Blanche $15 mil Renovation: CM Johnson Playing it Close to the Vest, "You'll know when I know"
Posted February 3, 2015 06:50 am | (1 comment)
LAKE
CITY, FL – The Lake City, City Council breezed through
Monday evening's meeting agenda in a speedy 16 minutes.
Resident Ralph Kitchens came to the Council for an
update on the $15,000,000 Blanche Hotel renovation, of
which there has been nothing new since
the last Blanche meeting of the handpicked
"Grassroots Blanche Stakeholder Committee" on December
16, 2014.
During that December 16 meeting, City Manager Johnson
had words for those who opposed the Blanche Restoration
Project. He said, "We could invite Jesus Christ to come
and occupy the Blanche and restore it miraculously
through his power and we would have people that would
oppose that, probably. We've got our naysayers -- cave
people - C-A-V-E - Citizens Against Virtually
Everything."
To date, neither City Manager Johnson, nor anybody else, has been able to explain the New Market Tax Credit Program, which is being sold as the only way to finance the project.
The next meeting scheduled for the so called Grass Roots Group was supposed to be scheduled for sometime in January. During the December 16 meeting City Manager Johnson advised:
The developers – you may be asking why they are not here today. I told them not to come today. It's premature for me to want them to come in, because when they come I want them to be prepared. When they come in January they are going to bring the artist's rendition; the architect's rendition; they're going to bring their ideas and be able to answer the questions.
If the developers came to Lake City in January, nobody was talking.
Looking for an update
Last night Ralph Kitchens was invited to the microphone to address the Council.
Mr. Kitchens asked, "The Blanche Hotel?"
Mayor Witt followed up, "So you’re asking us what the status is? I think Mr. Johnson would be the best right at this time to...
City Manager Johnson cut off the Mayor.
Mr. Johnson continued, "It’s over there across the street. [The] answer to you Ralph is when the time comes and I indicated before the meeting that we had as stakeholders. (Unintelligible) do this and forward information to the City Council. I’ll publish it to the citizens of this town and everybody in the -- You’ll know when I know. That’s it."
No one on the City Council volunteered anything else.
Article written from recording and interviews
