Some Fairbanks officials want to release a Request for Proposal for developing the Polaris Building site as soon as possible, while others want to gather more feedback from the community first.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The site in downtown Fairbanks that once housed the Polaris Building , currently in use as an ice rink, has become the subject of debate for city officials, as different timelines have emerged for when to release a Request for Proposal to the public, inviting developers to pitch ideas for the area.
At Monday’s regular meeting of the Fairbanks City Council, a resolution sponsored by Jerry Cleworth, amended to instruct the city attorney to release an RFP by a certain date, was delayed for consideration until March 23, while a competing proposal from council member Valerie Therrien, which would have allowed for an additional 60 days to gather community input on the project before an RFP was released, failed to move forward. Therrien’s resolution is in line with a 60-day plan currently being pursued by Mayor Mindy O’Neall’s administration, to gather stakeholder feedback from seniors, business leaders, tourism and other sectors about what could go in such an impactful downtown block. “We know that we want coffee shops. We know that we need housing. What type of housing do we need? We know we want more restaurants. We know that we want more walkability. We want safety,” the mayor said. O’Neall said a Request for Information already went out on Friday, asking what interest is out there for the spot and what challenges developers may be facing, which will be used to develop the RFP. “It’s not about creating more restrictions in an RFP,” she clarified. “It’s about being clear in the outcomes that we want from a developer,” she said, adding that an electronic public survey will be part of the outreach effort. After analyzing the feedback received, O’Neall plans to have an RFP out by May 1, which she expects to be available for three to six months, to “give developers enough time to identify funding, capital stacks, financial incentives that may be offered by the government.” The mayor said it is worth taking this amount of time to build market confidence in downtown redevelopment. Cleworth, on the other hand, argued that the city council has already worked for six months on an RFP, wrapping up the process at the end of last year. “It was a good proposal that was very inviting for people,” he said. “It wasn’t too specific on wants or demands of them, and the hope was to get it out this year so that, possibly, if there was an entity or a party that was selected, it might even have a chance to do some groundwork before the snow flew, instead of delaying it for an entire year.” He does not want the proposal request to be too specific in its demands, which he said might risk scaring developers off. “This just keeps getting delayed and delayed and delayed, and I hear from a lot of people who are just unhappy about that. ‘Why are you taking so long to get out a simple RFP when you’ve been working on it for, now, getting close to half a year?’” he explained. As far as public opinion, Cleworth argued that a lot of groundwork has already been done to get them to participate in the process. “If anything, it might be overkill, and so the point is, okay, at what point do we say, ‘Good, let’s go out to get a request for proposal,’” he said. Therrien, who initially co-sponsored Cleworth’s resolution, said she withdrew her support after he added details to his proposed substitute with which she did not agree, including his March 20 deadline to release an RFP. “I am supporting the mayor’s request to get 60 days of community input before we make a final decision on the RFP. I don’t think an extra 30, 35 days at this point is going to make much of a difference in getting the RFP presented to the developers for their proposals,” she said. Public comment on Monday evening saw a community member speak on each side of the issue, with Mike Quinn asking the city to get the RFP out as soon as possible allowing for tax revenue, while Julie Hnilicka asked for more community involvement in the project to take advantage of a unique revitalization opportunity. Currently in use as an ice-skating rink, Therrien said the spot is planned for vendors and booths this summer.‘Like a jet blasted you in the face’: 85 mph Arctic storm winds trap 150 people at Alaska basketball tournamentPlane en route to Bethel loses door during flightIndie group Modest Mouse joins Alaska State Fair concert lineupInterior Alaska sees overflow water on iced-over rivers and lakes
Downtown Fairbanks City Council Mayor O'neall Cleworth Therrien Hnilicka Quinn
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