Call me Crazy (no really, call me Crazy) but I think some of the best economic development money spent by the Midland Development Corporation has gone toward projects outside of Midland County. Granted, spending Midland's Tax dollars on a venture outside of the community seems counter-intuitive, but sometimes I think it is best to back a winner.

The Louisiana Energy Services Uranium enrichment plant which was featured in the Midland Reporter Telegram got me thinking bout the MDC putting money toward the High Temperature Test Reactor and FutureGEN.

Granted each of these facilities is outside of Midland, but we have the Airport that brings the professors, researchers, industry leaders and government officials to the area. These projects also bring with them the possibility of Fortune 500 Companies opening offices in the region, and what City in the region has more than ample office space?

I get down on the MDC and the City quite a bit, but they just can't seem to catch a break, or come up with a good idea when it comes to all the Economic Development money we have in the bank.

Note to Commenters: If you have posted a comment lately and it did not appear right away, it is because it is waiting on "approval". This is not me crushing dissent so much as it is the comment "spam" feature trying to filter out the spam bots that enter a couple of hundred comments onto our site each day.

Sometimes the filter gets you, too.

Tips: Don't put more than one link into a comment and try to stay away from words that you see in the spam you yourself probably see daily: cialis, viagra, phetermine, online casino, bank loans, and Bob Stoops Hates Puppies and Jesus.

Random Thought for the Day:

Anyone who is considering singing at their own wedding needs both a healthier fear of danger and proper sense of self-restraint.

The MDC Built a Spec Building at the Airport....for what reason exactly?

It seems that another venture is moving into the La Entrada Business park and (wait for it...)

is building their OWN building. Welcome to the Neighborhood Atmos Energy.

It sounds like the Democrats are trying to position themselves as the party of the common man...though not so common as to shop at Wal-Mart.

A discussion on that article can be found over at The American Prospect. The actual blog post there doesn't just take the usual "progressive" position on Wal-Mart, though. The opening line from the author:

"I'm of the opinion that how to handle Wal-Mart is among the two or three most important issues facing the country."

Really? Regardless of what side of the Great War on Terror you are on, you have to figure that it would be ranked in the top two most important issues somewhere. Ditto for, say, Middle Eastern Foreign Policy, and a domestic energy policy.

Right up there with with those issues is the national crisis caused by the kajillions of people who really can't want to shop at Wal-Mart, but do anyway? But then the Dems have never trusted any system that allows individuals to make their own decisions as to their own well-being.

But it is worth going over there to read the comments.

The Department of Energy held it's scoping meeting for creating the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Penwell Site. The event was a bit unique, but full of Rah-Rah public statements and "Chamber of Commerce" speak. The President of the Odessa Chamber went into his chamber schtick by saying "..and we can perform minimally invasive heart surgery on a beating heart..." among other things unrelated to FutureGEN or the environmental impact of the project.

The Texas NAACP Representative, who specializes in "Environmental Justice" issues, was very upbeat about the project and stated it was the rare occasion that the "environmentalists were on the same side as the governmental and business interests."

I'm sure the scoping team will receive a flood of written comments from the usual suspects, but only two members of the general public even had anything slightly critical to say about the project.

One pointed out that the technology used in FutureGEN is not new, but the CO2 capture is. He also pointed out that TXU is looking to build dozens of coal plants right now, and was concerned that it would be difficult to force retrofits of these plants once the FutureGEN CO2 technologies were refined. He also expressed concerns for getting China and India to implement these CO2 capture technologies. He also expressed concern over the water issues and the availability of "Capitan Reef Water" and "Ogallala Water" for the site.

The other was a self professed member of the Sierra Club, but spoke on his own behalf. Even he was supportitive of the project and the technology, but had concerns about strip mining of coal in East Texas, mercury polluted streams in West Virginia from coal mining activities, rights of surface owners versus mineral owners, concerns about railroads interferring with wildlife patterns, concerns about javalina and mule deer, and concerns about the view from the Caprock out over the Pecos Valley. However, he didn't really condemn the project.

I'd have taken his points on the views and wildlife more seriously if it wasn't for the fact we're talking about Penwell. He kind of ignored the existing condition kown as Rhodes tank "collection", the Southdown Cement Plant, the Railroad and the Interstate. I guess he also missed the part where the Odessa Development Corporation is pledging money to "totally clean up Penwell" if FutureGEN is sited there.

I'm hopeful, but as of now I figure FutureGEN is 70% political and 30% technical when it comes to siting the plant, and don't let anyone tell you differently.

On the subject of TMP Trailers and the "incentive" package they received from the MDC. I don't remember a story about the failure of that operation. Did it, in fact, fail?

And, if so, should that not have been reported as prominently as was its receiving the package from the Midland Development Corporation in the first place?

Or is what the Great Cynic Walser suggested true...that the local paper is not institutionally capable of acting as a disinterested party when reporting on local economic development activities and efforts?

Wow.

So powerful are the incentives offered by the Midland Development Corporation that an aircraft powerplant manufacturer will load up all of their stuff on to trucks and move it to Midland on the basis of the MDC simply considering giving them an incentive to load up all of their stuff on to trucks and move it to Midland.

And Lord knows that a company whose only ties to this area are the "30 equity investors primarily from Midland and Odessa" that essentially own the company in question, would never in a million years move here without these after-the-fact incentives currently being considered.

Pegging the irony meter: The company has purchased and plans to move in to the former TMP Trailer manufacturing building. Does that building ring a bell to anyone?

Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller?

Let me refresh your memory.

It is the same building that was involved in another MDC giveaway.

I will always remember that particular article for it, out of all of the column inches given over to dressing up our system of legal corporate kickbacks, let slip the only real truth that you have read:

"We were going to do the project regardless but it was nice that the city wanted to take part on that level,' Patterson said."

Perhaps sometime in the next week or so someone from the new company will stop unloading trucks long enough to take up the MDC on their soon-to-be forthcoming incentive package.

I wonder how many people really looked at what Downtown Midland was and what it is now befrore they started trying to apply the various "Downtown Revitialization" plans that have been hatched around the country.

Looking over the Downtown Midland Photo Collection at the Big Gold Dog Blog one can quickly tell that Downtown Midland never had the typical "Courthouse Square" or "Residential Center."

From the beginning of the community, downtown had office buildings, government buildings and retail. What retail there was just fronted Main Street, and that all but died once they built the Village Shopping Center. Once our retail was effectively dead, that area of town was crushed to dust to build the Downtown Post Office, Federal Court Building, Midland Center, Midland Center Parking and Midland Hilton Parking ages ago.

So why do we point at "Main Street" projects in Harlingen, Odessa or elsewhere when we don't even have those types of buildings to rennovate?

Midland's downtown has always been unique and it is going to take unique and original ideas coupled with bold (and well financed) leadership to come up with solutions other than the obvious ones:

1) Tear down buildings to make what space we have more valuable.
2) Pray for the return of office space intensive businesses.
3) Spend lots of taxpayer money.

Jose Padilla! He's not just back! He's still with us! And in related news, "For the ninth straight year, Brigham Young University was voted the most 'stone cold sober' school." There will be no knocking of today's, what-took-'em-so-long, finally-after-all-this-time, major league, national recognition of the sane person's primary rationale for attending the community college in Austin. Not on this blog. Nope. Never.

The MRT had a HUGE Sunday Edition front page story on Downtown Midland. Not a whole lot is new in this story to those of us who have followed the attempts to "revive" downtown. However a couple of things in this story caught my eye:

Denton downtown proponents have been working on revitalizing their downtown since 1989, according to Denton's Main Street Program Manager Julie Glover, and while the progress was incremental, the results have been significant. Glover said the city joined the Texas Main Street Program -- an organization that provides support for cities seeking to revitalize their downtowns -- in 1990 and it took five years before the first large effort was undertaken.

1989?! Denton started revitalizing their downtown about the same time the FDIC finished selling off all the buildings in Downtown Midland. Talk about a head start.

Even so, what does Denton have to show for it's 17 years of working on their Downtown?

Over the past decade, she (Glover) said, approximately $36 million has been reinvested in the area on small projects such as painting, as well as on larger, full-scale renovations. In 1999, she added, the total worth of downtown properties was about $37.2 million and by 2005 valuations had increased to about $61.2 million.

OK, so Denton pours $36 million into Downtown over the past DECADE and values have only gone up $24 million in the last 6 years? Sounds like a $12 million loss to me. If you ignore the $12 million loss, in 6 years Denton's downtown valuation has only gone up 10.75% per year over the last 6 years, which is barely more than what the Tax Assessors have been hitting property for per year all around the state, much less the red-hot metroplex area.

On top of that, there is this issue of the size and scope of the comparison. In 2005 Denton has a value of $61.2 Million and Midland has what? "....$108 million."

So let's review: Denton spends 17 years working on their downtown to the tune of $36 million dollars, or more, and after all that effort the value of their downtown is slightly more than HALF of Midland's CURRENT downtown valuation.

Look, I'm all for reviving Midland's Downtown...but come on people, find something comparable. All the downtown boosters keep pointing at Cities that have downtowns nothing like Midland's. Using these templates, and tossing out these "examples of success", in my humble opinion is not going to produce similar results....unless you count spending more taxpayer money than your rise in property valuations.

Ohhh the twists and turns of the Midland Savings Building. At first this project seemed like Grandstanding with the MMD and Yates having open negotiations in the Newspaper. Then it was like Hot Potato, keep it, sell it to the City, keep it, make it a building, make it a parking lot. And now? Maybe kids fighting over a favorite toy?

At least some of the involved parties know this doesn't look good:

If we don't get that thing down, everyone involved in the process-- us and the city-- is going to have egg on our face Ken Burgess, MMD board member.

Lets see if we can figure out what is really chewing at the MMD Board?

The statute that authorized the creation of the management district lapses five years after it was passed by the Texas Legislature and management district officials indicated they would like to accomplish a highly-visible project before it is time to have the district re-authorized.

So is the board fearful of going to the legislature for re-authorization as a do nothing district?

That's the project that's on the ground and we need to have it accomplished before this five years is up, said board member Ken Burgess. Otherwise, what can we say we've accomplished?

It would seem that way. Even so, with Midland Savings gone, what else have they done that is worthy of their continuing as a "taxing" entity?

This just in: I am going to live forever.

Check this out...for $900 per month you can get space in Manhattan.

For your car.

An interesting stat for you. According to the article, "Manhattan's parking prices exceed the average monthly rents for housing in many U.S. cities."

Is it any wonder why most everyone (besides the super rich) that reside in the "Blue" states always are down in the mouth about the economy?

I have jury duty this week.

For the next several days I am at the beck and call of the Midland County Courts at Law. So, if you're facing misdemeanor charges in Midland County, I might just see you.

I was always told by others in my profession that I would most likely never sit on a Jury because of the education, logic and deductive reasoning skills utilized in my field.

Well, I've been called 5 times and been on 3 jurys. Granted one was traffic court and one was the JP court where the parties didn't have lawyers. However, one was a pretty big civil case on which I professed specific knowledge of the incident and some of the parties during the empanneling of the jury. Go Figure.

Ten days have passed since the MR-T reported that the cost of the new and/or improved convention center could surpass $60 million dollars. Normally, we here at this humble little blog would jump right on such news with our own take...but, alas, after ten days I cannot improve on the analysis offered up by City Councilman Wes Perry:

"Wow, that's crazy."

Councilman Perry has nailed it with three words.

A few months ago the initial report from the consulting firm indicated a "moderate interest" on the part of event organizers in holding events here should Midland spend $65 million building a new convention center. I didn't see the report, but rumours have the price tag of convention centers that would generate a level of interest described as "Qualified Enthusiasm" and "Beats Not Having A Convention" as being $82 million and $75 million, respectively. The price tag of the "Will Stick With Abilene, But Thanks Anyway" level of interest was only $50 million. (Okay, I made those last parts up.)

But why all of the handwringing? For these are not prices or costs, merely "numbers":

"The number's a number and that's about all it is at this point," [Mayor Mike Canon] said.

Canon said he would not be discouraged if the final cost for construction is somewhere in the $40 million to $60 million range because a convention center would make Midland "more dynamic and attractive" not only to conventioneers, but to people looking for "good cities to live in and to come and work in."

To some these figures represent "numbers". To others they represent costs. No more information is required in order to determine the direction of the cash flow between these two groups.

"Yes, it's worth pursuing," Canon said. "There's no reason to believe our community will become any smaller and it looks like it will continue to grow and a good convention facility is something that progressive communities (possess.)"

So when the town is not growing and is danger of becoming smaller we need these projects to make Midland more attractive. And when there is no reason to believe the community will become any smaller and it looks like it will continue to grow we need to build these facilities in order to be (clenched teeth) "a progressive community".

Whatever it takes in order to keep up with the Jonesvilles.

I do hope everybody hasn't been in too much suspense....

I get this cryptic email inviting me to be on the "Editorial Board" of Jessica's Well. I say sure why not, what else have I got to do? Lo and behold I get my log-in credentials and I take off for the weekend.

This is either gonna be a pattern or I've already gotten all the mis-cues out of my system. I'll vote for the former.

Needless to say I have opinions and like to make commentary, so I hope to be a decent contributor. "Onward into the Fog!"

Well, somebody had to do it.

If you have been getting your news on Lebanon from only the papers or the television you have probably never heard of the two most famous Lebanese in the world: Green Helmet Guy and Bomb Magnet.

Lebanese Super Hero Green Helmet Guy is everywhere a bomb happens to fall in Beirut because no tragedy is truly felt without proper art direction. Loyal sidekick Bomb Magnet is the unluckiest woman in the Middle East having had more than one house destroyed by the Israelis...or so the news editors would have you believe.

And now Green Helmet Guy has his own blog.

Some recruiting news...

Jessica's Well has added a member to its vast* editorial board.

I will let him announce himself.

(Well, half-vast, anyway. *rimshot* I'll be here all week...and don't forget to tip your waitresses.)

...been doing a lot of reading lately and very little writing (Damn little!! - admin) and even missed my 3rd blogaversary in June. (It doesn't seem like it's been 3 years, but it does seem like it's been 38 months. Go figure.)

Some interesting reading is an article on the Reason Magazine website (h/t Instapundit, I think) entitled "Have You Hugged Your Hummer Today?" The writer summarizes a work of research on the full lifetime energy costs of cars and trucks. The research paper is a downloadable file (warning!: 458 pages unzipped) found here and is titled "Dust to Dust."

Amazingly thorough, the study takes into account all costs associated with designing, building, driving, maintaining and scrapping the vehicle. And the results are probably not what you would expect:

"A downtown convention center is extremely important in the health of a downtown," HNTB Director of Planning Richard Leisner told participants. Leisner added before instituting a large project, such as a convention center, you "need a good handful of projects to let people know downtown's hopping."

Glad the city held a "public workshop" to get input and that no one helping put it on was trying to steer the outcome.

Clint Alderman, project manager at Vandergriff Group, told members of the committee that he received the impression that "by and large the community's ready" for re-developing downtown, but that further education on the subject is needed.

"We haven't quite got 'em all snowed yet" is kind of what that says to me. How about you?

"The next meeting will be a can't miss meeting," architect Gary Vandergriff said. "If we do our job right we'll really change people's perspective of downtown."

Yeah, from the possibility of it becoming a massive sinkhole of tax/assessment dollars to an absolute certainty.

BTW, I may have missed it: Was there an announcement of this "public workshop" or were the attendees there by invitation only?

There is a little bit of a flare-up at the Midland Municipal Management District over whether or not there is a rate cap on what the "not-really-a-taxing-enitity" can...er...assess their...uh...members.

It seems that the MMMD Board and at least some of the MMMD membership don't agree on how to interpret the language that describes the cap:

"A document drafted by the MMMD states "the annual assessment payment (will) be capped at 110 percent of the previous year's assessment on such property," which some members present at the meeting interpreted as a reference to the 10 percent cap on the management district's tax rate.

Board member Ted Jones said he did not recall any provision for a 10 percent appraisal cap in the organization's bylaws and he believes there was only a cap on increases to the MMMD's tax rate. Fellow board member Scooter Brown said whatever the language of the document means, there was never any intent, as far as he knows, for a 10 percent appraisal cap to be instituted.

Meanwhile, the assessees are beginning to chafe at the level of their tax bill membership dues:

"We'll vote against it, we'll be absolutely opposed," said board member Keith Dial, who represents the Hilton Midland Plaza. "We're already 30 percent over where we were a year ago. Taxes are off the charts."

I am sorry that you had to see Mr. Dial's quote above. Apparently, he does not understand that these are not taxes that he is paying, rather they are dues, or fees, or...well...they are not taxes, okay?

[MMMD Chairman and current City Councilman Wes] Perry responded that he hopes there would not be much opposition to such a measure, because the money collected by the management district goes back into the neighborhood and "it's not the same as putting money into the blackhole of a taxing entity" [emphasis mine] that distributes its funds across a much broader base."

I guess he means the city here?

I picture the other city council members reading their papers this morning and thinking, "Gee, thanks a lot."

(Please keep in mind when reading things about the MMMD, that this taxing entity was not created by a vote of the locals, rather it was hatched in the hallways of Austin by a very few of the well-connected and quite literally forced on others. There is no other way to describe the process of its creation.)

It is a rich country indeed that can support a "Celeb Crisis Expert" industry.

Cool Things Found On The Internet - PART XXXV

Have you ever heard of "Urban Exploration". Me neither. Basically it is prowling around urban structures....mostly abandoned structures but not always.

And where there is an interest or hobby there is an internet site devoted to it, in this case the Urban Exploration Resource.

Check out the "reports" back from some who explored the abandoned Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio.

The City Council Election Season Begins" and with this beginning comes a breath of fresh air.

Former City Councilman Don Washburn is considering running for a slot on the council, either as the District 1 Rep, in which case he would run against sitting council member LuAnn Morgan.....or as an at-large candidate where he would run as part of a slate of candidates from which two candidates would be selected. Currently, the announced candidates for the at-large positions are current council members Bill Dingus and Wes Perry.

I say it comes with a breath of fresh air....but that is just my opinion. For one man's breath of fresh air is another man's blasphemy:

"Washburn said it is time for someone to examine the benefits of the city's economic development efforts and determine whether they have been sufficient to warrant the continued existence of the program. Additionally, he said he feels that someone needs to closely look at whether the money being invested in downtown redevelopment will provide enough of a "return on the investment" to be worthwhile."

Heresy!

Blasphemy!

Bravo!