The City of Spooner has approved up to $1.64 million dollars for road and utility work in TID #4.
Tax Incremental District #4 is the area of the proposed Wal-Mart development.

No opinion will be given as to the merit of this action.

However, the "How" this happened is of concern.

An excellent view of "how" this action was taken is expressed in an opinion written by Spooner Advocate reporter Frank Zufall.

...if you are someone who cares about open government and including a clear agenda that lets you know what government officials will be discussing and voting on and you like straight talk from those same government officials, then Tuesday, Dec. 2, was a sad day indeed.

Item “b” in section 7, “Discussion/actions” for the Tuesday, Dec. 2, monthly Spooner City Council meeting reads, “Action on TID 4 projects.”

As a reporter who has covered the Spooner City Council since March 2003, I have seen similar written descriptions that pertain to one of the four TIDs within Spooner. It is not uncommon that such a description would address a business interested in locating within one of the TIDs, or work that could be done within a TID, such as surveying, or the status of a project.

Some agendas spell out the nature of the discussion more clearly, such as “the color to paint the TID 4 water tower.”

But on Dec. 2, the city council did not discuss a minor issue, like the color of a water tower, but an issue of great magnitude with repercussions on a pending Wal-Mart development and the future economic development of Spooner and even Washburn County.

It turns out that “Action on TID 4 projects” was a very big subject, a very important subject, a subject that involved several questions the public may have wanted to weigh in on, such as:

• Releasing Wal-Mart of an obligation it has said it would assume until recently.

• The pros and cons of using TIF dollars. Yes, there are both pros and cons for TIF investment.

• Economic development in Spooner.

• Those for and against the proposed Spooner Supercenter.

When it came to “Action on TID 4 projects” there were I and two others in the audience. None of us spoke up during public comments before the discussion because, quite frankly, we could not discern what the council was going to discuss. It was too vague.

A question citizens of Spooner should ask is, “Does ‘Action on TID 4 projects’ give any indication that at the end of the council meeting the city would release Wal-Mart of potentially $1.64 million of improvement costs Wal-Mart has said, as late as the summer of 2008, it would assume and/or make the same dollars available for other major development in the area?”

This is a serious problem.

Possibly a legal problem.

I highly recommend anyone interested in this issue to read the entire opinion here.

Free registration is required to read the entire opinion. But, worth the minute to register.

Bayfield County residents and property owners have until December 19 to complete an online survey which will help guide future growth and development. The survey can be found HERE.

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Burnett County will be holding two Public Meetings to gather input for their Comprehensive Plan. The Southern Cluster meeting will be Monday December 15 at 6:00 pm at the Grantsbury High School Library. The Northern Cluster meeting will be Tuesday December 16 at 6:00 pm at the Webster High School Cafetorium. (I must be getting old. I don't even know when a cafeteria become a cafetorium.) All citizens and property owners are encouraged to attend.

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The Rusk County Comprehensive Planning Committee met on December 5 for the first time since August. They have finalized their survey which will be distributed soon.

The Burnett County Zoning Committee held their Public Hearing on the proposed sign ordinance. There were a few objections to the proposed ordinance claiming they would harm present and future businesses. The committee will consider the comments made at the Public Hearing and discuss possible changes at their January 6 meeting.

Bayfield County will be busy this month working in their Comprehensive Plan.

A special open house will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 16 from 5:30 – 8 p.m. at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center. That meeting will be followed by meetings also scheduled on December 17 and 18. More information is available about these meetings from the Bayfield County Planning and Zoning office at (715) 373-6138.

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Barron County will be holding a Comprehensive Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday December 3 at 7:00 PM at the Government Center.