New venture kicks off
By Jennifer Colton - Argus Observer
Friday, June 29, 2007 11:52 AM PDT
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| Hanigan Motors owner Mike Hanigan (from left), Idaho Commerce and Labor Deputy Director Roy Valdez and Payette County Commissioners Marc Shigeta, Rudy Endrikat and Larry Church shake up dust during the groundbreaking for the Payette County Economic Development Exit 3 Expansion Project Thursday. After receiving a Community Block Development Grant for $500,000, county officials are planning a road to open up more than 40 acres of land off U.S. Highway 30 for retail development. |
Payette - A crowd of more than 40 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Payette County Economic Development Exit 3 Expansion Project Thursday just east of U.S. Highway 95, next to the Hammer Store near Interstate 84.
The expansion venture includes a strategy to develop a roadway to open up more than 40 acres of commercially-zoned land for future retail development, including 15 land-locked acres adjacent to Interstate 84 purchased by Hanigan Motors to construct an auto mall.
A $500,000 Community Block Development Grant that the county learned it qualified for June 20 will fuel the roadway project.
“The grant is specifically designed to develop infrastructure for business expenses,” Payette County Economic Development Director Ron Wrest said. “It’s all about job creation. The first phase of what Hanigans is going to do will create 40 new jobs.”
The planned construction on the auto mall complex, which will combine two of the existing Hanigan Motors locations — in Payette and on Fourth Avenue in Ontario — should begin in the spring and be completed in the fall of 2008, Mike Hanigan said.
The site will cover five GM lines: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Pontiac and Cadillac, Hanigan said.
“We’re going to build a brand new facility and continue to serve the people of Malheur, Payette, Washington counties here at this major intersection where all meet,” he said. “We are proud to be a family business, and we plan on being here for a long, long time.”
Hanigan Jeep Dodge will remain open in Ontario, while the Payette and Fourth Avenue lots will close. Hanigan Motors will still offer a body shop in Payette, Hanigan said.
Idea sparks action
After hearing Hanigan’s initial proposition regarding the auto mall concept, county officials assembled a task force to draft a grant proposal for funding to build a road connecting Hanigan’s property to U.S. Highway 30, including the Payette County Commissioners; Pat Engel from Sage; Wrest, Mary Mejia, Hanigan and Mike Holladay of Holladay Engineering.
The landowners with property adjacent to the proposed road site, Randy Sarchiapone and the Frates family, donated the right of way for the road to the county.
“We were pleased to do it,” Albert Frates said. “I think things will open up here once Hanigans goes in. It’ll enhance the property and benefit everybody.”
The task force took its grant proposal before the Idaho Economic Council in Moscow and the Idaho Transportation Department.
“We made our presentation and they gave us a favorable response, and then the governor signed it a couple weeks ago,” Wrest said. “Now in the next few months, they’ll bid on the road construction.”
Construction on the 1,400-square foot, paved, unnamed road will begin in September or October, Jennifer Long, project engineer for Holladay Engineering, said, and it will be designed to include curbs and sidewalks in the future.
The project will open up access to 20 acres of land to the west, eight acres to the east and 15 acres to the south of the road.
During the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, Wrest, Engel, Hanigan and the Payette County Commissioners spoke about the grant process and future benefits of the project.
Idaho Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch was originally scheduled to attend the event, but he sent a statement instead, which Wrest read during the ceremony.
“It is my great pleasure to congratulate the cities of Payette, Fruitland and New Plymouth on this day of groundbreaking,” Risch said in the letter. Representatives from the Idaho departments of Commerce and Labor also attended the ceremony to show support for the project, as well as other county officials.
“Economic development has a huge, multifaceted affect on the whole county,” Jeff Williams, president of the Payette Economic Development Board, said. “It’s going to help New Plymouth, Fruitland, Payette, and create more jobs. Payette’s maybe going to lose a business, but the county is going to gain two business.”
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