Looking in the rear view mirror (the sale of the empty lot on Second Street)

“It has been a mistake living my life in the past. One cannot ride a horse backwards and still hold its reins.”
― Richard Paul Evans

I know this is old news but back in June the city sold the vacant lot where Chetek Cafe used to stand to Russ Chester for $27,790. He wasn't the only one to bid on the lot. Jason Fostvedt bid as well. While Mr. Fostvedt's bid of $20K was accepted and recommended to the council by the Plan Commission, the council by a 3-1 vote (with First Ward Alderman Scott Bachowski voting against the measure) chose to award the bid to Mr. Chester.

Was...

...Is

For the record the Plan Commission or the City are not under any obligation to accept the highest bid simply because it is higher than all the others. If someone wanted to plunk down $50K for the lot with the intent to put up a strip club at that locale I would hope the council would not accept the bid considering this is not in the best interest of the city. The Plan Commission recommended the council accept Mr. Fostvedt's bid because he was present (as Mr. Chester was not) and had a plan to begin turning dirt post haste. Mr. Chester had sent a letter that included his bid but with no clear idea what he was going to do with the property and no definite timeline in which he was going to do it.

But the majority of the council saw it differently. At the special meeting held on June 22, both Jason and Russ were present and this time Russ showed up with plans and a general timeline for the property. As noted by the Chetek Alert's June 24 issue, those council members who voted for awarding Mr. Chester the bid did so simply because his bid was higher. However the measure that the council passed did not commit Mr. Chester to a timeline for building nor specify the size of the building he would construct there (Note: since then Mr. Chester has promised to build something on that lot within the next three years but the worth of the structure he will build remains to be seen.)

It was a very cold day when the old building came down

The week after the article on the sale came out, I was stopped by a concerned citizen who warned me that she was about to give me a piece of her mind. It's okay. It is her prerogative as a tax payer. Here's the gist of what she told me: “I was disappointed that the article did not note that the city originally purchased the old Chetek Cafe building because at the time the city was considering building a new city hall on that block. It seems $217K [$170K to buy the building and another $47-something to abate the building and tear it down] was a lot of money for a lot you only got $27,000 and some odd change for.”

After the dust settled

And she's right about what we were thinking at the time. When we bought the building in 2018 we were thinking of a future municipal building on Stout Street that would be a combination City Hall/Police Department. Our current city hall has different structural and mold issues. We didn't inspect the building at the time because we had no intent to hold on to it. We had hoped to rent it out for a short time but once we took ownership we discovered that the building was in worse shape than it appeared on the outside. On the principle of “in for a penny, in for a pound” we proceeded to tear it down. Because of the condition of the foundation no one would have bought it and to allow it to simply stand and rot away would not have made any sense.

At the same time we purchased that building we had reached out to the Alano Club (next door to City Hall) and inquired if they were interested in selling their building to us as well. We had a couple of meetings with their board and they in turn talked to their members. Their conclusion was that without a suitable place to relocate to, their best option was to stay put. And that's where the conversation kinda stalled out. After I reminded this concerned citizen of this history she looked at me and said, “Mayor, shouldn't you have figured this all out ahead of time?”

When she puts it that way who can blame her or anybody else thinking that the City has been just a bit too cavalier with the taxpayers' money? I mean to realize only 12.44 percent of your original investment does sound a lot like what President George W. Bush used to call “fuzzy math.” Prior to the state shutdown back in March while I was going door to door campaigning for the April election, at one of the homes I stopped at I was told in no uncertain terms what the guy thought of the decision to buy the old Cafe. Let's just say he wasn't as polite as the woman who spoke to me last week but the point was just as clear: somebody's got some 'splainin' to do!

Without trying to sound indifferent to this criticism, my measured response is that at the time it seemed like a reasonable investment of the city's funds. No matter what, we helped a local business expand and remain local and we gained a piece of prime real estate on the main drag. Should we have got more of the moving parts nailed down before we moved ahead with the intent to purchase? Perhaps. As we all know there a lot of things that seem clearer in hindsight. But it seemed like a good move and the council voted – unanimously, mind you - to move forward with the purchase. One day in the future, hopefully sooner than later, a successful business will be operating there generating revenue for the city's benefit. After awhile only the old ones will remember that once upon a time at 803 2^nd Street a successive number of restaurants operated out of the aging and deteriorating structure.

I guess it comes down to how you look at it. In the short term, I admit, it doesn't seem to be a good return on our investment. Time will tell, however. I'm a firm believer in keeping the long view. As the new owner, Russ Chester won't have to figure out what to do with an old building. Even the old foundation was tore out so all he's gotta do to get going is to have a plan. If the city tearing down an old building helps expedite a new business getting launched there well and good.

Over the last four or so years serving as mayor I've come to know for myself that both the department heads – City Hall, Public Works and Police – and those who serve on the council are working steadily to improve our city and make it a better place to live and work in. It's not a perfect science and no one has a crystal ball. Some things just don't work out but that doesn't mean you don't keep on trying. You're only human after all. As Richard Paul Evans so aptly points out, you can't ride a horse backwards. Nope. All you can do is saddle up and ride and continue to try and do the right thing for the city we all call home.