Council asks parks board to re-evaluate term of proposed tax

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Daily Mail

Tuesday night, after a lengthy discussion, the Nevada City Council took the first step to renew the city's one-half cent parks and recreation sales tax, by passing three special ordinances to put the measure on the April 5 ballot.

This proposal would continue the rollback of the $0.17 per $100 assessed valuation property tax to zero for the term of the sales tax, which is set for nine years. The current parks sales tax expires at the end of 2005 at which time the property tax to fund part of the park department activities will be automatically reinstated.

The sales tax, which generates about $500,000, after it covers the property tax rollback, would be used to either renovate the existing community center or build a new, larger facility; make improvements to Earp Park; improve the parking and lighting at Lyon Stadium and Bushwhacker field; build new paved bike and walking trails and make improvements at the Twin Lakes/golf course complex.

However, before giving the final blessing to the project, council members requested that the parks board take another look at their proposal and see if they want to keep the proposed nine-year time span for the tax or cut the length of the tax to six years and reduce the number of projects to be done.

"We want to see this on the April ballot but in a form that will be palatable to the voters," Mayor Tim Moore, told Mike Turnbull, park board president, and Carol Branham, park and recreation director.

Several of the council members told Turnbull that several people had expressed concerns to them over the nine-year length of the sales tax.

Moore said that the council would like to have more public input on the proposal.

Turnbull, in response to a question from council member Bill Edmonds, said that when the parks board started looking at the scope of the projects to be done it became obvious that it would take nine years for the sales tax to raise enough money to cover the entire cost.

The community center, whether it is renovated or replaced, will take a lot of money, Turnbull told the council.

Turnbull said that he estimates it could cost $3 million to build a new building that would be double the size of the current facility, noting that it would take most of the tax from a six-year period for one project.

The parks board hopes to be able to find a method of financing the community center project so it can be started as soon as possible, rather than wait until the tax has generated enough money to pay the total cost.

Craig Hubler, city manager, said that by the time you fix the roof, repair the gym floor, and rebuild the restrooms to meet ADA requirements, there comes a point where it is not worth what it would cost to renovate the current building which will still be inadequate for the community.

The parks board plans to have a feasibility study done in the next few weeks to get a better idea of what needs to be done and what it will cost to do it.

The renovations at Lyon and Bushwhacker ball fields need to be done soon, Carol Branham told the council.

"The lights at the ballfields are addressing a safety issue," Branham said, adding that the lights are out of date.

"Bushwhacker is approaching unsafe conditions for playing after dark," she said.

Councilmember Mike Straight said that he has a problem with the nine-year time frame.

"I think it's going to be a hard sell. I don't think that we can educate the public why we are going with nine years instead of six years," he said.

Whatever the park board decides to do must be done quickly, since the measure must get its final approval from the city council before the Jan. 25 deadline to be certified for the April 5 election.

In other business the council:

* Accepted bids for the water treatment plant's chemical needs for 2005 from the following vendors: Brenntag Mid-South, 27,000 pounds EL 4010 for $28,083; Brenntag Mid-South, 1,600 gallon C-5 for $8,552; G.S. Robins Co., 300 tons of acid for $28,000; G.S. Robins Co., 40,000 pounds Chlorine for $17,600. The total cost of the chemicals for 2005 is $80,035. Craig Hubler told the council that due to the current high price for caustic the city will take bids for that product as it is needed to keep from being locked into the current high prices for the entire year.

* Gave final approval to a supplemental accounting consulting agreement with Diehl, Banwart, Bolton, Jarred & Bledsoe, PC.

* Passed on second reading a general ordinance to clarify sections of the city code about the monthly charges for industries that exceed the limits set for biochemical oxygen demand over 250 mg per liter and for total suspended solids over 300 mg per liter. This ordinance sets the minimum charge for exceeding both limits at $100 each.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving a computer support services agreement with Dennis Jones and Associates for the city's finance computer system.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving a governmental affairs services agreement with Jorgen Schlemeier, who is the city's lobbyist in Jefferson City.

The city will pay Schlemeier $10,800 during 2005 for his services.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving the Vernon County Ambulance District to operate the city's handicapped accessible van as part of the city's taxi Coupon program. The city reimburses the Ambulance District $4 per trip, plus $1,000 per month to cover the cost to the district of staffing the vehicle, as well as maintenance and insurance expenses.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving a lease agreement with Young Iron & Metal for a 30-foot gooseneck trailer to be used in conjunction with metal recycling. The trailer was originally purchased by the city with a grant from Region M Solid Waste District.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving a lease agreement with Charter Communications.

The lease runs until the first March when Charter plans to move the company's office from its current location at 110 South Adams Street to a building on the Nevada Square.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving a service agreement with Garwood Wrecker for wrecker service.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving a service agreement with Phillips Towing for wrecker services.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance approving an agreement with the Buxton Company to complete a Community ID Retail Study.

The study will exam the buying patterns of consumers in the Nevada trade area and compare that data with the requirements of retail businesses to determine which businesses could be successful here.

The information will also be of benefit to existing business by helping them find new areas of expansion for their businesses.

* Passed on first reading a special ordinance adopting the Nevada/Vernon County emergency plan.