With a major shopping district only a block away, and with an elementary school and high school within three blocks, one could imagine housing for perhaps five hundred students and their families. Such housing would remove a considerable amount of traffic from our streets, while the planned parking lot will only add to it. But then, such thinking is foreign to the 1950s era planners on campus. At any event, both loans are needed because of restrictions placed on how the University can budget and spend money. After Enloe Hospital, the University Foundations are the largest economic entities in Chico, yet there is very little scrutiny of its actions.
Someone ought to write a story.
Be that as it may, City Manager Tom Lando assured the Council that the loans were a good deal for the city. As investments, they would bring a higher return to the City than its usual investment portfolio. As for security, Lando said that the Foundation is probably more secure than the private investment pool the City uses. The loans will come from the City's long-term reserve, and so won't affect the budgeting process. Moreover, Lando says the loans will advance a public purpose, namely building the stadium, which will bring secondary economic benefits to the City.