Wetlands Swap Back on Council Agenda -- In Closed Session

Sadly, just a week after the election, the City Council is considering going forth on closing escrow of the land swap -- misleadingly titled: Wetlands Swap -- now that EPA has verified that the PCB contamination has been remediated.

But here's the facts:

• The owner of the land will not reveal how much of the 33 acres are wetlands nor will let the City do a survey of the land to determine what it is taking.
• The owner gets to keep the real value of the property -- the oil rights.
• The owner also gets the City's public service yard --valuable industrial property which he intends on converting into a truck depot which will add to pollution in that neighborhood.
• The city will have to pay to relocate from the the public service yard @ $500,000 or so.
• The city has no business swapping this land for city land that could be sold.
• The city has received not one assurance from the state or any environmental group that they will purchase the 33 acres from the city -- so why is the city acting as a straw man in this real estate transaction?

Remember folks, the city council was told over a year ago this was a now or never deal. Really? Who else in their right mind in this type of economy is going to take property it may not be able to sell in the future? Who else in their right mind is going to give away prime industrial property? Who in their right mind is going to close a deal without being able to determine before the deal is closed how much real wetlands they are acquiring?