ProMedica and Toledo notes - Jan 22, 2015

"Count me as one who thought it smelled funny ..."

That's understandable, or maybe I'm confused by the arithmetic. Admittedly, I have not followed this story closely, so maybe someone can eliminate my puzzlement below.

On Feb 4, 2014, news broke about ProMedica's downtown Toledo plan. At that time, Randy Oostra, ProMedica president and chief executive officer, said that he envisioned an underground parking structure, and ProMedica expected 700 employees would be moved to the downtown location.

The Jan 5, 2015 Memorandum of Understanding (pdf file) between ProMedica and Toledo stated that approximately 800 employees would be moved to the downtown location, and a mostly above-ground parking structure would be needed.

On Jan 6, 2015, Toledo City Council held a public meeting to discuss the Jan 5, 2015 MOU. At this meeting, Robin Whitney, ProMedica’s vice president of property acquisition and development, said that up to 1,000 employees could be moved downtown. Obviously, that employee number disagreed with the MOU.

I have no idea if MOUs need to be accurate. Maybe an MOU is simply a vague outline.

On Jan 8, 2015, Randy Oostra, ProMedica’s CEO, said that up to 2,500 employees could be moved to the downtown location.

Has ProMedica said why or how the number mushroomed from 800 on Jan 5 to 2,500 on Jan 8?

Changing the number from 700 to 800 over 11 months is no big deal. But a 1,700 increase over three days seems puzzling.

On Jan 20, 2015, Toledo City Council voted to "authorize a memorandum of understanding" with ProMedica.

What MOU did Toleco City Council approve?

The most recent MOU that I can find is listed on the front page of the City of Toledo website, and it's dated Jan 14, 2015 (pdf file). A summary is also posted.

Does a more current MOU exist?

The Jan 14, 2015 MOU states the following information:

• approximately 800 employees
• parking availability for up to 750 vehicles
• parking facility would consist of 6 above ground levels and 1 below ground level

That's the same info that's listed in the Jan 5 MOU.

At the Jan 6 city council meeting, Whitney said that the parking requirements as defined in the Jan 5 MOU would consume 14 percent of Promenade Park.

But according to a Jan 20, 2015 Toledo Blade story, ProMedica is sticking with the 2,500 employee number.

Randy Oostra, ProMedica’s chief executive officer, said the number of jobs the company plans to move downtown could balloon to as many 2,500.

If it's 2,500 employees does that mean:

• parking facility for up to 2,250 vehicles
• parking facility would consist of 18 above ground levels OR 3 separate garages with each consisting of 6 above ground levels
• if 3 separate garages, then 42 percent of Promenade Park would be consumed

On Jan 20, did Toledo City Council aprove an invalid or false MOU?

Shouldn't the MOU account for the 2,500 employee number and the corresponding number of vehicles that would entail?

Does a 750-vehicle parking structure provide enough parking if ProMedica moves 2,500 employees downtown?

One of ProMedica's reasons for the parking structure was because ProMedica determined that not enough parking currently exists that would support ProMedica and potentially other new businesses.

It's fine to me that city council approved the MOU, but if it's the Jan 14 MOU, then that's not fine because that info appears to be inaccurate. And if a more current MOU exists, then shame on Toledo government for not posting it on their website.

#toledo - #politics - #business