Agenda 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 M. Commissioner Jacobs said the County will derive some additional acreage from the Sheriff's office, which adjoins Cedar Grove; and there is the property across the street, which was purchased for septic services, and currently has no use. David Stancil said the property across the street is 12 acres. Commissioner Jacobs said it is not being used because there is concern about having people cross the street. He said a cross walk was researched but the Department of Transportation said it would be unwise, as it would encourage people to cross the street. He said there is a lot of room there for other things, and it may be wise to review the park plan again. Commissioner Jacobs asked if any adults use the Cedar Grove ball fields. David Stancil said the bulk of the use is by Hillsborough Youth Athletic Association (HYAA), but there is a big adult softball tournament every September. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the fields will be cut up into smaller fields. David Stancil said no. He said the new field that is proposed in the second phase would be broken into three T -ball fields. Commissioner Burroughs said a two cents tax increase would raise $3.2 million. She said FY18 -19 has Blackwood Farm and Cedar Grove Parks costing $3.6 million combined. She said there is still a disconnect between the financial reality, and what the County hopes to accomplish. She said the Board is at least talking about a 2 -cent tax increase for these parks, but there will also be tax increases for the school bond. She said 5 cents on the tax rate is a lot of money, and it does not include funds for the parks. She said the 5 cents could be cut down to 3 cents, if the parks were not included. Bonnie Hammersley said the CIP through the next 5 years, is all included in what that increase would be. She said it includes the schools, plus everything else in the CIP. She said it is for principal and interest payments over 20 years. Commissioner Burroughs said if the parks were not in the CIP, it would reduce the pressure of raising taxes. Bonnie Hammersley said it would reduce it, but it would not be like 2 cents. She said taxes are not being raised on the whole amount, but rather on the amount that has to be paid on an annual basis. Commissioner Burroughs said she would like to know the exact difference in the tax increase if the parks were removed. She asked if the CIP also includes operating costs for the parks. Bonnie Hammersley said staff has started including the operating expenses and costs for CIPs. She said she is unsure of the significance of the operating costs of the parks. David Stancil said the operating costs for the parks are included in the CIP. He said if Blackwood Farm were to open full time, there may be additional costs incurred, such as additional staff; but these would not be big expenses. Bonnie Hammersley said staff can provide the Board with the increase in operating expenses for each year of the CIP. Commissioner Price said when prioritizing these projects she would encourage the Board to keep in mind the usage of these parks. She said parks are built to serve underserved communities, and should be built in such a way that people want to use them. Commissioner Jacobs said when considering the priorities, it would be helpful to break out the borrowing costs, operating costs, etc. He said in 2001, neither staff nor the Board thought to calculate the operating costs. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Price, and said, when building the soccer.com complex, it was noted that it would connect to a large part of the Hispanic culture. Commissioner Rich said she would also like to know how many people are working at the various parks, because parks do create employment opportunities.