Youd be hard-pressed to find anyone in Janesville who believes the former General Motors site on the citys south side should remain as-is, an ugly scar of a property marked by vast stretches of fenced-in concrete and former auto plant rubble.
Last week, Janesville City Manager Kevin Lahner floated a long-term plan in which the city would condemn, purchase and clean up the 250-acre site at the citys cost, subsidized by state, federal and any other dollars it can secure.
The Janesville City Council on Monday took a small step approving a relocation order that opens the door to the city condemning and then buying the site from Commercial Development Company, that purchased it in 2017, took the buildings down and has mostly left it to languish since 2020.
No one at the city is publicly saying how much buying and cleaning up the site might cost nor how long it might take, and for now thats understandable; were at the very beginning of this process
However, some local taxpayers are already buzzing about the coming hit to their pocketbooks.
Before the city can expect taxpayer buy-in it is going to have to share a ballpark figure on what Lahner last week predicted will be the single largest public investment in the citys history. Translated: this will be more expensive than anything the city has done in more than 170 years.
For a project of this magnitude, the more early transparency, the better. As soon as figures are available, local taxpayers deserve to see them.
While we wait for that, we acknowledge how difficult of a decision this is for the city. Buying and cleaning up the GM property was not the citys plan when GM shut the plant down in 2009. But as Lahner expressed last week, other options simply arent materializing.
We commend Kevin Lahner, city staff and the city council for getting this off the dime. Well patiently wait for now on further word on costs while we hope for a coming transparent process.
Taxpayers, meanwhile, need to prepare for the role they will play in the process.
Redevelopment of the GM site will take years, affording city residents ample opportunity to weigh in at scheduled public hearings, to speak during public comment time at city council meetings and to reach out to city staff and council members.
We urge city residents to stay informed and to share their thoughts. Pick up the phone, send an email, pen a letter to council members, send The 69蹤獲 a letter to the editor; the city is accountable to you. If you dont like the solution thats been suggested, offer one of your own.
City staff, the council and city residents have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work together to renew this site that is so integral to Janesvilles history. In the end, if the financial challenges can be surmounted, we hope to see something there that honors the workers who labored at GM for generations, and that also at last moves the south side forward at last.