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Sunnyside Up supports $2 fee: Gives $1,000 to campaign to push fee
(The Dominion Post in Morgantown (WV)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 10--Sunnyside Up is donating $1,000 to a campaign to promote the county's $2-a-week service fee proposal, bringing the total amount of donations to about $56,750.
The board of directors unanimously approved the gift Wednesday.
Service Fee Advisory Board Chairman Steve LaCagnin said the money has been used in a public education campaign -- sponsored by a group called Citizens for Monongalia County Roads -- that includes radio spots, television ads, press releases and direct mail brochures.
"The more we get the information out, the more people tend to support it," LaCagnin said in a phone interview Wednesday.
So far, money has been contributed by banks, law firms, engineering and architectural firms, WVU Hospitals and Mylan Pharmaceuticals, among other groups.
"I anticipate that other individuals and organizations will contribute, as well," LaCagnin said.
He said KLM Realty has agreed to donate money for the campaign, but an exact amount has not been determined.
Morgantown City Manager Dan Boroff said the service-fee plan would particularly benefit the Sunnyside area.
"It's important to note that major components of this initiative include significant improvements to Beechurst [Avenue] and a link that would tie Sunnyside to the interstate," Boroff said.
The plan, which involves collecting $2 per week from the paycheck of anyone employed in Monongalia County, would finance about $150 million in road construction projects during the next 30 years. Two suggested roads -- a Falling Run corridor and a W.Va. 705 connector -- would provide a direct link from Beechurst Avenue to Interstate 68.
"If that can be successful, it's going to really accelerate what we're trying to do," board President Reed Tanner said.
Sunnyside Up is creating a taxincrement financing proposal to pay for infrastructure improvements -- such as storm sewers, sidewalks and curbing -- in the Sunnyside area. TIF districts use tax revenue generated from an increase in property values to fund improvements.
Hunt said the Sunnyside Up TIF project -- the first for a nonprofit organization in the state of West Virginia -- could be worth as much as $10 million. He noted that the improvements will help bring additional development and revenue into the city.
"For every dollar that goes in, we're going to be looking at additional developers coming and seeing these new sidewalks, new roadways, new sewer capacities, that are going to allow other projects to take place," Hunt said.
Boroff and Hunt said state lawmakers are interested to see how a project of the size and scope of Sunnyside's TIF initiative will work.
"This is going to be significant," Hunt said. "I think it's going to be a model for the state."
The board authorized Tanner to execute an agreement with Brian Helmick, senior attorney for Spillman, Thomas & Battle, for the TIF project.
In other business, the board reviewed ongoing construction projects in the Sunnyside area, including a 500-bed student housing complex to be constructed at the top of Campus Drive by SC Bodner Co. Inc., a national developer based in Indianapolis, and a 56-unit apartment complex being built along Beechurst Avenue by Moser Investments.
Hunt noted that two Grant Avenue structures owned by Bill Bjorkman were demolished this week. In a phone interview Wednesday, Morgantown Planning Director Chris Fletcher said Bjorkman plans to construct an apartment building consisting of 12 two-bedroom units on the site.
The project was approved by the Morgantown Planning Commission in September 2006.
To see more of The Dominion Post or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dominionpost.com/.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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