City, county officials restart riverfront park discussion

Mayor David Poucher made a new pitch to the County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 6 concerning the narrow strip of land that the county now holds through tax foreclosure. City officials wanted the County Board to give the city the land a few years ago. Now, it wants the county to entertain a lease or lease-purchase agreement for the property, contingent on the city’s ability to secure necessary agreements for access to the water.

“What we would like to do is some kind of long-term purchase agreement,” Poucher told The Enterprise last week. “The City Council likes the idea be-cause it could offer a range of recreational opportunities for the residents of the community.”

According to the city’s Shore-lines Master Plan, the property in question is designated as a Conservancy Environment, “and could only be used for recreation,” Poucher said.

City officials approached the County Board a few years ago with a request that the county deed the property to the city as the site for a future park. The County Board balked at giving the land away because of the amount owing in taxes to local junior taxing district. Commissioners took the position that the city had to pay the back taxes, interest, and penalties owing on the land. The city declined the offer because it did not have money available to acquire the property.

Commissioner David Sauter of Lyle said the County Board was “ambivalent toward anything other than a sale” when city officials first broached the idea.

Since then, the County Board has reconsidered and has indicated to Mayor Poucher that it is “open to the idea of a lease or sale” because “it would be nice to get the taxes paid back.”

At this juncture of the preliminary talks, “the ball is in the city’s court,” Sauter said. “But I’m pretty confident something is going to happen if the city can work out access with the tribe and the railroad.”

Poucher said City Administrator Pat Munyan Jr. will be meeting on the ground with BNSF representatives in the second week of April to discuss access through BNSF facilities to the waterfront.

“That’s the big one,” Poucher said, “Can we get across the railroad side of it?”

He said BNSF has preliminarily indicated its interest in working with the city to resolve its access issues.

“What we’re hearing from the railroad folks is, ‘You know, this sounds doable. Let’s go look at, scope it out, talk about it, and see where we can go,” Poucher noted. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed and trying to build a relationship with BNSF to help us get this done.”