Wasco County Commission Chair Scott Hege got emotional when delivering Wednesday’s final vote on the Google expansion deal, which was unanimously approved.
Hege was replying to citizens who felt the agreement — as one woman put it — was being “crammed down our throats in a week” with not enough input by the community. That sentiment was echoed throughout the meeting.
“I worked hard on this,” a choked up Hege said. “I really wanted to give you more time. But I didn’t so I’m sorry. I lost on that issue. I tried really hard. I was on the phone last night and I couldn’t make it happen. They [Google] need us to make a decision and they need us to make it today. I don’t know why. They won’t tell me. I’m frustrated but I believe them. I think the benefit for this community is huge and I support it.”
Hege, who was applauded after his comments, was part of a team that negotiated with Google for over eight months. He said Google’s original timeline was to have an agreement in place by mid-January, which Hege thought was optimistic at the time.
Commissioner Steve Kramer kept his comments short before making a motion to approve the agreement.
“My constituents who put me in office have told me overwhelmingly that I need to move forward with this project,” he said.
Commissioner Rod Runyon interrupted his vacation to give his vote and comments over the phone.
“I apologize for not being there,” he said. “I don’t really think that this has been a five-day deal. People from the county and city have done a heck of job over eight months and I trust the job that they do.”
Runyon also noted the positive impact Google’s already had on the community.
“Google is doing things we wouldn’t normally be able to do, like STEM and Wi-Fi,” Runyon said. “Google will bring other companies with it, who will look at the port now because of what Google has done. We’re getting some very talented people with high wages. Those talented people may stay in our community and may want to start their own tech firms here.”
Hege also addressed other comments that were made both at Monday night’s public hearing and during Wednesday’s county meeting.
When Mike Bertrand asked why the commissioners didn’t put the Google deal out as a referendum to be voted on by the people, Hege replied “We didn’t put it to a vote because we’d heard from enough.”
Hege shared citizen concerns about the impact of Google’s expansion on the Riverfront Trail.
“I’ve had many serious discussions with my contacts at Google and they committed to me, even though it’s not in the documents, that they understand how important the Riverfront Trail is to the community and I think we’re going to see some great things,” Hege said. “I encourage you to all get involved when the site plan comes out.”
Hege said he also understands concerns over Google taking up so much land, 26 acres off River Trail Way with its proposed third data center, but noted the Port of The Dalles still has more land available.
“All throughout the discussion [with Google] we were concerned with the diversity,” Hege said. “Diversification is critical. That is a goal. It’s not something that happens overnight.”
The one problem Hege did have was the public notion that “Google needs to pay more and we’re getting screwed by this corporation.”
“I like a company in this town that is very successful and wealthy,” Hege said. “Yes they have $60 billion in the bank. Yes the money that they are going to give us is peanuts and it is crumbs to them but it’s a lot of money for our community. I think this agreement is fair. I can’t tell you how hard we fought. Blood, sweat and tears almost applies because it was that difficult. I’m surprised at times that we are here today because I’m surprised we got them to agree to what they agreed to.”
In exchange for 15 years of tax breaks, Google has agreed to pay an estimated minimum initial payment of about $1.7 million and at least $1 million annually. Those numbers could be much higher since the fees have been based on the size of the data center that opened its doors this spring.
The new facility is expected to be much larger and the amount Google will pay is figured on 16 cents per cubic foot for the initial fee and 11.4 cents for the annual fee.
According to Hege, the minimum amounts Google will pay are three times more than the taxes collected from any other company in Wasco County and six and a half to 10 times that of any other Enterprise Zone agreement in Oregon.
For example, Facebook is providing Crook County with only $110,000 per year for 15 years.
“It’s not a little better,” Hege said. “It’s huge.”
How the money will be divided up has yet to be determined but the city and county together will make that decision. In the past, initial fees have gone to projects that officials believed would have a real significant and immediate impact on the community.
While the initial fees are due 30 days after the purchase of the property and the agreement is complete, the first annual payment won’t be received until the third data center’s completion, which is estimated for 2018.
Google has two other agreements already in place for its existing facilities on 30 acres of property along Steelhead Way.
Both deals are for considerably less money than the contract recently negotiated for the company’s third expansion.
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