Governor approves conference center deadline extension

CHRIS CLOUGH, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, April 5, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Gary Locke signed a bill Thursday that could invigorate efforts to build a conference center in South Sound and opens the door to the cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater to pursue major projects.

Senate Bill 5514 extends the deadline and broadens the scope of public facilities districts that funnel three-tenths of 1 percent of already collected state sales taxes into projects of at least $10 million.

Among those projects could be a conference center on Port of Olympia property at the foot of Budd Inlet.

Efforts to build a conference center on the 3.7-acre parcel stalled in part because of a deadline to start construction by Jan. 1, 2003. The bill sets a July 31 deadline to form a public facilities district but extends the requirement to start construction to Jan. 1, 2004.

The bill also clears the way to form PFDs to create or remodel projects that would serve a regional population, such as convention centers, arts complexes, sports arenas and the like.

"It's a whole new ballgame," Olympia Mayor Stan Biles said Thursday. "We are going to have a work session of the City Council in the next couple weeks to discuss the creation of a PFD and review the types of facilities, all facilities, eligible for PFD funds."

Biles said the decision is two-pronged:

- First, the council must decide whether to create a PFD by July 31.

- Then, it must decide what project to fund with the money.

"As a council, we're going to lay out what type of project we would like to see for Olympia," he said. "That list -- maybe long, maybe short -- will evaluate the cost, the operating expenses and the likelihood of support from the other cities."

Biles said it's an opportunity for the city to take a more proactive role in community development.

"It's different from the past when we were in a reactive mode to proposals from developers," Biles said. "Now we can step back and talk about what we would like to do as a city and pursue it from there."

Biles said any decision to form a PFD would depend largely on buy-in from Lacey and Tumwater. A joint PFD would generate an estimated $10 million over 20 years.

Each of the cities could form individual PFDs for their own projects, but the $10 million minimum and 20 percent matching funds could be a hurdle, especially to Lacey and Tumwater, which could each expect to generate less than $5 million from a PFD.

Tumwater Mayor Ralph Osgood said the "beauty of the legislation is that it allows the formation of a PFD without being too specific."

Osgood said the Tumwater City Council will address the issue again soon. He is meeting next week with Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Thurston County, who championed the bill and believes a PFD will be formed by July 31.

Osgood has reservations. "In previous discussions, the City Council and myself have been cautions about participating in a joint city effort," he said. "Some of those questions are still not answered. We want to move carefully not to forgo options that could benefit businesses and residents in the city of Tumwater."

It's a stance echoed by Lacey Mayor Graeme Sackrison.

"So far as I know, our position hasn't changed," he said. "Before we would consider forming a new taxing district, we want to see some sort of concrete proposal from a developer or hotel operator that directly benefits the city of Lacey.

"We're open-minded, but it needs to pencil out," Sackrison said.

While the bill expands the PFD options, a conference center is sure to be near the top of the list.

The Olympia City Council recently asked Spokane developer David Brubaker to keep his proposal for a $20 million, 100-room hotel and conference center on the table until July 31. Under Brubaker's plan, the center would be publicly funded but privately operated.

Brubaker said a portion of the bill Locke vetoed that would have refunded sales tax related to the construction of the center or any PFD project had no effect on his plans.

"We never took that part into account when we planned this," he said.

In a letter mailed Wednesday, Brubaker said his group -- which includes a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilton Hotel Corp. that would operate the center -- remains interested.

Nick Handy, executive director of the Port of Olympia, said a conference center remains the No. 1 priority for the parcel between State Avenue and Budd Inlet.

Handy said the property has drawn much attention from developers for uses such as a super market or mixed-use projects that would incorporate space for retail, commercial and housing.

"But we want to defer to the cities because this is a unique opportunity to leverage state money for an economic development project," he said.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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