From: | hdqrs@worldnet.att.net |
Date: | Thu, 15 Jun 2000 09:18:10 -0700 (PDT) |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | [CPEO-MEF] SFAAP: Agencies to release Oz pacts |
http://www.joconews.com/ODNNews/6-14-Story3.html Agencies to release Oz pacts Elvyn J. Jones Daily News Reporter After two years of negotiations, the state and federal government and The Oz Entertainment Co. are ready to release documents governing the transfer of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. The U.S. General Services Administration has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. Thursday at Sunflower to announce the completion of draft agreements covering the plant's transfer and its environmental remediation, said Blaine Hastings, who's handling the transfer for the GSA. While the 900 pages of documents and agreements can be reviewed at the news conference, they might not be available to the public until Friday, when they'll be available at the county's public libraries. The documents also will be on the GSA's Web site at http//propertydisposal.gsa.gov/property/. Oz has been negotiating the transfer of Sunflower with the U.S. Army and the GSA. The agreement ultimately would transfer Sunflower to Oz for the company's commitment to clean up the plant's solid-waste contamination sites. Among the documents being released is the consent agreement negotiated between Oz and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The consent agreement spells out when and how Oz will proceed with its cleanup responsibilities; it also establishes the insurance policies and bonding Oz must purchase to guarantee the cleanup. The Johnson County Commission, Gov. Bill Graves, the Kansas Development Finance Authority and Congress must approve the transfer before Oz can take title to Sunflower. The documents' release will start that review process. County commissioners and the state finance authority's governing board will be asked to approve Oz's redevelopment plan for Sunflower. That document explains the company's plan to develop, operate and finance its proposed $771 million Wonderful World of Oz Theme Park and Resort at the plant. Oz spokesman David Westbrook said the company is committed to making public its redevelopment agreement for Sunflower. That document is in production, and the goal is to release it Thursday, he said. However, the document's preparation requires careful proofreading, he said, which might delay its release until early next week. "We commend the decision of the federal government and state to release their documents at the (news) conference," he said. "We're making every effort to keep pace." The Johnson County commissioners have scheduled a work session for July 24, during which Oz officials will present the redevelopment plan. The county then plans to have two public hearings before making a decision on Oz's plan. The county commission will be asked to approve a tax-increment financing, or TIF, agreement as part of the redevelopment plan, Oz attorney Larry Winn III said Tuesday. The financing would allow Oz to divert property taxes owed to the county to pay off bonds used to finance the theme park's construction. Commissioner Johnna Lingle, whose district includes Sunflower, said she remains "skeptical" of a TIF. Oz will have to document the benefit to the county and its taxpayers before she will support an unprecedented tax break, she said. "Johnson County has never given TIF financing - period," she added. The Army and the GSA would like to see the agreement approved or rejected by Sept. 30, the end of the federal government's fiscal year, said Hastings. He cited the Army's ongoing commitment to clean solid-waste sites at Sunflower as the reason. The Army's funds to carry out that environmental remediation ends at the end of the fiscal year. Should the plant remain in federal hands, Congress would have to approve more remediation funding and - if final closing is delayed much past Sept. 30 - do additional cleanup work at Sunflower. Any additional environmental work the Army does would increase the value of Sunflower and reduce the amount of work Oz would be required to complete, and make necessary rewriting the negotiated agreements, Hastings said. Lingle said Hastings informed her of the federal government's desire to complete the transfer by Sept. 30. To help assure that, the federal official asked the county to move up the review process, she said. "The pressure is on," said Lingle. "Interestingly, I haven't had any pressure from the state." During a Monday meeting with Oz president Robert Kory and Wonderful World of Oz president Skip Palmer, Lingle said she "reaffirmed" the county commission's decision to start its review process July 24. County commissioners always have said they wouldn't start their review until all documents were made public or until during their annual budget-approval process, said Lingle. The commission's budget process started Monday and will continue until July 20. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can find archived listserve messages on the CPEO website at http://www.cpeo.org/lists/index.html. If this email has been forwarded to you and you'd like to subscribe, please send a message to: cpeo-military-subscribe@igc.topica.com ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics | |
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