Don't wait on the train

What Hermes those thousands of tourist ain't coming to this historic and glorious city and do.....and do....and do...hell I don't know what they were gonna do here.  Does anyone else?  That is one question nobody ever bothered to answer, while they danced the train is coming dance.

Ahhh yes the train is coming deal.
Several months ago when Mr Kohler published the map of the new downtown core I noticed that First Ave was blocked off and all the current business properties on the East side of the cemetery were gone. I picked up the phone and called Mr Kohler and he informed me that it was a mistake in the map.
Just last week I was informed that the City had an options to buy all three of these properties so it wasn’t just a simple mistake on Mr Kohler’s map.
We got lucky this time on the train deal and it was put on hold before the City purchased all the other properties on the other side of First Ave…

Mtown

You are more than welcome to provide PROOF that any of my statements are incorrect at any time and post the information on this blog.

Mtown wrote: Another example of MiddletownUSA regulars making statements and accusations that have absolutely no basis in fact. Hermes, why do you think it is acceptable to just make things up. You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

 

Mtown, that is BS and you know it!!! Was the deal done with the intent of building a new shamrock station? Sure it was. But the underlining deal was so the city could improve upon the train station downtown. Had those city leaders known for sure the train was never comng, this deal would have never happened.

I retract my above statement and issue a public apology to Mtown. If I post without providing proof and then expect everyone else who post to provide proof is very wrong of me. My statement was out of line.

But as Randy stated above and in other postings on the board the intentions of the city concerning the land swap with Shamrock was in fact for the purpose of expecting the train to stop here. That was the whole purpose to the deal,the city leaders got excited when they heard the train might stop here and were preparing for it by making a deal with Shamrock in order to get that parcel of land. Now the city owns a little piece of nondescript land that will no doubt sit there doing nothing. And it further reinforces my statement that the people who run this city,and it's not only city council,are totally incompetent.

 

Mtown,if you know something that MUSA members don't know then share it with us. You defeat the whole purpose of this forum by making snide comments about what members post and then you don't really share anything. All your doing is attacking us and that just makes everyone take guard and raises anger. I'm sure Randy has probably thought about banning you from posting but why let it get that far ?

Mr. Kohler, um I mean "Mtown", you don't expect as to believe that do you?  With the snail's pace of any kind of development in this town, it is an extreme coincidence that the Duncan deal occurred when it did.  By "extreme" I mean not a chance.

The land between Central and First will be redeveloped into a retail center (Duncan Oil). The former gas station will remain green space as part of a downtown gateway enhancement and the former Office Outfitters site will be used for commercial development.

I just didn't make this up. It is in the downtown plan which as a downtown property owner I participated in the development of along with many downtown stakeholders.

Get the facts Hermes, do a little research and quit the armchair theorizing. I'm not sure but I think the downtown plan is available on the City's website.

Mtown - I do research and when time permits I attend meetings and I know others on here that do the same and a few that go great lengths to obtain factual information. And I did in fact take a look at the city website on the development of the RR area. (depot & old gas station site)

 

The train depot land and this includes the former Shamrock lot is listed as light industrial. Table 2.4 principle F states the following : Establish downtown Middeltown as a station on the proposed statewide passenger railway.

 

Now,this could not be done with Duncan Oil still maintaining that small lot next to the depot. So the city,in order to obtain that entire plot of land made a deal with Duncan Oil to relocate so the city could expand on that parcel of land for the passenger train. Now if you want to call it redevelopment thats fine,but the real reason was for the 3-C rail stop. If you are a business owner as you state you are either extremely naive or very misinformed.

 

If you look back over the year on this forum under economic development you'll see the conversations that took place concerning this very topic and I myself refered to the 3-C as a boondoggle and what the city was about to do was based on pure speculation because nothing was established as of yet to confirm that the 3-C was even going to come through Middeltown. But the city jumped on the bandwagon and started the talk that the train was indeed coming and hence the land swap deal with Duncan. All of this is common sense deduction,it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the city was up to.

 

And if I recall correctly the city wanted everything from the depot going south to Divers. They wanted all that land !

[QUOTE=Mtown] The land between Central and First will be redeveloped into a retail center (Duncan Oil). The former gas station will remain green space as part of a downtown gateway enhancement and the former Office Outfitters site will be used for commercial development.

The whole block-Duncan Oil- a "retail center" you say? One lousy store selling gas, a few candy bars, some coffee, and a dam Twinkie. Employees making 6 bucks an hour no doubt. And, a gas station less that a quarter of a mile away at the point of Central at First, within earshot of this "retail center". One lousy store does not make a retail CENTER, buck. Is that the best you people can do in bringing in new business? Gas stations selling candy bars and coffee and pawn shops? Mercy! Mtown, you and other city believers are pros at embellishing the real situation.

"and the former Office Outfitters site will be used for commercial development"- again, nothing for sure planned, just speculation and dreams. Just purchase the dam property and "hope" something will happen at this location. If Office Outfitters didn't last, what makes the econ. dev. department think anything has changed to enhance the chances of success. Not enough traffic flow on Clark and Manchester to justify placing a business there. This location has been dead since the 70's.

OK Mtown--I am supposed to be out of here, however you either came into the mix mid-stream, or have been a very minor player in the years of propert y-shuffling on this project. You have conveniently twisted the facts to make your point. I couldn't pass this up.

Spider, spider, spider, you are perhaps the most delusional of all the MiddletownUSA regulars. I know a little more than you on this because of my business relationship with the former owners of the Jacks Rec and Revelos property.

The City didn't purchase the Office Outfitters and former gas station site. The City purchased the Jacks Rec and Revelos property. The City then exchanged the property they acquired with Duncan Oil. As part of the exchange Duncan Oil cleared all the property.

All you have to do Spider is spend a little more time doing research and a little less time armchair theorizing.