Senator McKinney against moving business park project near Eppley

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
For months, East Omaha neighborhood reporter Molly Hudson has been talking with neighbors who ask a similar question.

“Is something going to happen here, is this going to happen in a year,” said Melissa Youngblood, vice president of Home Trailer Park in northeast Omaha.

They want to know whether the new Inland Port Authority and the people selected to serve on its board will ultimately decide to pave the way for building a business park here.

State Senator Terrell McKinney serves on that board. He hopes the council will be a way for the community to monitor decisions made regarding their neighborhood.

“Give the community a voice and have some transparency about what’s going on,” McKinney said.

The board was approved June 4, days after Hudson scrambled to find out when the board would make its first move.

Thomas Warren, chief of staff to Mayor Jean Stothert and one of the newest members of the Inland Port Authority board, told Hudson that the first meeting would be in 50 days, on August 1.

This is something Senator McKinney did not know but was not surprised.

“The board needs to meet. Once the board meets, we will discuss how we are going to operate in the future and what the application process for the community advisory board will look like,” he said. McKinney said.

The community advisory council will consist of nine members.

• At least two owners of residential property
• At least two business owners
• A member of the municipal council whose constituency falls under the Inner Port
• A member of the legislature whose district is in the Inner Harbor
• A youth representative

McKinney says he doesn't want to see these homes torn down to make room for the business park. He thinks the new construction should be located south of the houses, on currently undeveloped land.
“Putting the voice of the people first, putting the needs and desires of the people first and finding a way to work with everyone while working to change the community for the better, so and I'm moving again, so just do the first phase,” McKinney said. .

But the most recent plans available for the area call for new buildings to be sited where homes are, and McKinney says he was not part of that process.

“I wasn't part of a lot of the conversations when the beneficiaries were meeting, I wasn't in those conversations, I was in Lincoln trying to pass the bill to hold the beneficiaries accountable,” McKinney said .

McKinney says he continues to field questions from neighbors, which continue to grow.

Thomas Warren says when it comes to serving on this board, it will likely be an online application like other city of Omaha boards and commissions.