Letter to the Editor – Commons study session prompts resident to seek clearer financial context

Dear Editor,

I attended the Feb. 17 Town Council Meeting/Study Session regarding the Commons project. After two hours there was still a long line of residents waiting to speak, so can you kindly post my two questions as follows:

In the BAE analysis document under Workforce Profile, it states their survey found most existing town workers commute by car with 77% traveling 15-plus minutes (or 15-30 minutes).

With the average Bay Area and greater California commute times at 30 minutes, if the BAE metrics are a representative sample, is it still reasonable to use oppressive commutes as one of the justifications for worker housing?

After attending Tuesday’s Town Council Meeting/Commons Study Session I realized that something was missing from the overall discussion: a sense of financial context.

I again reviewed the published financial documents and did some quick web research that yielded the following rhetorical question:

In 2008 with a Yountville population of roughly 3,000 residents, there was a significant, heated debate over the estimated $9.8 million cost of building a new Yountville Community Center. The project was ultimately approved and was completed in 2009 with a final cost of approximately $10 million.

Currently, Yountville has a population of approximately 3,200 residents with the estimated total cost of the Commons project at more than $90 million.

When you compare 2009 vs 2026, we have a population of 3,000 vs 3,200 and public project costs of $10 million versus $90 million.

So, the population has grown 7% versus the cost of a public project that has grown 900%.

With such modest population growth, what have been the other financial factors that dramatically increased the town’s capacity for funding public projects?

Many thanks,

Chris Cordera
Yountville

---

Sponsored

---