Mayor Keith Gaskin broke a tie to table planned improvements at Propst Park after over half an hour of at-times heated debate during Tuesday’s Columbus City Council meeting.
Two weeks ago, Chief Financial Officer James Brigham was directed to explore funding options for a $3.3 million bid to build four new youth baseball fields and upgrade the lighting at the Field of Dreams. The city has about $1.4 million on hand from the 2 percent tourism tax and needs about $2 million more to complete the work.
The city receives about $400,000 yearly from the tax, which is levied on prepared food and beverage sales inside the city limits.
Tuesday night, Brigham laid out three options based on a meeting with consultants from Ridgeland-based Stephens Inc. — general obligation bonds, urban renewal bonds and a loan from the Mississippi Development Bank. Of the three, he said general obligation bonds were the most attractive.
“The (general obligation bonds) would be least risky for the banks, so would carry the lowest interest rate,” Brigham said.
If the city goes forward with general obligation bonds, Brigham said the debt would be paid down using proceeds from the tourism tax.
“We have that revenue stream that will pay for those payments, so it’s not like we’re going to have to worry about raising taxes to pay for this,” Brigham said.
Paying for the bonds with revenue, rather than millage, means they will not count against the city’s debt limit, Brigham said. The city has about $28 million in debt now, with a total debt limit of about $40 million.
Brigham told the council he intended to meet with Raymond James Financial Services later this week to get a second opinion on the situation.
Jones: Why wait?
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones didn’t want to wait around. He moved, with a second from Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens, to approve starting construction on the new ball fields with the $1.4 million the city has on hand. He said the city could decide on how to handle raising the other $2 million after Brigham meets with Raymond James.
Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard said Propst Park improvements were going to happen, but he also urged the council to be more cautious.
“I’m not saying keep pushing Propst Park to the side, but we’ve also got to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars and sit down and see what we’re doing with this park,” Beard said. “… We need to wait until we have a full understanding.”
Mickens turned to Martin Luther King to explain his reasoning, quoting from the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
“Delayed ain’t nothing but denied,” he said. “Those were Dr. King’s words. I’m tired of kicking this can down the road.”
Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene said he doesn’t think building the fields is necessary because there are seven teams and six existing ball fields.
“We have seven teams playing Little League baseball,” he said. “Every team could play twice a week on one field. You have an early game and a late game. It’s been done that way for 70 years.”
Greene said he doesn’t think Propst would compete with Starkville or Lowndes County — both of which are building multi-million dollar baseball/softball complexes — for tournaments.
“Starkville is building a $30 million complex that’s all turf,” he said. “All turf means it doesn’t rain out. … We’re building grass fields. If it rains, we get rained out. We have serious competition, not to mention Lowndes County is building a $15 million complex 10 minutes from us.”
Greene suggested taking that same $3.3 million and spreading it around the park instead.
Beard also wants to cast a wider net.
“There is so much you could do with $4 million at a park that hasn’t seen $4 million even thought about being spent on it since I was a child,” Beard said. “Yes, Propst Park needs to happen, and it’s going to happen.”
The city will receive $4 million in funding from the tourism tax over the next 10 years.
Gaskin pointed out that the city and Lowndes County recently applied for a grant to fund a park assessment that would identify overlaps and needs countywide.
“We voted to do that to help us make the best decision about the best way to move forward with our parks,” Gaskin said. “I don’t want us to get ahead of our steps. Propst Park is going to happen. We’re committed to it. We’re trying to determine the best way to move forward.”
Greene made a substitution motion to Jones’, seconded by Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco, to table the Propst improvements until more information can be gathered. Greene, Beard and DiCicco voted to table, and Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Stewart, Mickens and Jones voted no. Gaskin broke the tie in favor of tabling.
“Stay where you at,” Mickens said to Recreation Director Greg Lewis, who was sitting in the audience. “You’re going to get what you want.”
“People have got to be real when it comes to this,” Beard said, apparently to Mickens. “… So much more can happen in Propst Park with $4 million for the whole community, not just for one segment of people.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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