Aside from regular citizens, input was solicited from all other taxing bodies as well as Rock River Senior Center, Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, PTA/school, Community Art Legacy, Autumn on Parade officials, Oregon Trail Days officials, VFW, American Legion, area banks and businesses.

8. The anchor client dropped out, so there was no need to proceed. While the developer, Walter Wayne, said he couldn't recommend the site without the museum property in play, the major client, Scott Sullivan, wanted to proceed. The day the council voted to cancel the plan, three city council members confirmed his commitment. A completed plan would have taken into account a modified site selection.

7. The city would help fund the Sullivan's store through a TIF district. At no time was the city planning on funding the building of a Sullivan's or any other store. If a TIF was needed, it would have covered only those areas of infrastructure a city is normally responsible for.

6, The project would hurt our historic district. The opposite is actually true. New development would allow for an enterprise zone with $100,000 a year available for downtown improvements.

5. The Manzullo building and coliseum would have been torn down. The project would have saved the Manzullo building with a microbrewery in the property. The coliseum wasn't being torn down. The city council passed a resolution that it would stay.

4. Fiscally responsible to terminate the project 3 weeks before plans were set to be presented to the public. Between the city and developer, $129,000 was spent. Because the plan was terminated before completion, the state agency funding the grant requires the city to create additional items to meet grant conditions, and this comes out of city tax dollars, not grant funds. City money is still being spent on the alternate plans. In the end, we will have nothing to show.

3. Doesn't make sense to put two grocery stores close together. This is common in retail, and the consumer wins. Competition lowers prices and provides greater selection.

2. After plan completion, project construction was set to start. The whole project was only to produce a proposed plan. This plan was scheduled to be viewed at public hearings and forums; no construction or demolition was scheduled.

1. Whole downtown block was scheduled to be torn down. Simply not true. The plan would have left fronts of the downtown buildings intact. It did contain changes to the backs of some of the buildings to allow for an entrance from the Fifth Street parking.

Note to readers – Patrick Wiesner, a member of the Oregon City Council, is an entrepreneur and certified public accountant.