MEEKER | Meeker’s Board of Trustees and the Eastern Rio Blanco Metropolitan Recreation and Parks District (ERBM) held another joint meeting to discuss the situation with the parks lease agreement last Tuesday, Oct. 28.
Town Administrator Mandi Etheridge presented the final budget review for the recently completed Circle Park Riverfront Project. 62% was made up of grant funds from multiple entities and the remainder was matching funds from the Town and ERBM.
The total budget for the project came in just under $2.2M with a cost to each entity of just under $350K over four years. The ERBM board approved the final payment of approximately $310K.
ERBM Board President Kent Walter addressed differences in the lease amendment from the objectives discussed in September, including the 50/50 split for maintenance and management of town parks while funding revenues are being pursued which may include a mill levy increase and conveyance of the land from the town and school district to ERBM.
Etheridge explained the difference in the amendment was “to take care of the first step, operations and maintenance of the park, I know we said 50/50 shared costs. If the boards can agree on that we can move forward,” noting that prioritizing the most urgent items is necessary with budget hearings coming up in a few weeks.
“I understand, but the district is taking a lot of risk,” Walter stated. “We’re pretty clear that we can’t continue to afford to maintain the town parks and spend our revenue on assets that aren’t ours. We put the other two items in there so that they are memorialized and show commitment by the two boards to move forward.”
Mayor Travis Day stated the need to keep the lease agreement “clean” and the need for a Memorandum of Understanding to avoid committing future boards to financial commitments over which they’ll have no control, and asked to limit the discussion to the lease agreement and discuss the mill levy and property conveyance in workshops.
Discussion on the lease agreement, and the shared costs, ensued, including who will pay the electricity and water expenses the town currently pays.
After a back-and-forth debate about costs, projected costs, water expenses, and credit for electric bills, Trustee Chris Lockwood moved to table the discussion so the town board can make adjustments to the agreement.