Boise officials say that project is not pending
The potential for a new Boise Inc. distributing facility to be housed in the area was discussed at Wednesday’s Koochiching Economic Development Authority Board meeting.
However, Bob Anderson, Boise public affairs manager, said Wednesday, “We are not considering anything at this time.”
That sentiment was echoed by Boise Logistics Planning Manager Howard Lortz.
“We just explore options all the time,” Lortz told The Journal. “We have nothing pending now in I. Falls.”
Lortz had been mentioned at the meeting as a contact with Boise that was to be invited to speak to the KEDA.
“Boise will not be represented at the next KEDA Board meeting,” Anderson said.
Several members of the KEDA Board told a different story during the meeting.
“Right now Boise’s logistics is seriously looking at a distribution center in International Falls ... that’s from Boise corporate,” said Tim “Chopper” McBride, KEDA Board member and International Falls city councilor.
“Now can they put it on Boise property? Some people think that they can but there’s also some people that think that Boise is getting a little landlocked, they’re running out of room,” McBride said, noting that both options have been considered.
He went on to say that the city’s economic development authority was already pursuing getting the distribution center sited in Borderland.
McBride and Gail Rognerud, KEDA Board members representing the Falls City Council, were privy to discussions about the potential client and made the announcement; while board members representing the Koochiching County Board and at-large board members seemed caught off-guard and were unprepared to act on the issue, other than to schedule further discussion with Boise representatives.
Rognerud brought the issue to the KEDA Board to see if the group wanted to actively pursue marketing the foreign trade zone to Boise as a location for the potential development.
“Do we want to be aggressive about this? Do we want to go after it? Do we want to at least let Boise know that the KEDA is on board, the city is on board, and the county is on board?” Rognerud asked.
The response from Wade Pavleck, KEDA Board chairman and county commissioner, was less than enthusiastic. He cast the only dissenting vote on a motion to invite Boise representatives, of whom Lortz was mentioned, to discuss the plan with the KEDA.
The topic concerned Pavleck, who said he did not want to get caught between local and corporate Boise factions. Other members of the KEDA Board explained that there was not disagreement between the parts of the company.
“It’s hard to support this until we hear from other factions of Boise,” Pavleck said. “I would like a little more time to see where everybody’s at.”
Other members of the board said that they would welcome any discussion with representatives from Boise.
“The city made the decision that sometimes KEDA wants to be more diligent, and so sometimes the city will go out on a limb where the county and city government are totally different,” McBride said. He noted that KEDA Director Paul Nevanen had been involved in the “quiet discussions” on the potential project, but the city was acting aggressively in pursuing the development option.
“I think it would be a good fit with what we’re trying to do,” Nevanen said, speaking of FTZ development efforts.
