Port Commissioner Scott Walker's Speech to City Waterfront Workshop
October 28, 2008
Thank you City of Bellingham for inviting us to take part in this series of waterfront planning discussions. It is great to see this room filled with members of city boards and commissions who volunteer their time to help our community. We really appreciate all that you do in your community service.
We're here tonight to discuss the street grid and other issues related to the waterfront redevelopment.
There are differences between the street plans, but they are things that can be worked out.
Both are walkable;
Both have bike paths and trails
Both create more than 30 acres of new parks
Both set the stage for new jobs and opportunities for our community.
An exchange of ideas can be positive.
The technical questions about the grid pattern will be answered by staff during the question & answer period.
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I'm here to talk about where I believe the Port Commission stands on this redevelopment.
It's instructive to remember how we got to this point.
The Waterfront Futures Group developed a clear vision for this property to be redeveloped as a mixed use project.
In 2004 the Port and City Council unanimously approved the first of a series of interlocal agreements for a lasting and comprehensive redevelopment partnership.
This was after a year of due diligence, and before the Port committed to buy this property.
And I'll tell you, without the commitment by the city, I would not likely have agreed to purchase the property.
Over the years, key partners have stepped up to help bring us where we are today:
• Senator Patty Murray, $14 million
• Ecology committed $45 million to the cost of cleanup.
• Rep. Kelli Linville, the LIFT bill, $20 million of state money, tax increment financing
• DNR, piling removal and harbor line adjustments
• WWU $2 million planning
• Burlington Northern - commitment to relocate the tracks
Over this time the Port and its redevelopment partners have already spent or committed to spend nearly $100 million. The Port's share alone is $32 million.
And we don't want to forget that our most important partner are the taxpayers. This entire project was started to benefit our stakeholders, the tax payers of Whatcom County.
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Tonight the conversation is about the angle of a road grid and whether the development begins on one block or on another that is just two blocks away.
But the over-riding issue is whether the city is committed to move forward with the other partners and honor the agreements that are in place.
Further, does the city have the economic resources to live up to the commitments it has made?
We need to know where we are going with this before the new Legislature and the new federal Congress meets.
Our partners are growing concerned.
Delay is expensive to the taxpayers, and our partners have other obligations that command their attention.
In our dealings with the DOE, we are often asked if we still have a partnership.
We are uniquely positioned to be at the head of the lists of each our partners for the assistance we need to move forward.
But we are going to lose that position if we can't provide a unified front in a positive plan moving forward. Some other community is going to get these resources.
For example, we are weeks away from developing our final proposal to NOAA and other communities are competing with us for NOAA.
There will be a federal economic stimulus bill in just a few months and it requires a unified plan that is supported by all of the project partners.
We need to tell our federal delegation what economic stimulus project is most essential for our community.
How long can Western wait?
Will our state and federal delegations move on to other projects?
Will these delays jeopardize NOAA's interest in Bellingham?
The Port is going to deliver a master plan to the City Council by early December as well as a proposed schedule of infrastructure investments.
The longer this project is delayed, the more it costs the taxpayer and if this descends into an argument between the project partnership and the city, then the taxpayer pays twice.
We cannot go back and revisit every decision.
Are we going to move forward and are we going to move forward together?
Only the city of Bellingham and the Port of Bellingham are uniquely focused on this project. Our other partners have competing projects in other communities.
The Port of Bellingham is willing to be quite flexible with final details. But we need to know whether we can move forward without further delays.
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We are asking that -- no later than December 16th -- the City Council and the Mayor formally reconfirm their commitment to the original agreement of 2004.
At the same time, we are asking that the city provide us and our other partners specific assurances that the city will be able to meet the financial and other commitments it has made.
This timing is essential so that our community can present a united front and a shared vision to the Legislature and Congress when they convene in January.
I encourage you to have a good dialogue tonight, and we look forward to hearing the results of this process.
But the street angles will not matter if we delay this project to the point that we cannot meet our commitments to our partners.
