Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 9:50:55 AM Mountain Standard Time

Subject: Check for accuracy
Date: Monday, November 18, 2019 at 9:43:45 AM Mountain Standard Time
From: Pat Caldwell
To:
Gregory Smith & Company LLC
Greg,
At the Enterprise, we strive for fairness and accuracy in our reports. I am sharing draO excerpts for our
impending story about Malheur County's real estate development efforts. Please review each statement
for factual accuracy. If you see an error, please idenSfy the error and provide what you believe to be the
correct informaSon. At this juncture, I am not seeking addiSonal informaSon or comments. To be considered,
please provide your response by the close of business on Monday, Nov.18. Thank you.
 
Pat Caldwell, reporter
Malheur Enterprise
 STATEMENTS TO VERIFY FOR FACTUAL ACCURACY:
1. The state TransportaSon Department is giving the county $600,000 to buy land needed for the Treasure
Valley Reload Center.
2. County officials say they need $2.1 million to buy the rest of the property on which the shipping center
would sit and to buy a second nearby property.
3. The county applicaSon, though, doesn’t idenSfy potenSal employers or say how many jobs could land on
the raw land.
4. Across the county there is already more than 600 acres of privately owned industrial land, much of it
developed and ready for industry.
5. In its loan applicaSon, county officials explain that money to repay the $2.1 million borrowed from the
state’s economic development agency would come from “Malheur County as well as future land sales.” That
means, according to state officials, that county taxpayers would be on the hook for the loan.
6. Dan Joyce and Greg Smith, Malheur County economic development director, have a standing pracSce of
declining interviews with the Enterprise. The two didn’t respond to detailed wri_en quesSons about the real
estate deals and debt. Smith last week told a reporter to submit a public records request to get such
informaSon.
7. Malheur County inked a deal in July 2018 to buy a 285-acre parcel known as the Farmer property as the
site for the shipping center. When the state said it would only pay for 65 acres, county officials in October cut
down the size of the buy but it sSll exceeded the state’s limit.
8. That leO county officials seeking $1.7 million from somewhere else to buy the raw land that is envisioned
as an industrial park adjacent to the rail shipping center.
9. The borrowed money won’t cover another major expense in industrial development – puhng in uSliSes
needed to serve industrial customers.
10. The county had already applied to the state in October to borrow that money when county
commissioners also decided to buy another Nyssa parcel and borrow even more as part of the same
loan. This 79-acre parcel is near the site of the rail shipping center.
11. Both Nyssa sites would need uSliSes such as sewer and water, according to county records. Malheur
County officials esSmated a year ago that gehng needed services to the Nyssa Industries property could cost
several million dollars.
12. The county applied for a special state program that would reimburse up to $4.5 million in uSlity and
street costs. 
13. The county applied for a special state program that would reimburse up to $4.5 million in uSlity and
street costs.
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 14. County officials haven’t disclosed where they would get that $4.5 million in the meanSme to pay for such
costs.
 

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