Hawkins hearings draw heavy comment

County Commissioner Pat O’Neill told a large crowd Monday that he believes he has found a source of funds to finance the county’s $15 million commitment for the Hawkins shopping mall project at the stateline.

However, O’Neill later declined to give any specifics on where he has located the funds.

Hearings on the Hawkins deal drew hundreds of people into the Public Service Building Monday and Tuesday nights.

Critics said commissioners entered into the agreement without properly analyzing its implications. Supporters said the county must act swiftly to bolster the county’s retail economy.

Both O’Neill and Commissioner Greg Partch said Monday they would not ask Hawkins to revise a development deal contingent upon the county acquiring the $15 million.

Absent that provision, some worried the county could be sued by Hawkins if it could not come up with the money by the time Hawkins has begun building.

Tammy Lewis, speaking on behalf of Schweitzer Engineering, asked commissioners directly Monday night if they were willing to make that request to Hawkins.

Commissioner Michael Largent answered with a quick yes; O’Neill and Partch said no. Partch said the project would die if they attempted to re-open the contract.

Partch Tuesday said he would support a funding contingency. His objection Monday, he said, was to cancelling the contract and starting over.

“You get one bite at this apple,” he said.

Partch added the new retail options at the site would allow county residents to buy products locally, instead of traveling to outside market areas.

“There’s no place here to buy the things we want,” he said.

O’Neill then reported he had zeroed in on a source of funding for the project, but would not elaborate after being questioned by Largent.

Commissioners Jan. 3 pledged county funds to pay as much as $15 million to have Hawkins build infrastructure for the county at the site. That was an increase from the $9.1 million agreed to in a 2008 deal with Hawkins.

Jeff DeVoe, project manager for Hawkins at Boise, said the recession that hit in September 2008 meant his company would not be able to charge prior rates for leasing property in the shopping center. That, he said, reduced their operating profit, prompting him to ask commissioners last fall to increase the county’s commitment to $15 million.

DeVoe refused to answer questions from local reporters until after the public hearing process is closed next Monday, April 23.

DeVoe Monday night presented figures on the anticipated financial benefits of the shopping center. The lengthy presentation showed the project would generate 1,000 jobs and more than $1.2 million in annual sales tax revenue for various taxing districts.

Throughout his presentation, DeVoe said some of his firm’s potential tenants have shown interest in developing in Moscow if the Whitman County site does not develop.

“If this project doesn’t happen here,” said DeVoe, “there’s a very real chance it’s going to happen across the state line. I’m not making it up. It is real.”

DeVoe also presented commissioners with a change to the January deal aimed at alleviating concerns that prompted the Organization to Void Illegal Conduct to file an injunction suit against the county and Hawkins.

DeVoe stressed his company will not act as a contractor on the project and vowed no public money will be spent on private portions of the 714,000-square-foot project. Both are points alleged in OVIC’s suit.

Members of OVIC were in the crowd and their attorney, Tim Esser of Pullman attempted to question the projections on occupancy, sales tax receipts and market research presented by DeVoe. DeVoe said his company’s attorney advised him against responding to any questions from OVIC’s attorney.

Other citizens both Monday and Tuesday asked if commissioners had done their own analysis of the Hawkins projections.

“You’re talking about a lot of money,” said Joe Henderson of Colfax, one of the OVIC board members, who said it would be prudent to inspect the company’s financial statement and to commission an independent market analysis.

Partch and O’Neill said they trusted the validity of Hawkins figures. Largent said he did not have the expertise to analyze them.

Lack of analysis of the company’s projections was the prime concern of citizens speaking at this week’s hearings.

Dick Appel of Dusty, also one of the OVIC board members, criticized commissioners for being “easily persuaded” by Hawkins’ sales projections.

He called commissioners “a group that got taken for a ride by a salesman.”

Realtor Colleen McDonald of Pullman said the development will put in place necessary infrastructure, especially water and sewer service, to bring other tenants to the corridor. She said she has had numerous companies ask about buying property to set up shop in the corridor.

“They all walk away when they find out what needs to happen in the corridor for development,” she said.

Mark Bordsen, former county planner, said this is a unique opportunity to keep shoppers in Whitman County. Bordsen noted the site was “the best location in the corridor” and was what the planning commission had in mind when it passed the corridor zoning ordinance in the 1990s.

Bobbi Ryder, a former member of the planning commission, said shoppers have to drive to Moscow to get lumber on Sundays.

Milton Rowland, Spokane attorney hired by county commissioners to defend them in the OVIC suit, compared the Hawkins deal to efforts to revitalize River Park Square in Spokane.

With public agencies taking on some of the initial development costs, many private companies were able to turn the city’s once-blighted downtown into a thriving commercial center.

Former state Rep. Don Cox, though, pointed out Tuesday night that the River Park Square rebuild was led by a tax levied by the city.

Most importantly, said Cox, the downtown core of Spokane had a number of community leaders request assistance from the legislature.

“We need that kind of critical mass; that kind of community support,” said Cox.

Commissioner Partch noted the Jan. 3 deal was passed at that time so commissioners could lobby for funding from Olympia during the legislative session.

Cox said efforts in Olympia would have been better served with a large contingent of local residents expressing their support.

“We need to go about it in the right way,” said Cox. “And that’s to get support first, not after.”

Cathy Sackmann of Endicott criticized commissioners Tuesday night because she felt they were not receptive to critical comments from Monday’s hearing.

“We’re all here to speak to our commissioners when it really doesn’t matter,” she said, comparing them to parents telling their children, “Trust me. Eat your broccoli.”

Esser and realtor Darl Roberts of Pullman brought up comparisons from other shopping centers in the region.

DeVoe’s projections estimate 80 percent occupancy of the site four years after construction begins.

Roberts noted the Palouse Mall is still not fully built to its proposed capacity. He added the Wheatland Mall in Pullman took years to fill up.

Esser brought up the Blue Mountain Mall in Walla Walla. The city there, he said, is faced with tearing down the mall after its backers went bust.

Jeff Lanigan, who lives next to the project site off Pullman Airport Road, said the blight of the Walla Walla mall is his “worst nightmare” scenario for the Hawkins project. He urged commissioners to verify the projections put forth by Hawkins.

Partch said the Walla Walla mall was built under an old model of development. Hawkins’ plan is more tailored to modern shopping patterns, he said, and would not likely suffer the same fate.

Former Commissioner Jerry Finch of Pullman expressed his support for the Hawkins proposal. Finch was instrumental behind passing the original 2008 pact.

He said commissioners now need to take “bold” action to bolster the county budget. Revenue from the Hawkins project, he said, would preserve services like parks and the fair and would prevent the elimination of deputies from the sheriff’s office.

Without that money, he said, crime would spike.

“When the farmers see rural burglaries and break-ins happen, they’re going to say what happened,” said Finch.

Jim Kackman of Colfax said he would be willing to pay higher property taxes to preserve those services than to risk the county’s funding on this development.