| LovelandPolitics.com a non-partisan website about Loveland politics for residents concerned about our community's quality of life - email us your editorial or report on Loveland topics for posting here |
| Anatomy of Failure Follow the stories tracking the McWhinney's crippled plan to convince the community their agreement with the city needed to be amended to make Grand Station subsidies a reality 1. Chad McWhinney and staff answer questions to the public - Aug. 1. Critical questions abound -Read Story 2. Hear McWhinney answer questions about LovelandPolitics.com (click for audio) or click here to see YouTube video Chad mentions during the meeting Aug. 1, linked to LovelandPolitics.com 3. READ WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED |
Loveland -- Sept. 2007
After a lengthy meeting involving seemingly endless presentations by McWhinney Enterprise
employees, interrupted occasionally by Chad McWhinney, the Loveland City Council again
retreated into their second secret meeting in as many weeks to discuss a controversial proposal
by the McWhinneys to amend their agreements with the city.
The controversial proposal includes allowing the McWhinneys to use sales tax dollars and
property taxes collected through their quasi-governmental entity (Improvement District) to fund
the building of a multi-story parking garage for the already announced Grand Station
development East of I-25.
Missing from the discussion was the controversial "trolley to nowhere" that stirred so much
controversy in the community before being pulled from the plan until after the city council
elections in November. Nonetheless, the remaining items were not without their detractors --
among them Mayor Larry Walsh.
As is the custom in Loveland, the city council allowed the developer unlimited time to meander
over the same material for most of the evening using charts, graphs and other visual aids. The
public wasn't invited to comment until the end of the evening when two residents opposed to the
changes were followed by multiple Centerra tenants, friends and employees who voiced their
support for the subsidy of the parking garage at Grand Station. The premise of many speakers
was similar to their trolley pitch last month to the council “was that absent a city subsidy a project
of this magnitude was impossible.
The same theme echoed during the presentations but Rich Shannon, a community lobbyist for
McWhinney, was stopped dead in his tracks by Mayor Walsh.
Walsh complained that the Outlet Mall partnering (city council jargon for tax subsidy) was
appropriate because they brought retail which in-turn generates important sales tax revenue for
the City of Loveland. He went on to contrast the Outlet Malls with Grand Station where a majority
of the development will be business offices and residential uses. He asked the question,
therefore, "why do we need to subsidize it?" The Mayor also responded to one response by
Shannon by stating that developments in Loveland provide a similar revenue stream that were
not incentivised, Walsh than asked Shannon why he thought his company was different.
Mayor Walsh also challenged Shannon's sales pitch by questioning the assumption that people
from a 50 mile radius will come to Loveland to shop once Grand Station is complete. The Mayor
stated that a lot is happening in North Denver that will keep those people in Denver.
At this point in the meeting Chad McWhinney jumped-up and motioned to his employee, Rich
Shannon, to vacate the lectern where he was speaking. McWhinney jumped onto Wlash's
comments by saying "we think success comes to those who get in-front of the inevitable."
He then addressed Walsh directly by stating, "You and I have been working together for 17 years
and I intend to be here a lot longer." He continued by explaining 65 new shopping developments
are currently being built or planned along the I-25 corridor. The Mayor retorted, "The issue I
have is you are asking carte blanch for $79 million for parking Chad."
Chad McWhinney responded, "Well, revenue wasn't the only purpose of the MFA" and he went
on to point out that bringing primary jobs to the area was also a goal of the original MFA. During
McWhinney's explanation, Pielin bobbed his head up and down in a motion suggesting he
strongly agreed.
Again the Mayor found his composure to respond that the original MFA didn't include parking as
an incentive and was joined by City Manager Don Williams who added the comment that using
the money for parking structures was specifically prohibited in the agreement.
Councilman Klassen broke the argument by reminding his fellow councilmen that the approval
would not be for any specific amount of money but instead they were being asked to approve a
concept of using certain public monies for a parking structure at Grand Station. McWhinney
agreed that all he had were projections so real bids with inflation added for time would, in fact,
likely exceed the figure they were discussing.
After eventually allowing public comments, the Council hurried into an executive session at the
behest of Mayor Pro Tem Pielin to discuss the matter and stated they were likely not going to take
any action that evening. Councilman Walt Skowron, as before, voted against the closed door
meeting.
After a lengthy meeting involving seemingly endless presentations by McWhinney Enterprise
employees, interrupted occasionally by Chad McWhinney, the Loveland City Council again
retreated into their second secret meeting in as many weeks to discuss a controversial proposal
by the McWhinneys to amend their agreements with the city.
The controversial proposal includes allowing the McWhinneys to use sales tax dollars and
property taxes collected through their quasi-governmental entity (Improvement District) to fund
the building of a multi-story parking garage for the already announced Grand Station
development East of I-25.
Missing from the discussion was the controversial "trolley to nowhere" that stirred so much
controversy in the community before being pulled from the plan until after the city council
elections in November. Nonetheless, the remaining items were not without their detractors --
among them Mayor Larry Walsh.
As is the custom in Loveland, the city council allowed the developer unlimited time to meander
over the same material for most of the evening using charts, graphs and other visual aids. The
public wasn't invited to comment until the end of the evening when two residents opposed to the
changes were followed by multiple Centerra tenants, friends and employees who voiced their
support for the subsidy of the parking garage at Grand Station. The premise of many speakers
was similar to their trolley pitch last month to the council “was that absent a city subsidy a project
of this magnitude was impossible.
The same theme echoed during the presentations but Rich Shannon, a community lobbyist for
McWhinney, was stopped dead in his tracks by Mayor Walsh.
Walsh complained that the Outlet Mall partnering (city council jargon for tax subsidy) was
appropriate because they brought retail which in-turn generates important sales tax revenue for
the City of Loveland. He went on to contrast the Outlet Malls with Grand Station where a majority
of the development will be business offices and residential uses. He asked the question,
therefore, "why do we need to subsidize it?" The Mayor also responded to one response by
Shannon by stating that developments in Loveland provide a similar revenue stream that were
not incentivised, Walsh than asked Shannon why he thought his company was different.
Mayor Walsh also challenged Shannon's sales pitch by questioning the assumption that people
from a 50 mile radius will come to Loveland to shop once Grand Station is complete. The Mayor
stated that a lot is happening in North Denver that will keep those people in Denver.
At this point in the meeting Chad McWhinney jumped-up and motioned to his employee, Rich
Shannon, to vacate the lectern where he was speaking. McWhinney jumped onto Wlash's
comments by saying "we think success comes to those who get in-front of the inevitable."
He then addressed Walsh directly by stating, "You and I have been working together for 17 years
and I intend to be here a lot longer." He continued by explaining 65 new shopping developments
are currently being built or planned along the I-25 corridor. The Mayor retorted, "The issue I
have is you are asking carte blanch for $79 million for parking Chad."
Chad McWhinney responded, "Well, revenue wasn't the only purpose of the MFA" and he went
on to point out that bringing primary jobs to the area was also a goal of the original MFA. During
McWhinney's explanation, Pielin bobbed his head up and down in a motion suggesting he
strongly agreed.
Again the Mayor found his composure to respond that the original MFA didn't include parking as
an incentive and was joined by City Manager Don Williams who added the comment that using
the money for parking structures was specifically prohibited in the agreement.
Councilman Klassen broke the argument by reminding his fellow councilmen that the approval
would not be for any specific amount of money but instead they were being asked to approve a
concept of using certain public monies for a parking structure at Grand Station. McWhinney
agreed that all he had were projections so real bids with inflation added for time would, in fact,
likely exceed the figure they were discussing.
After eventually allowing public comments, the Council hurried into an executive session at the
behest of Mayor Pro Tem Pielin to discuss the matter and stated they were likely not going to take
any action that evening. Councilman Walt Skowron, as before, voted against the closed door
meeting.
| Council Again Retreats Into Secret Session to Discuss MFA Changes For McWhinney's Grand Station |
| Richard Shannon, McWhinney employee, shows Loveland City Council the 65 proposed developments along the I-25 corrider in Northern Colorado during Aug. 28, 2007 meeting. |
| Slide show showing McWhinney's concept for Grand Station presented to Loveland City Council August 28, 2007 |
| Stunned by Mayor Walsh's comments to Chad Mchinney, Councilwoman Jan Brown looked like she had seen a ghost. Below Councilwoman Jan Brown is seen in a huddle with Chad McWhinney and other McWhinney loyalists during the break in the meeitng Aug. 28, 2007. |
| Councilwoman Jan Brown |
| Mayor Larry Walsh |
| Setting a course of his own, Mayor Walsh stunned colleagues when he questioned the purpose of subsidizing a private parking garage for the McWhinney's Grand Station development. |