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Mayor presses developer for progress on long-delayed Balsinger project; developer pledges investor outreach and signage
Summary
Mayor Cara Westfall chastised the developer of the long-stalled Balsinger property for years of delay. Developer Doug Kienza said he must secure 100% of investors before breaking ground, will meet biweekly with city staff and expects a project sign to go up within one to two weeks. No formal action was taken.
Klamath Falls Mayor Cara Westfall on Monday told the developer of the long-delayed Balsinger property that the community "deserves accountability, transparency, and action, not endless postponements," expressing frustration after more than six years without meaningful construction activity.
Doug Kienza, who spoke to council about the project, said he is still working to line up investors and that the development team must secure all investors before site work can begin. "We have to get a 100% of our investors lined up before we can really show any real meaningful progress," Kienza said. He told the council he and city staffers Jonathan Tigard and Michael (last name not specified in the meeting) will meet every two weeks to provide status updates.
Kienza also said the developer has engaged a company to produce and install a project sign and expects it to be up "in the next week or two weeks at most," subject to any sign rules the city may require. Council members welcomed the idea of visible signage; one councilor said it helps the public see that activity is occurring on a site that has appeared inactive.
Mayor Westfall and other councilors repeatedly expressed disappointment at the pace of progress and asked for clearer, regular communication. City staff did not present a motion or ordinance related to the property at Monday97therefore the council took no formal action; next steps described in the meeting were the developer's pledge of biweekly updates and placement of a sign to inform the public of activity.
