Council Weighs In on Taking Time for C-4 Zone

Mayor Bonner Recommends Tabling C-4 for Further Discussion

by Robin M Johnson

One hour of public comment, with each speaker allotted two minutes, passed quickly

for the several hundred citizens gathered to share their thoughts, support, disagreements, and concerns with the Midway City council at a public hearing held Wednesday, May 17. Not all who wished to speak were able to due to the time constraints.. 

Two citizens who did speak requested the council consider holding a Town Hall format city meeting, just on the C-4 zone and nothing else on the agenda.

Bob Adams said, "I’ve got some concerns about the process we are using. We’re talking about respecting each other and yet we’re limited to only speak for two minutes. And only a certain amount of people can speak because we’re only going to do this for an hour. It sounds like you don’t want to hear from your constituents. I don’t know that that’s a fact, I’m just saying that’s what it appears to many people around here.

"What I would suggest is we do a Town Hall format for something like this. This is significant that this many people care. We could have had a decent crowd here if it hadn’t been a graduation night, so just imagine if more people could have come. But what I would propose is you have a Town Hall meeting to discuss all the points on this issue so people can give you their comments and they can understand better what you are trying to do here."

Dave Carson, echoing Adams comment, said, "If the purpose of this is for us as citizens to really be constructively involved in what’s going to happen, the decision is not C-4, do we want it or not. The decision is do we want C-2, which could very well be an industrial complex. I think the city council could help the citizens be more productive in constructively facing the real question through some kind of Town Hall meeting ... by helping us all understand what the real question is." 

"A Town Hall meeting I think’s great, I encourage you to keep track of the Midway City website with information there, to be read, it’s posted all the time."  Bob Probst, city councilman. 

After the one hour of public comment ended Mayor Bonner said, “I appreciate you understanding our time constraints tonight, we have a lot of things on our agenda, but I do appreciate the comments that have been made. We’ll officially close our public hearing for tonight. I’m not sure what the discussion of the council would be, but my recommendation would be that we table this agenda item for now and work through some of the stacks of emails and letters and things that we have received as we try to manage, I guess is the best word, the face of Midway. 

"It’s a huge challenge. I agree that we need to be very careful in the things that we do ... it seems fast that we’re here tonight making this decision, or that it’s on tonight for a decision, and I think the planning commission has taken quite a bit of time, maybe not enough, but I think quite a bit, it’s not like this was a decision that was made and was just thrown in front of us. It’s been something that we’ve been working through for several years, how to address change that’s coming to Midway, it’s coming. 

"A lot of you are here because you love Midway and you are part of the reason that we are having to look at some of these issues. It’s not an issue that’s just us that we are making, it’s a an issue of all of ours, because we are all citizens, whether you are born and raised here, a lot of them here in the audience, or whether you’ve been here ... eight weeks. 

"So we do have a jewel here. We try very hard to be conscientious of the decisions that we make and how they will affect the growth of this community. I wish I had a crystal ball that would make my job a lot easier. But I do appreciate the concerns, and the opinions that were given tonight; there’s a lot of valid information that we need to take and digest and it cannot be done over night."

Bonner then invited the council to comment. Each member took the opportunity, except for Karl Dodge who was not present because he had recused himself.

Lisa Christen said, “I just want to comment and say thank you and also let everybody know that the planning commission worked on this for a long time and, yeah, we know little bits and pieces, but we haven’t had it for a long time and we need to work on it. And it’s not something that I’m comfortable voting on tonight for sure. There’s still a lot to look at and a lot to discuss and I hope we can have some work meetings and really spend ... some time together on this, before there’s any decisions made."

Ken Van Wagoner said, “I think there was a lot of misconceptions out there as to the fact that we were going to pass this tonight. This is the first time we’ve actually had it before us. And so in reference to Bob Adams and some of them that said we should have town meetings, I think it’s a great idea. But we have to hear it, too. And so, until we get an opportunity to hear it, it’s pretty hard for us. And I’m willing to make a motion and I’ll wait until after the rest of them have spoke, but I don’t think we’re going to see this pass for a long time, if at all."

Kent Kohler said, “I’m not sure I want to follow that. He got some clapping. You know, what Mayor Bonner just said, we all live here, most of us have been born and reared here, our families, our roots go very deep. 

"With respect to Memorial Hill, my father’s name is up on the plaque, and I have other ancestors, their names are on that plaque, so it means a great deal to me. The thing that we represent, what our job is to do, is we wanted to listen to you, and I appreciate the emails, and I’ve reached out to folks, and I went to the grocery store just across the street today, just to pick up a prescription, my house is right across the street. Forty five minutes later I make it back. I had my prescription within five minutes. 

"But it’s rewarding for some aspects of it, because I love hearing what the response is. I was at the counter picking up my prescription talking to Dennis the druggist, the pharmacist, and this lady come up behind me and scared the living right out of me because I wasn’t expecting it, and we had a forty five minute conversation about what was going to happen tonight. I calmed her fears. 

"Brad Wilson, thank you. He’s been forwarding emails to us, religiously, for the last week. I get to work this morning, I pop open my email and I’ve got six of them there waiting for me. So you try to go through, you try to do your own job, our day job, we get here, we’ve got letters tonight, so there’s a lot to digest. My concerns are the same that have been presented tonight. I’m also in favor of some of the other folks that were in favor of it. So you try to weigh it all out, I mean, gosh we live here, we want to make sure this is done the right way, too. 

"I look at Main Street, this particular area, and I said this to Karl Dodge when the storage units proposal came through, a year ago, or a year and a half ago or whenever it was. I said, this is the last good piece of property, commercial property on Main Street, we've got to make sure we get this right. And at the time we thought it was a better idea to take the storage units out. Thank goodness the application was pulled, that didn’t go through. 

"The C-4 proposal was coming about, like the mayor said, this has been in the process for well over a year. The general plan comes out, (C-4) does meet certain aspects of the general plan. But the height restriction, I have an issue with that. Traffic needs to be looked at. A lot of the concerns that were brought up tonight, I have the same fears. So, yeah, I’m in favor of tabling it, we’ll have our work meetings, a Town Hall meeting would be great. Because I live here and I want to make sure it’s done right."

Bob Probst said, “You know, it’s really good to see this much of a turn out, it lets you know there’s a lot of concerned citizens, like all of us are concerned citizens ... In my opinion, I agree with what’s been said tonight. It hasn’t fell on deaf ears. I’ve got a lot to think about. I really do think moving forward with this there is a great deal of work to be done, some adjustments to be made, a lot of things to consider to arrive at an acceptable project here. 

"A Town Hall meeting I think’s great, I encourage you to keep track of the Midway City website with information there, to be read, it’s posted all the time. I don’t like it when people act like they’re not informed, they don’t know what’s going on. And how come I didn’t know? Well, you need to get on the website and read. And talk, and listen. I agree with councilman Kohler, a lot of what’s been said, I could say again. But there’s traffic issues, there’s studies that need to be done, and there’s a great deal of work to be done on this. I just hope we can arrive at the right thing, do the right thing."

Ken Van Wagoner said, "I’ll make a motion that we table this and do more study on the concerns of the citizens as presented to us. And we’ll set up a meeting when we can go through each one of the letters that we received, and the emails, and the concerns and try to come up with what is best for the citizens and the community."

The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.