City benefits from oil boom: Growth possible here but infrastructure costs a challenge in residential development
May 11, 2012 at 1:01 am in The Jamestown Sun
Officials in Jamestown agree that the city is poised to receive positive economic growth from those struggling with life in the Oil Patch. But can the city handle it? Continue Reading
Have the local “leaders” ever thought that maybe the residents of Jamestown and the surrounding area don’t want that type of growth? I sure don’t want oil patch issues invading this area and I doubt many others do either.
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Dean Hafner is a residential home builder in the area, and right now his biggest obstacle is paying the city upfront costs for sewer, water and bringing the road to grade and gravel for it.
Hafner said that could cost about $25,000 per lot, and the cost to develop 30 lots could cost as much as $750,000 up front out of the developer’s pocket.
“I can’t justify spending $600,000 to $1 million in infrastructure and hope I get a return on it,” Hafner said. “That infrastructure is just killing us.”
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That’s just a cost of doing business. Why should the taxpayers potentially be on the hook for it????
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“We’re hearing several different things that it’s not as easy to build here as it is in other communities at the present time,” Ova said. “We (the city) don’t offer assistance for infrastructure development and other communities do.”
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That’s a good thing. Let’s not waste any more taxpayer money!
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