HomeMy Public PortalAbout2018.12.19 Charles Ray Midas_Barrick community agreementFrom:Charles Ray
To:BessieJo Wagner
Subject:Midas/Barrick community agreement
Date:Wednesday, December 19, 2018 10:07:54 AM
By e-mail. Please confirm receipt. December 19, 2018
Re: Midas/Barrick’s proposed community agreement
Ms. Wagner,
I am a McCall property owner and a full-time, year-round resident. I have read Midas/Barrick’s Prefeasibility
Study, their Plan of Operations, and drafts of the community agreement. I attended the informational meetings
sponsored by the City.
At this time, I wish to make four points about the proposed community agreement between Midas/Barrick and the
City of McCall. I plan on making additional points in the near future.
First - Regardless of how Midas/Barrick advertises their community agreement, it represents a long-term business
partnership between the City and Midas/Barrick. It makes the City a de facto stockholder of Midas/Barrick, and it
makes the City a beneficiary of a profit sharing deal with the mine.
Second - As a corporation, Midas/Barrick does not view the funding of the community agreement foundation as an
act of philanthropy. The corporation views it as a business investment. It fully expects a return on that investment.
Third- Midas/Barrick’s community agreement represents a clear conflict of interest for McCall City government. At
the City’s first informational meeting, mining expert Tom Blanchard said, “If the mine is built as proposed, the
impacts will be enormous and sudden.” The City has a public trust obligation to protect its residents and taxpayers
from the burdens the proposed mine will certainly inflict. Entering into a business partnership with the very
corporation that would create those burdens is entirely counter to the City’s public trust obligation.
Fourth- Entering into the community agreement sends the City down a decision-making path from which it will be
very difficult to deviate. Signing the agreement prejudices the City’s future selection of alternatives.
It is highly inappropriate for the City to enter into a contractual agreement like Midas/Barrick’s proposed
community agreement. I urge you to reject it.
I understand Midas/Barrick is putting pressure on the Council and the City staff to hurry up consideration of their
community agreement. I urge you to resist this tactic.
Thanks for your service to the City and for your consideration of this letter.
Charles Ray
McCall, ID
marm@frontiernet.net