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City staff widen search for downtown reuse, flag environmental cleanup at former light plant
Summary
City staff said they will broaden developer outreach and accept proposals through February for a downtown property RFP while stressing the need to address legacy contamination discovered in early tests, including concerns about hexavalent chromium.
City staff told a planning meeting Dec. 9 that the city will expand outreach to attract developers for a downtown property and will keep the request-for-proposals open through February, while stressing the need to pair redevelopment with environmental cleanup.
The comment came from Speaker 3, who said staff had spoken with a company that maintains a list of developers who might consider projects in smaller markets. "Were accepting our fees or proposals all the way up into February," Speaker 3 said, adding the aim is to "get a great reuse of that property that's beneficial to downtown."
Speaker 3 also raised contamination concerns tied to the site's past use. "That was the site of a former electrical light plant," Speaker 3 said, "so there's ... lots of things that we now know are bad and hazardous to health were used in that facility. So, we wanna make sure that we clean up the environment along with redeveloping that property." Another attendee asked specifically about "hexavalent chromium" in early tests; staff did not record a formal remediation plan during the meeting.
Staff and board members reiterated the RFP's purpose is to retain control of the building so the city can direct redevelopment. Speaker 3 said the goal is to attract proposals that yield a "transformational or at the very least a beneficial project" instead of quickly conveying the property to an unvetted buyer.
The meeting also covered related facade and grant discussions for nearby properties. Speaker 2 described two separate grant requests: one for a north-facing façade and a second request focused on a west-facing wall that contains a mural. Staff noted the alley-facing wall was not part of the grant request and that one east-facing wall is connected to an adjacent structure.
No formal vote or approval of an RFP or remediation plan was recorded at the meeting. Staff said next steps include continuing developer outreach and preparing RFP materials; a follow-up meeting or staff report was implied but not scheduled during the discussion.
The city provided no dollar amounts for cleanup costs or a timeline for remediation during the meeting; those items remain to be specified by staff and any future developer proposals.
