This letter is submitted by four of the five member Public Facilities Advisory Committee (PFAC), expressing our support for Manzanita’s leaders in moving forward with their plans for new city facilities. Earlier this year, the PFAC committee concluded its assignment to consider potential uses of property owned by the city of Manzanita. Following the City’s purchase of 2.7 acres of land at Underhill Plaza in June of 2017, and a town meeting to solicit public input in October of that year, Mayor Mike Scott appointed our five- member citizens committee, which met twice a month for over a year.
The Committee was asked to develop a prioritized list of uses for existing city properties, with short, medium, and long- range implementation options. During this process, we examined the results of the town meeting, solicited public input, and reported regularly at city council meetings on our progress. In addition to the monthly reports at its regular meetings, the council held several public workshops with the advisory committee, and engaged the services of a structural engineer and architectural firm to provide technical assistance and to assess the status of the existing properties. The final report and supplemental materials are available on the city’s website.
Our more than yearlong intensive work has been completed, and results were forwarded to the council in March. It is now time for elected officials to move forward with the very important task before them; namely to identify a preferred final option for use of the property, and to propose an implementation budget, including identification of potential funding sources. We thank City staff and Council for their help and responsiveness in supporting the PFAC, and trust that our work has provided a sound foundation for the task before them.
We wish our elected officials and administrative staff well as they move forward in their deliberations. It is our belief that their combined thinking and action will result in a facility which is safe, secure, and demonstrates our community’s pride in its citizenship. These values guided our deliberations, and we are confident continued adherence to them will result in the best possible outcome.
Lee Hiltenbrand
Peter Nunn
Leila Salmon
Connie Soper
