This article was in Friday’s (May 18th, 2018) Herald and News

Written By: Sean Bassinger, H&N Staff Reporter

What’s now an empty lot just north of a sports park along Foothills Boulevard could eventually spur development throughout one of the county’s prime access roads.

Andrew Stork, operations director for Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA) says a 40-acre plot of land currently owned by the county has a lot of potential. He and others believe that the property could be prime land for retailers, restaurants, lodging and other businesses or residential properties in the area.

Stork presented some of the first drafts of requests for proposals, or RFP, processes to Klamath County commissioners during a 

work session Wednesday morning.

In addition, it could help further pave the way for how other future development plans could progress.

“Ultimately, this is just a vision,” Stork said. “Being able to execute that vision is a whole other thing.”

Klamath County owns the site north of Steen Sports Park along Foothills Boulevard, which currently has an assessed value of about $344,000

Creating new developments

The site is adjacent to an abandoned subdivision — which is not part of this plan — that had some of its infrastructure installed, but then was abandoned during the recession. Many residents use the area to walk their dogs.

The RFP outline drafts focus on several metrics and scoring points that would best guide county officials in choosing the best candidate.The current RFP process for the plot would be listed between June and August.

“I think this was just kind of a strategy 

that allowed them to get creative in trying to address how they wanted to keep certain properties and get rid of others,” Stork told the Herald and News.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Stork said this was a prime opportunity for the county to further look into ways to increase assets and interest, in addition to adding more to the county’s tax roll in the future.

He described the subsequent value potential as “massive,” adding that Foothills Boulevard is a great connector between city and county.

“You’re exponentially increasing what it means to the community,” Stork said.

Following the money

County commissioners said that they would hope to have several interested parties in the area as they move forward, though they agreed that securing a financially stable developer would be important.

Commissioner Donnie Boyd said it would be of the utmost importance to make sure whoever they evaluated had the means to accomplish what they wanted with the area.

Boyd broke it down with examples of a buyer who may check out on most criteria, but still not have enough money in the end.

“The person has to have the ability to complete the project,” Boyd said.

Rick Vaughn, county property manager, added that they could pair questions on any developer’s financial stability during the interview and inquire on specific ways they intended to follow through with any of their visions.

“If they don’t have the resources that appear to back it up … that degrades their vision and plan in my mind, too,” Vaughn said.

Getting public input

Commissioner Kelley Minty Morris said she was curious to see when they would hit a point that they could start holding more public meetings. More than likely, this would occur in the form of public hearings or additional business meetings.

Other commissioners and county staff agreed, with some adding that they had room to work with the system.

“Right now, it’s pretty squishy,” Vaughn said. “It’s a public asset we’re considering doing something with, so we maybe include that with a public hearing.”

Currently, Stork said he and others have been working to figure out where they’re going to distribute RFP listings and go from there.

County commissioners also said that they were going to start blue sheet processes to approve KCEDA’s RFP drafts, which would then move the next steps to one of their business meetings.

To read this article and others on the Herald and News website, please refer to the following link:

Klamath County, KCEDA Outline First Steps in New Land Development (H&N)