Crunch time at EWEB.

Byline: The Register-Guard

The dramatically different options created by competing offers for the Eugene Water & Electric Board's riverfront property present a timely reminder that the public has a huge stake in the outcome of this deal.

But neither the public nor the principal parties to the negotiations have all the information necessary to make an informed judgment.

How will anyone, including ratepayers, be able to evaluate the adequacy of the offers from Triad Hospitals Inc., or Arlie & Co., without an updated, real-world estimate of EWEB's relocation costs? And what happens to Triad's best-laid plans for a new hospital on EWEB's property if the utility suddenly decides to keep its headquarters offices there?

Here's what is known: The $38.5 million relocation cost estimate developed for EWEB in 2002 includes a 35 percent contingency mark-up, much higher than the standard 10 percent typically allocated to cover unanticipated expenses. It also incorporates the cost of constructing a new administration building.

Two recent appraisals of the 22.5-acre site concluded that it was worth between $22 million and $24.6 million, including EWEB's headquarters building. Texas-based Triad, majority owner of McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, has offered EWEB $24.8 million for the property, on which it hopes to build an $85 million hospital.

Eugene developer Arlie & Co. entered the fray recently with a $28 million offer and a rough conceptual proposal for a riverside development that mixes commercial, office and residential buildings. Arlie officials say they would welcome an EWEB decision to remain in their current headquarters building through a lease arrangement. Arlie also would not require the $12 million in city-financed access improvements needed if the site were used for a hospital.

Arlie officials say (wink, wink) theirs is a backup offer to be considered only in the event EWEB fails to come to terms with Triad.

Backup, schmackup. Arlie Vice President John Musumeci didn't try to disguise his true feelings about the relative merits of the offers in an e-mail to Eugene City Councilor David Kelly. "There is no question in my mind that Triad has made a lowball offer and the [EWEB] ratepayers would be shortchanged by many millions of dollars," Musumeci said.

It's too early to tell if anyone will be shortchanged, but Musumeci has the "many millions of dollars" part right. There would be many millions more public dollars involved in putting a hospital on EWEB's property than if the site were used in the way Arlie proposes.

But those public dollars are there for a reason: Eugene's elected officials believe it's in the city's best interests to have a full-service hospital in a central location south of the river.

McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center isn't some generic franchise health-care operation, either. It's a known quantity that brings much to the table as a potential occupant of EWEB's property: hundreds of high-quality jobs and a half-century of valued service to the community. It would rank high on any list of community assets.

But just as the City Council must strive to provide balanced health care options for Eugene's citizens, EWEB is obligated to protect the interests of its ratepayers.

The utility's commissioners face some crucial questions: Does watching out for ratepayers automatically mean squeezing the maximum profit out of any property sale? If that's the guiding principle, selling the property is a cinch: It goes to the highest bidder.

Are ratepayers better served by having EWEB retain its 17-year-old headquarters building and move only operations and maintenance functions to a new site? That option has been characterized as a deal-killer for Triad.

Or have EWEB's needs evolved enough in the past 17 years so that a new headquarters building financed completely from proceeds of the property sale is a better long-term investment?

It's time for the public to weigh in with its priorities. EWEB commissioners made the right call when they agreed to hold a public hearing on the plan to sell the current site. Now they need to set a date.

Triad also has announced a desire for public feedback on how best to use EWEB's site for a new hospital. If Triad officials are reading the tea leaves, they know they're losing the battle for hearts and minds to ratepayers who don't give a hoot if a hospital locates in Eugene.

Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy is absolutely correct: Triad needs to make its case, pronto.

Finally, in light of all that's happened since the City Council first announced its unanimous support for Triad's efforts to purchase EWEB's property, a new public hearing on the issue is in order.

The city also needs to begin helping Eugene citizens understand that if the Triad deal goes south, Glenwood and Springfield will be formidable competitors for the hospital's business.