Sunday, August 2, 2009
Insitu
Insitu is a manufacturer of unmanned aircraft. They currently operate in Bingen Washington. They are looking to relocate their production facilities to a larger campus somewhere in the Gorge. They currently employ 600 workers and are looking to increase that number to 1000 in the near future. The Port of Cascade Locks, together with other partners has replied to a request for information in an effort to attract them to our industrial park. What do you think about the idea of the Port attempting to attract Insitu to Cascade Locks? What will the positive and negative effects be if it is a successful attempt? To what lengths should we go to attract this business if at all?
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Councilman for Cascade Locks
- Lance Masters
- This blog is intended as a way for people interested in Cascade Locks to share ideas and opinions. Posts that are interpreted as hindering the free flow of ideas and opinions may be removed. Please be encouraged to discuss ideas and opinions rather than individuals and names.
69 comments:
As with anything good, comes some things that are not so good. I think that the good will outweigh the not so good in this case.
In terms of negative, I see more people in town, slightly more traffic, more new building(building out of the started subdivisions), increase in property value (meaning higher taxes) and the city needing to upgrade all their services. In addition to that, any change in this town is viewed as negative.
Now, the positives:
More people in town, hopefully more businesses will follow, maybe a new restaurant, better city services(not that they are bad now, they just need more resources), more money for those city services, hopefully a catalyst for reinvigorating our sense of community, a new beautiful building, more jobs, more law enforcement and maybe additional services that will benefit us that we cant even think of now (maybe more kids for the school?).
We need to bring any and all business we can to this community. We will never find the "perfect" business as is the case with some people in this community.
I think we should do everything we can to attract this business. I don't think we should give them a free ride, but if they need a tax break for a few years I say do it; however, not at the expense of essential services (Water,sewer,electric, fire, medical and police). I have heard of other communities giving tax breaks utilizing enterprise zones and it always seems to hurt the most for the important services.
From what I have read in the HR News we don't have a snowballs chance...etc. All the good things listed above are great goals but I don't think we should get our hopes up. It appears that the City of Hood River has a more or less unanimous thumbs up as well as the campus property available. The Mayor has instructed the City Manager to "make it happen". Unless you think Insitu wouldn't mind waiting 3 or 4 years while we roll around in the street fighting it out.
Do you want a military industry in town given the lack of security and law enforcement we currently have? Insitu designs and builds drone aircraft, they're used in the war on terror, consequently a target. That's not to say that they wouldn't be a welcome addition to the community. By the way, how many from C/L would have the training to work there and what would their total workforce be?
Training, hell. How many would be sober enough to even take the testing?
I think a diverse economy would be healthy for us. Insitu would give a counter balance to the casino and the seasonal economy we now have. If the casino doesn't happen, I think it will, we would still have a new industry that might be large enough to bring some basic businesses into town like a bank and a pharmacy. They might even be enough so we could have full time paramedic coverage or other such luxuries most other cities take for granted.
We should talk with the other communities in the Gorge where Insitu now operates and find out what their experience has been. If they are good business citizens then let's invite them in. If they are not, well... they can go mess up Hood River. I'm picturing little drone airplanes fighting with the kite sailors, haha.
I'm picturing little drone planes with cameras looking through the windows of riverfront homes....
haha
Ah, seeing a lot of us think the casino will not be coming here, I think it would be wonderful to have Insitu here.
They are just classy enough to do it right and to preserve the wonderful land out at the point. They would not generate the horrendous traffic, nor the light pollution like the casino. Most of them have security clearances and the crime problem would not materialize. They have already shown themselves to be good business citizens. Bingen/Hood River is very dismayed at the possibility of losing them.
Arni, Hood River is as much a part of this Gorge as we are, kite and wind surfers included. I don't want it ruined either. When are we going stop this corrosive hate for other communities, like the lodge envy we have for Stevenson? It is non-productive and maybe we should stop asking every business what they can do for us and how many jobs and how many school age children, spending the tax revenues before they are even in town and instead ask what can we do for each other, ask if they are a good fit, get some upfront and honest answers before we throw ourselves on the table and say, "Take me."
1,200 parking spaces and that won't generate much traffic?
One thousand employees is a hell of a lot better than eight thousand visitors a day.
What will they do here, design and marketing, manufacturing? Very few people here will have the training to be employed there.
Yes, just like the workforce we have now that is untrained in casino work. Oh wait, those are 90%minimum wage jobs that cause those that work there to rely on social services to survive. I stand corrected. Can I get you a drink? Try our $9.95 buffet. Here let me clean that up for you.
I'm Anon at 5:19
I didn't post the 1200 remarks as an endorsement of the casino. My point is that whatever growth takes place there is going to be consequences and so the community needs to look at those factors rather than saying one project is better or worse than another based on different standards or criteria. Any sort of development at the industrial area is going to involve more traffic and if it's not thought through how to deal with that then it will impact everyone who lives here, especially along Forest Lane.
Somewhat difficult to train those that can't even get through high school. Last graduating class, and I use the term loosely, 5 of 12 graduated, and they called the repeaters super seniors? What a joke. Many can't pass a drug test, let alone get a job. Will the poor and unimportant please leave town.
The poor and unimportant are not in any hurry to leave. This is our home. We were here first and we have lived through tougher times then this.
We are waiting for the stuck up A-holes who think they are special because of a little little money and the so called highly educated and artistic dorks to get out of our way so we can get back some common sense leadership.
Then we can get to work fixing the damage done by the artist, the West Point grad and the silver spoon fed Hood River reject.
God help us if any more rich and important help like them comes to town.
I'm sorry I must disagree with part of your statement, there is nothing wrong with having an education. Ignorance is not something you should be proud of. You don't need to have a school degree to be educated. Some of the smartest people in the world were self-educated. The three you mentioned may educated, but have no common sense or respect for the town.
Reading, watching the news, developing a curiosity of anything that crosses your path and listening with an open mind are all free and are part of being a well-rounded adult.
The problem with the three self-appointed is that they have all decided that their way is the only and true way. Closed minds, each and every one of them. They decide on a self-righteous course and mow down in secret whatever or whoever they think of as an obstacle. Including hired consultants, councillors, townspeople, and the free press.
You are exactly right. That is what my previous post was saying so we have no disagreement.
Its not the fact that some are blessed with a higher education, its how a person uses it. One mark of a truely educated person is that they recognize the importance of all types of people in society. I found the poor and unimportant reference uncalled for.
And which Anon are you?
The actual quote was "we need more rich people, important people in C/L", that was a knock on the gray haired old nag that said it more then once in public. I'm not rich nor important and don't plan on going anywhere because of someone's class bigotry.
Recently there were several articles in the Big"O" alluding to increases in power transmission rates, I've heard no discussion on the subject. This is one component that makes up our power rate, the other is the cost of power itself. The reason given is upgrading the transmission lines to handle the increase in wind power. Is anyone else concerned about this?
Robb
No Rob, but I am concerned every time you make comments.
At least this time it was a question, not a sermon.
Which gray haired old nag? We have so many.
I am concerned about more transmission lines. There have been a few articles that state the power companies cannot handle the volume of power generated by the wind turbines. Other articles state that the turbines are not the end all as the wind is not predictable. So, why blight the Gorge with more lines so that we can send electricity to CA? I am also concerned about the price of our electricity going up if we have huge industrial complexes move into town. The poor are already suffering the high bills because the electric dept. is used as a bank for other projects. We need to be careful about our resources - water & electric - and definitely study the future impacts.
Transmission lines wouldn't be added here. That is in Eastern Oregon/Washington.
According to BPA the cost of transmission is 10% of the total charge, the other 90% being for the power itself. Believe it or not the fish factor into it as they can't always store water when the wind is blowing to save the hydro.
And if transmission lines were added, they would be on the Washington side. Cascade Locks doesn't send power all the way to Portland. There is two miles without any power lines between Rooster Rock and where PGE liens start.
lines not liens. sorry.
Today's paper has a short explanation on this.
Here's a novel idea, Lance:
Post on your blog an item asking our opinions BEFORE the Council meeting. That way, you might have an idea how the community thinks prior to weighing in on the matter. The agenda has been out for several days and there are a few items safe enough for you to ask about...
Which one of the Janissarys made that last posting? Was it Curly, Moe, Shep or Goofy?
You should know your Stooges (not stooges, like BL) better. It was Shemp, not Shep and you forgot Larry, Who must be me ...
Hey Lance, I wonder that you don't think anything is wrong with 3 city officials visiting a newspaper editor and asking him to moderate his headlines. But, think about it. Just what kind of message do you think it gives? It gives the appearance of bullyboys just reminding someone to toe the line before they break his kneecaps. The reporting from the Hood River News has been hard to swallow, but sometimes the truth is.
I also love that you're jealous about other councillors getting their comments in that paper. Poor, poor forgotten councilman.
Could the August 25, 1:29 pm Anonymous please expand on this latest post? We had three "City Officials" ask the Editor of the H.R. News to soften his reporting on Cascade Locks? This may just about be the last straw for those that have recall petitions in hand. Dont get me wrong. All government tries to spin news stories about them but to have it done on the QT would be suspect.
There is a right way and a wrong way to work with the media and if this post is accurate, it only throws more mud in the faces of Cascade Locks.
Our Mayor, our City Administrator and our Fire Chief went to the Hood River News.
The purpose according they gave was to talk to the editor about the bad press the city has been getting lately.
As councilman Benson pointed out this meeting was done without any notice to or direction from the council. Council knew nothing about it. It was also city business as the city had 2 paid employees on the clock.
My concern about this is regardless of the good intentions that was referred to that our mayor seemed to forget that our government in accordance to the city charter in a nutshell demands that city business be done in public, with a quorum of the council, that records of city business be taken and that council is to vote and then upon a majority vote then and only then could something like what has happened here take place as it is city business.
Then as Councilman Benson brought up the City Administrator is to work at the direction of council. This is right in line with the City Charter.
So wouldn't our City Administrator know our charter and understand that he does not work at the direction of the mayor but the council as a whole?
I have requested a transcript of the minutes of which council discussed this matter to send a city delegation to the Hood River News to represent our City, voted on it and authorized it. I would be satisfied with records of a council meeting where the council at a minimum had a chance to discuss this in the public forum and decided that it was in the best interest of the city to do what they did.
My question's are many like is if we have rules in place and this can happen what form of government do we really have?
I feel this issue deserves a lot of answering starting with who's harebrained idea this was would be a good start.
What do the rest of you citizens thank about this newest embarrassment?
Cody
Right on Cody! Those three make their own rules. I guess the articles, that were in the HR News, must have hit home. The truth hurts sometimes. They are so busy doing their own thing that they forget who hired them, where their salary comes from & in the case of the Mayor - who elected him to represent all of us. They do not represent the majority, so can be replaced.
The story I heard was that Raelinn was going to do an in-depth report about things happening in C.L. that the community and/or council aren't aware of until it happens, and about the negative reactions and feelings toward them, so Bernard, Brad, & Jeff went to the paper to ask the editor not to run it. Maybe it was just a rumor, but sounds plausible.
Cody mentioned the CA should know the Charter and understand he doesn't work at the direction of the mayor. It looks like the other way around to me.
I read in the paper the other day a quote by George S. Patton "If everybody is thinking alike, then someone isn't thinking." Sounds like bloc voting.
All I know is what Bernard said at the council meeting and I believe the mayor, in what was one of his only comments on this subject, also said the same thing and that is, that they "went to the Hood River News because of the bad press we were getting and that they thought it was unfair of the press".
As far as a rumor with what you heard I cannot say as I am beginning to think none of us truly know what is going on.
Maybe there is a story about to break that the community or rest of the council does not know about and they went to the press to attempt to stop it? All I know is what I heard at the council meeting.
Regardless, Thomas Jefferson said it so well when he said "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."
The reason I heard was enough for the hair on the back of my neck to get exited. That quote from one of our forefathers is reason enough for every citizen and council member to be concerned because the liberties they are granted upon election and the liberties granted to the people must be protected and if they are infringed upon the offenders must be challenged.
Cody
Rumors are just rumors. Rumors are not the truth, just idle speculation.
Nice try, but rumors have a nasty habit of showing up in the Hood River News as headlines.
Now here's a clue for you. Sometimes investigations can take up to a year to complete.
I agree with your definition of rumors, but what would someone's televised answer to a direct question be?
The unexpected truth (for a change)
Or spin. Doesn't matter whose side you are on, just turn that camera on and people want to look good.
Yes, The mayor sure looked good on camera at the last council meeting. Shaking in fear, standing up after almost breaking his gavel when Larry Cramblett layed into him and Seeger. Very professional!
Yeah, and Larry looked great. Standing up and shouting, interuptting the meeting, then apologizing like he'd forgotten what the heck it was he was talking about. Is he getting alzhemiers or something?
Is getting "Alzheimer's" your stupid idea of an insult? It's not at all funny to over 5 million families dealing with it. You need some empathy, and fast...
Try to figure out the difference between a dreadful disease that affects millions and a simple case of CRS (can't remember shit.)
Plus, Larry wasn't speaking as an elected official. Granted he wasn't as repectfull as was needed but the Mayor should do better when under fire.
Getting alzhimers is serious. so if the dude is showing signs of it in public, then it is time to go to the doc.
The Mayor can't do better under fire. He is a hothead who loses it when he is crossed. I hope we can realize that before the City gets sued when he actually hits someone.
How about we get back on track here. Slamming public officials for whatever reason, has become a very mundane sport of late and if I was the victim of half of the insults, you'd be lucky that all I was doing was slamming the gavel and raising my voice.
So back to Insitu. I think it's a great idea and contrary to the derogatory comments regarding our citizens education or lack thereof, this would be a perfect opportunity to start holding adult ed. classes or give some, the boost in finishing that degree long ago started but abandoned due to things beyond their control. People are only as stupid as "you" choose to see them and thank God, not always as they see themselves. This company would bring all the things that Anon (Aug 3rd), Arnie and Kate mentioned and then some. Just about any land left for large commercial development is off of Forest Lane so the traffic will have to be dealt with one way or the other. There is no way that I would assume Forest would stay as it is with the properties that border it. That is just, oh wait! uneducated..... if one is to look forward to progress. How it's done would be the crucial issue, not when.
Spoilsport! What else is there to do for entertainment around here? You sound... gasp... reasonable.
And totally unlike our Mayor, which the point of the previous postings.
Hey Lance, how about a new topic? We're fast becoming a one-trick-pony here...
It seems as though most people here (who blog anyway) are afraid of change. There will be negatives to any new business, development or "improvement" we do.
Anything we do will result in more traffic.
Insitu will have trucks delivering and picking up equipment and parts.
The casino will have trucks delivering food and picking up money.
Nestle will have trucks delivering supplies and picking up product.
More homes with residents = more traffic.
There is no way around it.
It would be interesting, to me at least, for people to rank those four possibilities.
My ranking would be the way they are listed, even though I believe that any of the first three will lead invariably lead to the fourth.
Of course it will, but Nestle is planning to have 220 trips a day from their facility. Most of those will be heading west to 5 and right through our downtown. Tourists and merchants are not going to be very thrilled about that.
The casino will shut down the ECLI - there is no cure for that. Although the attempt to get our elected officials to apply pressure to ODOT is an interesting and immoral way to bypass the rules, it ain't working.
It's not immoral to ask for a waiver from federal standards that may or may not have any basis in reality. It doesn't make sense that a town can't have a couple of interchanges, full or not, but campgrounds - that's right, campgrounds! to the east and west both have full interchanges. Where is the logic in that?
The immoral part is obvious to anyone who has any ethics. Using political ties to pressure civil servants applying the law as written is what is wrong.
Follow the money. The ECLI is going to loose the off ramp. The Casino will come. Forest Lane will be widened. Properties along Forest Lane will be bought up or owners will be paid "fair market value" to have the front yards taken to make way for bike lanes, sidewalks and street trees. If Nestle wants the water, they will get it. Cascade Locks doest have the leadership or political clout it takes to stand up against a multi national company. Is all about money, period. Get real, the Governor, the Fed's and the tribes have already sold you out.
so we should decay away with seasonal jobs and no work in the winter?
If your personally opposed to anything, speak your mind and see how many fellow citizens support your beliefs.
Build a majority and stop any or all of these proposals.
If you can't garner the support, hide behind conspiracy if you must.
U elected 'em
U deserve 'em
Hmm, that's a two-edged post, 11:28. Nice going.
Ha ha ha: read the other blog, we killed the fish.
I didn't mean to, but they were looking at me funny.
Click Click Boom.
Huh? Since when does chlorine make a noise?
When you add it to a fish tank, the silence is deafening.
As is the silence at the Council meeting. Why didn't one of our Councillors ask for an explanation?
I guess the best way to cover this up is to not mention it as if the entire population of cascade locks doesn't already know.
I am waiting for the bill to re purchase the poor little fish they killed.
I attended the presentation and am not at all happy with a 80,000 lb. truck going through our downtown every 7 or 8 minutes. Add the current truck traffic And you know that is just an average. It'll be more during the summer. Nestle passed out a chart showing that most of their business occurs between May and August. What good is 48 jobs if we lose our tourism?
Lance, would it be fair to say you have lost interest in this blog? Would this also apply to your interest in council matters? How about a mini-State of the Union blog to bring your constituents up to date> Or are you doing a fade?
Anonymous left a comment this morning at 8:00. Not much to offer in the way of discussing issues, but here is a more polite and less creative version:
I didn't like the way Lance Masters acted at the council meeting last night. He interrupted people. I think he respects professional people.
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