Please accept this letter into the public record as our vigorous disapproval of your plan to issue bonds for the purchase of commercial real estate on M-24 also known as the Lumber Yard property.
We do not support the DDA / Village of Lake Orion entering village taxpayers into debt obligations for any private commercial enterprise of any type. This private property is not a concern to the village beyond zoning and land use oversight.
The DDA is far exceeding its role within the village organizational structure by speculating in private, commercial real estate regardless of the intended use or outcome. Unless the village plans to purchase this property and convert it into public use for all taxpayers, this is a gross misuse of authority by both the DDA and village council.
No one in a village governance role has our permission to enter into this type of real estate speculation that could very well expose village taxpayers to future financial and legal liabilities through the co-mingling of village government debt obligations with private real estate speculation.
While we respect the intentions of most local leaders to be well meaning, this crosses a line that we cannot support. Maybe this venture will work out as planned. It is my position to remind the council members and DDA that there are times when things do not go as planned. Connecting taxpayer debt to private real estate ventures is a risk that remains outside our level of tolerance especially in these precarious economic and fiscal times we find ourselves in today.
In summary, we reject the proposal to put village taxpayers at risk with this ill-advised venture.
Ray and Janice Hammond
Lake Orion
Editor’s Note: This letter was read into the record at the Lake Orion Village Council meeting on Monday.