At the Jan. 6 meeting a motion by Barry Gillaspie was approved unanimously to have the Interim Town Manager & Town Attorney negotiate with Pima County in an attempt to improve our library services. Additionally, other avenues should be pursued including dealing with the State Legislature.
Oro Valley presently has an Inter-Governmental Agreement with Pima County as it pertains to running the library which is effect until June 2012.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
CityNorth----Funny or Sad? We Say, "It's Sad For Phoenix Citizens"
While we anxiously await the Supreme Court ruling on The Goldwater Institute lawsuit against Phx Mayor Phil Gordon, read what is going on---courtesy of Az Repulic reporter Laurie Roberts.
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Laurie Roberts' Columns & Blog
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I almost feel sorry for CityNorth. Almost.
I find myself feeling almost sorry for the developers of CityNorth. First, they find themselves in the cross hairs of the Goldwater Institute for cooking up a deal with Phil Gordon to siphon away $100 million in future sales tax revenues in exchange for building a shopping center in northeast Phoenix.
Then, they open the first phase of their development – a smattering of shops, restaurants and some high-dollar apartments – in the middle of the biggest economic downturn of most of our lives. Then Bloomies et al pulled out of an eventual second phase and last week, CityNorth's lender filed to foreclose, hoping to recoup a portion of its $290 million loan.
Meanwhile, the city continues to pay the law firm of Fennemore Craig up to $520 an hour to defend the city’s plan to hand over $100 million in future tax revenues, should CityNorth ever build its vaunted shopping mall. As of September, the city had paid more than $600,000 in legal fees to defend against the Goldwater lawsuit.
We're still waiting for the Arizona Supreme Court to decide whether to uphold the Court of Appeal’s decision that the deal was unconstitutional. In the meantime, I’m wondering if Phoenix residents can foreclose on the city to get their $600k back...
*********************************************************************************************
Laurie Roberts' Columns & Blog
.
I almost feel sorry for CityNorth. Almost.
I find myself feeling almost sorry for the developers of CityNorth. First, they find themselves in the cross hairs of the Goldwater Institute for cooking up a deal with Phil Gordon to siphon away $100 million in future sales tax revenues in exchange for building a shopping center in northeast Phoenix.
Then, they open the first phase of their development – a smattering of shops, restaurants and some high-dollar apartments – in the middle of the biggest economic downturn of most of our lives. Then Bloomies et al pulled out of an eventual second phase and last week, CityNorth's lender filed to foreclose, hoping to recoup a portion of its $290 million loan.
Meanwhile, the city continues to pay the law firm of Fennemore Craig up to $520 an hour to defend the city’s plan to hand over $100 million in future tax revenues, should CityNorth ever build its vaunted shopping mall. As of September, the city had paid more than $600,000 in legal fees to defend against the Goldwater lawsuit.
We're still waiting for the Arizona Supreme Court to decide whether to uphold the Court of Appeal’s decision that the deal was unconstitutional. In the meantime, I’m wondering if Phoenix residents can foreclose on the city to get their $600k back...
Oro Valley Council To Discuss Real Estate "Open House" Signs Tonight
The issue concerning the fees for real estate agents having "Open House" signs in the public right of way is on the council agenda tonight.
The main issue of concern for the real estate agents is the fees charged.
Although Open Houses are a major sales tool for selling homes, the main issue for us is not the fees but the signs themselves.
Oro Valley is the only community in all of southern Arizona to allow these signs in the public right away.
The question might come down to this: In a down housing market, do we allow the signs, or not---regardless of the fees?
Here's The Explorer article on this item.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2010/01/06/news/doc4b43c7770c4fc936422598.txt
The main issue of concern for the real estate agents is the fees charged.
Although Open Houses are a major sales tool for selling homes, the main issue for us is not the fees but the signs themselves.
Oro Valley is the only community in all of southern Arizona to allow these signs in the public right away.
The question might come down to this: In a down housing market, do we allow the signs, or not---regardless of the fees?
Here's The Explorer article on this item.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2010/01/06/news/doc4b43c7770c4fc936422598.txt
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