Bob Main was the lone voice of dissent expressing valid concerns about washing toxic chemicals both from fertilizing the golf course and from a former methamphetamine lab being washed into the bay. Commissioners Whitty and Stufflebean were unconcerned about potential damage to the bay. The flooding is necessary for Jordan Cove to offset wetlands lost to the proposed LNG terminal.
The commissioners added three conditions to the project to limit costs to the county and damage to the environment, but the three-person vote was divided. Commissioner Bob Main voted no, in light of concerns he said he had about pollutants washing into the bay. Commissioners Nikki Whitty and Kevin Stufflebean voted yes.
Jody McCaffree recommended an oversight committee to avert a similar disaster as the Mas-Tec pipeline.
The port agreed that there should be a technical advisory committee, such as the one it already has, including leaders from the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and Coos Watershed Association.
The applicant gets to be its own advisory committee. That will be like listening to foxes discuss how to guard the hen house.
Stufflebean assured everyone … “Regulatory agencies tend to pick on government entities more than private companies.â€
It is anyone’s guess where that pearl of wisdom came from or what evidence there is to support that statement but meanwhile, Stufflebean is once again backpedaling on earlier statements made to the press about his bankruptcy. Today, a county citizen asked him why he hadn’t reported his personal contributions to his campaign that forced him into bankruptcy. Failure to report contributions is a clear violation of election laws.
His explanation was that there were non-reportable expenses such as gas and mileage to speaking events. So given the campaign cost less than $6,000 and Coos County is not that large it would seem that it didn’t take much to tip the financial scales for the commissioner. Now he has also blamed his wife’s job loss and his own, heretofore unconfirmed, claim of a $28,000 a year salary cut when he took on the commissioners seat.
Either way, Stufflebean doesn’t appear to have much of a handle on his personal finances and was irresponsible toward his debtors if he, indeed, did take a lower paying job. So why are we letting someone with such a track record of inconsistencies and poor judgment make decisions for the County?
Public Hearing, December 1, 2009: Ordinance adopting an amendment to the Empire District Urban Renewal Plan, URP. The Amendment removes the last date to issuance of urban renewal bonds and changes provisions on procedures……..
In English: To close a URP, and district, all debt must be paid off. Amendment purposes to extend district in perpetuity.
Time to close down, (Sunset) all Urban Renewal Agencies, URA, and Districts in Coos County OR. Why? They have become a redistribution of wealth scam, administered by Councils and Commissioners with double hats, who, govern over ordinances directing the many districts plans.
Forty percent of the governing Council of Coos Bay and some business owners, have taken grants from the Coos Bay URA, Virtual Incubator Program, (The World 10/21/09), receiving up to $7,500. each, availing them to personal gain. This is tax dollars, taken from the property owners of Coos County,
The abundance of Urban Renewal tax dollars in Coos Bay, necessitated a full time, paid, manager position, with a new home, Visitor Information Center, (Coos Bay Web site), to move the money through the newly created Urban Renewal Economic and Revitalization program. AKA. Urban Renewal Revitalization Economic & Community Development, “slush fund.â€
The URA, also approved $15,000 last, and $25,000 this year, donated to the South Coast Development Council. Your tax dollars.
Our County would have experienced a greater prosperity and growth over the last 15 years if the URA multi millions of tax dollars were left in the pockets of the earners and not squandered by the governing representatives.
Prosperity develops when you spend your money, not when the government takes your dollars, and give it in a wealth distribution program for special interest groups, businesses and other property owners.
den
End of Letter.
Documentation, The World Articles, and other.
Downtown group gets funds for TV ads (The World)
The Coos Bay Urban Renewal Agency is giving the Coos Bay Downtown Association a $15,000 booster shot for a television advertising campaign known as “Shop Coos Bay.â€
The association’s president, Cindi Miller, said advertisements will be aired locally, as well as in the Willamette Valley. The goal is to attract more visitors to the downtown, both from near and far.
The agency also is moving forward with discussions about renovating the Coos Bay Visitors Center, located at the bay end of Central Avenue.
Hilary Baker of Crow/Clay & Associates recently presented the city with two schematics, both featuring multiple bathrooms, office space for city staff and a conference room. She said the preliminary cost of expansion could run between $600,000 and $700,000. It would go along with the city’s plans to establish a virtual business incubator to assist businesses.
The agency seemed to be in agreement that the larger of the two designs was preferable.
“We want to make a statement with this building,†said city councilor Mark Daily.
Mayor Jeff McKeown agreed.
“I want something that says to people: Stop,†he said.
http://www.coosbay.org/coos-bay-Economic-Development-and-Revitalization.htm
(The World 10/10/09)
The Coos Bay Urban Renewal Agency has approved three Virtual Business Incubator grants, including one for one of its own agency members.
Orcoast Music, 787 Newmark Ave., owned by city Councilor John Pundt, received $7,500 to help pay for a new sign, exterior lighting and paint, as well as advertising.Â
Under the Sun Tans and Hydro Massage, 106 Hall Ave., owned by Gino Harpold, got $7,500 to help pay for new signs, computer software and advertising.
Oregon Inspiration, LCC, 191 S. Broadway, received $7,500 to pay for new signs, advertising and shelving.
The agency unanimously agreed to all three grants, though Pundt abstained in the vote for Orcoast Music’s application. He is the third councilor to receive such a grant. The others were Stephanie Kramer and Mark Daily. No other councilors currently own a business in one of the city’s two urban renewal districts.
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2008/11/22/news/doc4927470b47ffe666209513.txt
(The World 8/11/09)
The Coos Bay Urban Renewal Agency approved a virtual business incubator grant Tuesday for the Old Tower House Bed & Breakfast in Empire.
Councilor Stephanie Kramer owns the business and recused herself as other members voted in favor of the $7,200 grant to pay for advertising, insulation, porch repairs and paint.
Kramer is the second councilor to receive funding through the program. Mark Daily previously received $7,500 to make improvements to his business, Outdoor-In, and pay for radio advertising.
The program provides up to $7,500 to businesses located in one of the city’s two urban renewal districts. Money can be used for signage, marketing, advertising and other aesthetic improvements. Applicants must complete a business plan and attend workshops at the Southwestern Oregon Community College Business Development Center.
(The World 3/24/2009)
COOS BAY – The tightening economy hasn’t slowed business for Tracy Mueller. Owner of Art Signs in the Bunker Hill area, Mueller said people still find money in their budgets to pay for his signature product.
“It’s an excellent means of advertising and you only pay for it once,” he said.
One thing he has noticed recently is that more people are asking for price estimates, particularly business owners in Coos Bay’s urban renewal districts. Since the city unveiled its Virtual Business Incubator program last year, at least 20 businesses have inquired about his services, Mueller said. He helped the first recipient of city funds, Hair Co. Etc., and three more are in the works.
“Most of them are small jobs compared to what we normally do,” Mueller said. But, “it keeps everything going.”
Art Signs isn’t the only local company to see a boost from the new program.
Local media outlets have seen new companies looking for advertising, or old customers returning for more. Ken Croes, station manager at KCBY, said the grant recipients have modest needs compared to a car dealer or furniture store, but they make a difference. And it encourages residents to shop locally.
“I think it’s a very positive thing for the community,” he said. “We hope it continues.”
There should be plenty of businesses looking for advertising, new signs and other services. Joyce Jansen, the city’s economic and community development manager, said she has met with more than 35 business owners about the business incubator program.
The Urban Renewal Agency has approved 12 applications, totaling more than $85,000, and more are on the way, Jansen said.
The funds to help local businesses come from the urban renewal agency. It has allocated another $75,000 to distribute to downtown business applications. The Empire district has a balance of about $35,000, Java Jones Coffee being the only business that has received funds.
Jansen said money can be allocated for a variety of purposes. Bay Area Enterprises’ application included the purchase of a new cash register to train new workers, while Rife’s Home Furniture plans to install new energy-efficient lighting.
To qualify for the grant, businesses must prepare a business plan and attend a class at the Business Develo-pment Center in North Bend.
None of the businesses with grants from the city’s virtual business incubator has purchased advertising from The World newspaper, said to Denese Hale, the paper’s business manager.
(The World 2/17/09)
The Hair Co. Etc. is the first business to receive a grant through a new program to help local entrepreneurs.
City of Coos Bay officials presented Meagan Phillips, the salon’s owner, with a check Feb. 6 for $5,610. The funding came from the Coos Bay Urban Renewal Agency’s Virtual Business Incubator Program. It provides grant funds for businesses within the city’s two urban renewal districts for advertising and marketing, signage, and aesthetic improvements.
The program is supervised by Joyce Jansen, economic and community development manager, who worked with Phillips on the grant. The grant was approved after Phillips relocated her business from the Lockhart Building on Third Street in September after the city condemned the building. She qualified for the funding after developing a business plan and taking classes from the Business Development Center.
Three other businesses have submitted grant applications, including Bay Area Enterprises, Java Jones Coffee House and Siren Song.
“They are coming in at a pretty good clip now,†said Jansen.
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2009/01/16/news/doc4970d4e0e6dc0249702533.txt
(The World 8/12/08)
COOS BAY — The city of Coos Bay wants to revitalize its urban areas. For now, that means helping existing businesses instead of attracting new ones.
City Manager Chuck Freeman and staff have a plan to do it. They want to examine the business climate and offer assistance to business owners who need it. The key to the project, Freeman said, is the creation of a virtual business incubator.
Like a traditional incubator, such as the one managed by Southwestern Oregon Community College, it would help owners by providing technical assistance and consulting.
But unlike an incubator that rents offices in a business park, participants in the virtual model would stay in their storefronts and meet with an advisor in a neutral location. Freeman suggested these gatherings could be held in a refurbished Coos Bay Visitors Center, which the city council has expressed interest in renovating.
New businesses and those expanding existing services would be eligible, though Freeman emphasized the city’s intent is to help at-risk businesses.
“The main thrust is to help those here first because they were here first,†he said.
The city will partner with Arlene Soto, the director of Southwestern’s Business Development Center. The service will be available free of charge, though business owners will be asked to partake in training that could include a nominal fee. The training will depend on the business and could focus on writing a business plan or budgeting.
The revitalization plan also involves interviewing business owners to find out how the city could help them. Information will be kept confidential, said Joyce Jansen, economic and community development manager for Coos Bay. Jansen will be conducting the interviews for the city.
(Staff Writer Alexander Rich covers Coos Bay issues for The World. He can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 234; or by e-mailing to arich@theworldlink.com.)