[RP TownTalk] Fwd: Friends and neighbors,

Tue Jan 10 17:13:53 UTC 2012

These and many, many more questions and topics have been discussed to the
bone over the past six months during the many Town Council hearings. Those
folks who attended the many sessions know the answers to your questions and
can fill you off line. Those with that knowledge do no share your sense of
outrage.

If you have not been in Park Tanglewood, you should call Councilman Raymond
Rivas for tour. He and his company take great care of the building. There
is no trash and debris there, and the people living there are polite and
hardworking. I was there just yesterday and impressed with how well things
are run there.

Melissa, it appears that you may have some spare time. Please consider
doing some volunteer work in our town, perhaps helping Ray Rivas with the
Recreation Committee and/or Emily Fanning with her wildly popular but
under-aided Doll Club that meets at least once, sometimes more, each week
at Park Tanglewood. You will be rewarded by the genuine warmth and good
cheer of good children would respond wonderfully to the positive attention
from an adult. It is a great opportunity to help a youngster feel welcome
in this world and in this town. Raymond and Emily do it everyday and there
is only so much of them to go around.

Jeffrey Yorke

On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM, Melissa Avery <m.avery at rocketmail.com>wrote:

> This whole thing sounds more and more like something that demands a
> referendum.
> I and I am sure many others, still would like clarification on the
> location and size of the proposed bridge.
>
> Also, how is the town infrastructure planning to deal with 2000 + new
> residents and x factor amount of visitors to the new shopping center?
>  where would the children go to school?
>  how are the police department and fire department going to be increased
> and how will that be funded?
>
> How is this project not going to be a modern version of Park Tanglewood?
>
> Why is the new project being touted as the "New Town Center"? and why does
> this Cafritz mass mailing call for a "Mainstreet funding" a bstate wide
> grant program aimed to revitalize existing main streets in
> older communities?
>
> Why can't the town concentrate on fixing what already exists as our town
> center?
>
> And last but not least, why hasen't anyone investagated the ground and
> water contamination issue existing on the Cafritz Property.
>
>
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes at gmail.com>
> *To:* Vernon Archer <varcher at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* TownTalk <TownTalk at riverdale-park.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, January 9, 2012 4:45 PM
>
> *Subject:* Re: [RP TownTalk] Fwd: Friends and neighbors,
>
> Vern -
> Thanks for the clarification; this is helpful - and hopeful.  Nonetheless,
> as a firm adherent of the Devil's-in-the-details School of Policy Analysis,
> it would be helpful to know some of those important details.
>
> TIFs happen to fall in that small niche of 'stuff I do'. But I'm
> unfamiliar with TIFs in Maryland. In some states TIFs are quite onerous,
> and place an unfair and unaccountable burden on schools  - the good news
> is, assuming what the information I found today is still current, is that
> school revenues are not abatable, so they are not threatened by the TIF.
> But that still leaves several questions.
>
> The first question is, is the TIF taken from town property taxes, or
> county property taxes? Or both?
>
> The next questions is what would be the foregone uses of those revenues if
> they are earmarked for the bridge. In other words, if the county and/or
> town revenues were not diverted to pay for the bridge, what would they be
> used for? What do we lose by giving that up? It's good to know that you
> anticipate new revenues coming in that would exceed the amount of the TIF.
> But it's also clear that the demand for services - police, fire, schools,
> snow and leaf removal, street cleaning, trash and recycling, infrastructure
> (if/when they are turned over to the town) - and the degree is not trivial.
> We're talking about an increase in residential population in the town of
> something between 10 - 15%. And an increase in commercial businesses of a
> very substantial amount.
>
> It would be very helpful to hear - tonight, if feasible - what the
> projections are for total new revenues vis-a-vis total cost of anticipated
> new level of services, and how that compares to the diversion of some of
> those revenues for the bridge construction subsidy.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Dwight Holmes
> Riverdale Road
>
> On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 4:05 PM, Vernon Archer <varcher at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Friends and neighbors,
>
> Based on several postings today it is clear that I need to give an
> overview of what is to be proposed regarding building and financing a
> crossing of the CSX railroad if the Calvert tract goes forward.
>
> First, the bridge proposal sets a series of triggers that will insure
> that a bridge will not just get built, but will be completed promptly
> after the first businesses open--within 18 months of Whole Foods Opening
> the bridge will be open.
>
> Second, we now have a good/dependable estimate of what the crossing
> will cost--while the developer's numbers are $8.6 million, the county PW
> office says we should plan on 10.6 so that is what we will
> utilize.
>
> Third, the developer had to agree to pay a substantial portion of the
> cost out of their pocket directly. The number on the table is $5
> million or 50% of the cost.
>
> Regarding the other half or $5.6 million, we and the county have
> agreed that a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is in principal a way to
> pay the difference, though we expect that the developer will seek other
> funding
> sources as a TIF will be very cumbersome for them.
> Should it come to a TIF, how would it work? Here is an outline:
>
>    - A TIF utilizes the increased tax revenue from ONLY the new
>    development to finance infrastructure that is associated with that new
>    development.
>    - There is no change to any one's tax rates; the developer pays the
>    exact same amount of tax as they would anyway, it's just a portion of it is
>    earmarked to be spent in or immediately adjacent to the project.
>    - While I cannot speak for the county, it is clear that Riverdale Park
>    would still bring in substantially more new revenue than we would ever
>    commit to a TIF *and* the increased services the development will
>    require. Thus the town would still bring in substantially more revenue than
>    it would expend.
>
> While this is an abbreviated outline, I hope it lays to rest any concerns
> or misunderstandings regarding this matter.
>
> I would again encourage any and all to join us tonight at town hall.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Vern
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>
>
>
> --
> Vernon Archer, Mayor
> Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland
>
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>
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>
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>

-- 
Jeffrey Yorke
Yorke Property Management, Inc.
Yorke Partners
Jeffrey at YorkeRents.com
301-502-1243
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