South DaCola

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

l3wis February 10, 2026 6Comments

During the city council meeting tonight there was a debate about how much money will be spent on the new Frank Olson Industrial Complex. The bond approved was for $47 million, but some kind folks wanted to give $1 million for the place, which was accepted. It is also a one time gift. The Parks department employees really want to spend the money on ‘extras’ because every time they walk to the podium they are salivating over all the extra crap they get to buy. Where the Kirby’s messed up was giving the entire amount all at once, this of course was a tax write-off and the reason the Kirby’s created the PRIVATE parks foundation was to funnel tax write-offs into our parks system. Not a bad idea, the problem is the money needs to be more focused and beneficial to the citizens. This EXTRA money is unusual because usually a major sponsorship like this would be over a decade and the money dispersed evenly over the 10 years and used mostly for operating. The sponsors should have handed the money to the Development Foundation and let them disperse the money over a decade to the city for operating expenses and signage (which should not cost more then $30K). I don’t have a problem with the gift, but it seems like the city is just going to piss it down their legs, BUT as long as the IRS is happy, who cares?!

THE ROAD(s) TO NOWHERE

The council also debated the new Minnesota Avenue expansion between 2nd and 7th for $12 Million, $7 million below expected bid. The design alone cost us $1 Million. I guess our city engineers do NO engineering, I heard they mostly run errands during the work day.

Curtist the Blurtist bitched about the medians and wondered about changing design, Cotter said, ‘too late’ design is all done and you would have to go out for new bids with changes. I don’t think this city council has a clue what our city departments are up to, and that is on purpose. They love to plead ignorance and they did it a lot tonight. So get ready for Minnesota Avenue to look like a scene from the Brutalist as Vernon Brown referenced tonight.

HEY TRE! DO YOU STILL EXIST?

Or did you take my advice and change the name to Lyre Ministries? Also, what is Ryan Spellerberg’s association with the org? He didn’t LEGALLY provide his conflict to the citizens during the meeting while participating in ALL of the other meetings leading up to the 2nd reading including voting. Dude really doesn’t understand muni government, which is astonishing being in the real estate business, or maybe not 🙂

Either way, a friend who lives in the neighborhood called me bitching,

“What the F— are they doing with this property? F’ing street been closed for months and no work. What the F—?!”

I of course laughed and said that the place will probably never get built and sold to some developer who wants to build a big apartment building or an oil change place casino, I also told him that the city closes streets all the time and nothing happens. There is a closed street on my block and they use it as storage. I have lived in my home for 24 years and the same two semi-trailers have sat on the land the entire time. No plates, no registration, no nothing. I have reported it to the county for licensing and they told me to go to Hell and said it was a city issue. The city did nothing when I told them, except that it was ‘private property’. NO IT IS NOT! IT IS AN EASEMENT!

My point? Don’t close streets in residential neighborhoods, it just attracts cockroaches and grifters.

If I was a betting man, my guess is there will NEVER be an indentured X-tian servant apartment complex built there. But, man, can’t we dream of a world where the White Christian Nationalist Housing and Coffee House becomes reality?

God, please save us from these folks. Please. As Jimmy Stewart would say, “God… I’m not a praying man, but if you’re up there and you can hear me, show me the way”.  Or better yet, show the council. They sure could use a Clarence or a Kermit these days 🙂