On Nov. 19, the plan to end Lewiston’s operation of Bates Mill Enterprise Complex will be made public – there’s a verbal agreement in place and most of the details will be worked out by then.

That’s great.

Here you go, John Q. “Taxpaying” Public. Here are the details of a multimillion dollar deal. Don’t sweat the small print, the deal’s already done – or will be after a short period of public hand wringing – and there’s little you can do about it.

It has become a common tactic in the economic development world to ink expensive, public-financed deals behind closed doors and then, once it’s too late to stop it, make the terms public. There’s no meaningful period of public comment, no chance for a real discussion and no opportunity for informed dissent or consent.

Members of the City Council have been briefed all along on the negotiations, and we are confident that all the significant players know how the vote is going to come out. It’s preordained minus anything short of a rebellion. Sure, the council could still kill the deal, but the whole affair has taken on the feel of fete accompli.

The city has owned Bates Mill since 1992 and has been renovating the buildings and selling them to a developer. But the city has been looking for a way out. Last month, City Administrator Jim Bennett said it would cost the city $59.2 million over the next seven years if the existing arrangement continued.

That includes $24.5 million in parking obligations, $24.6 million worth of work to be done at mill buildings 1 and 2, $4.8 million in contract requirements in the already sold portions and an annual $750,000 subsidy to the new owners.

Because the city signed a contract with developer Tom Platz and his partners, there’s little room to change these terms unless he agrees.

We’re not going to debate whether the city should have ever become involved in developing commercial real estate. That issue was decided long ago. But we have a great interest in just how the city plans to extricate itself from such a large obligation, and, we bet, so do the residents of Lewiston who will foot the bill for whatever decision is made.

We understand the need for the city to negotiate privately. But the business of city government should be conducted in public, and the details of financial deals should be open to scrutiny before they are completed and the city is locked in.

The city is under great pressure to finish work on this before a new council takes office in January. That leaves scant time to examine this deal. Granted, we’ll know more about it and have longer to react than we did during the holiday shenanigans that ushered in the mythical Wal-Mart distribution center.

By Nov. 19, when we find out what’s going to happen, it will be too late to do much more than clap or complain. With the potential for $50 million or more to change hands, this is no trivial matter.
[email protected]