Baird is proud of ‘righteous earmark’
Infrastructure work on waterfront will pay for itself, says congressman
By Jeffrey Mize
Columbian staff writer
Congressman Brian Baird had finished the polite introductions and obligatory thanks.
Then, the Vancouver Democrat moved closer to a clay model depicting the high-rise waterfront community that Gramor Development and its local investors want to build on the Columbia River waterfront.
"The infrastructure money leverages so much more," Baird told Gramor President Barry Cain late Friday morning as he examined the model. "They’re not building waterfront. They’re not building Columbia Rivers anywhere."
The waterfront project, proposed for a barren former industrial site west of the Interstate 5 Bridge, will benefit from two federal contributions: $2.5 million in stimulus money and another $3.09 million from the 2009 spending bill President Barack Obama signed this week.
"Everyone bashes us for earmarks," Baird said, standing where a cluster of office buildings, condominiums, apartments, stores and restaurants could pop up in the next 10 to 15 years. "This is a righteous earmark. You get a 30-to-1 return on our investment. Bash us for that earmark, Bobby Jindal."
Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, delivered the GOP’s response to Obama’s Feb. 24 joint address before Congress and criticized federal officials for what he called an "eruption of spending in Washington, D.C."
As for the 30-to-1 figure, Baird used an estimate developed by the city of Vancouver of how much every public dollar — city, state and federal — spent on infrastructure will return in higher tax revenues.
Baird attended a Friday gathering with representatives of Gramor and its investors, along with city, Port of Vancouver and Clark County representatives, to show his support for the project and boost its community standing. A push pin in the clay model indicated where organizers had set a small tent, chairs and podium for the event.
Gramor’s preliminary plans call for 2,500 to 2,700 condos and apartments, 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 800,000 square feet of office space and 400 hotel rooms.
Mayor Royce Pollard described the waterfront development as "the most significant project in the history of our city and probably Clark County."
"The daytime population of this little city will be about 10,000 people," he said, referring to the 32-acre mixed-use project.
Vancouver has identified $42.3 million in rail, road and utility improvements that would be needed to support the development and pledged $15.5 million to the project. Developers have agreed to chip in $8 million, not counting the money they will spend on internal streets within the waterfront site itself.
Baird said money spent on infrastructure, investing in roads, bridges and ports, will create jobs and get the local economy moving again.
"Yes, we’re facing a challenge," he said. "Our unemployment rate, as you know, is in double digits. But it’s projects like this that are going to turn this around."
http://columbian.com/article/20090314/NEWS02/703149950
