(Dixon) While one would expect a local politician to jump at the opportunity to have his name listed on a building or plaque, one Dixon City Councilman asked for the opposite at Tuesday’s Dixon City Council meeting.
City Councilman Devon Minnema of Dixon’s District 4 said during the meeting that the Pardi Market project’s completion was “tantamount to economic tragedy for District 4,” and requested that his name, “not be listed on any commemorative materials or plaques at the site.”
Plaques listing the council and staff overseeing the city at the time of the project are common in Dixon. Memorial tablets like the one Minnema described have been commissioned and placed at large projects such as the Dixon Train Station, the B Street Pedestrian Undercrossing, and at City Hall, however it is unclear whether the city had plans to commission one for the Pardi Market project.
Minnema did not disagree with such an item being placed and said that the city should continue to place a plaque if it was planned.
“I do feel that the council majority responsible for this project should be remembered for what they have done, and I want credit to go where credit is due, but I am not part of that majority.”
Minnema has been a consistent and vocal opponent of the project due to the “opportunity lost” as he put it at the September 26, 2017 City Council Meeting. He advocated vigorously to put the site’s location up for sale, which was previously the site of a gas station and later a supermarket at the intersection of First Street and A Street. His stated hope was that by putting it in private hands, there would be a possibility of development by an employer that would bring workers and jobs to the downtown core.
The lot was purchased by the City of Dixon through the Redevelopment Agency nearly 25 years ago when the small Pardi Market, a grocery store, was closed and became an eyesore in the center of town.
During the last two decades, various plans derived from potential developers, citizen committees, thousands of dollars spent on consultants and studies plus temporary grading, fencing, or signage--along with the purchase cost and repurchase cost by the City, the expense of the site when adjusted for inflation will easily top one million dollars.
When finished, it will be the second park within a block and due to the street that will allow people to get to the parking areas surrounding the park, it will be significantly smaller than the Dixon Women’s Improvement Club Park.
The Phase One construction of the Pardi Market Plaza Project will turn the formerly gravel parking lot into a paved lot with over twenty painted parking spaces and is estimated to cost between 1.2 and 1.6 million dollars, with Phase Two to follow tentatively next year.
Minnema gave direction to the city manager Jim Lindley, “to ensure my wishes to not be listed, as this project has been a top priority of the council majority and I have done nothing to further it along or force it through.” Minnema felt funds should have been used for the Parkway Boulevard Overpass, which would have allowed access for emergency vehicles to reach homes in his district. Currently, the railroad that crosses the middle of town prevents that if there was a train.
The city will be planning an official groundbreaking ceremony that Minnema is undecided about attending.
“While I have yet to decide whether or not I will be in attendance, if I do attend, it will be only in the capacity of a concerned citizen looking on and caring for his community’s well being.”