CC 01/22/2018 Minutes Workshop - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASSELBERRY CITY COMMISSION Minutes of January 22, 2018 — Workshop Page 2 of 10 funding available. At the January 8, 2018 Regular City Commission meeting the City Commission approved the following four questions designed to give policy guidelines in moving forward: 1. Should we make it a priority to acquire additional park land when it becomes available, affordable and feasible? 2. Should we preserve the "Northeast Industrial Park" properties for future park space? 3. Should we complete site master plans for existing parks before pursuing major enhancements? 4. Should we pursue a bond referendum to fund the "Service Enhancements"? The four questions were discussed in depth, and the City Commission expressed a desire to move forward with the six parks identified for discussion, and to include the Northeast Industrial Park properties in the discussion for master planning. However, concerns were expressed that the site master planning process may become too lengthy and it was requested that a workshop be scheduled to discuss the service enhancements listed in the Master Plan for the six parks identified and the Northeast Industrial Park, and the possibility of speeding the process along. Staff is requesting direction from the City Commission as to how to move forward at this time. Discussion: Discussion ensued regarding how to proceed with discussions on the park enhancements and how the process could be moved forward more quickly, which included: clarification of site master planning for the identified parks and whether it would delay the process of moving forward on a possible bond referendum for funding of the enhancements; what it would mean to pursue a referendum, including what amount the City Commission would be comfortable in asking from citizens as far as support for a referendum, what the City's voters' tolerance would be for a millage increase, and what enhancements would be covered by that amount; which parks should be included in a possible referendum/bond issue; placing a referendum question on the November 2018 ballot vs. scheduling a special election; timing for scheduling of a special election; whether to focus on only the six parks identified in the Master Plan for site master planning with the addition of the Northeast Industrial Park, or to look at all the parks in the entire parks system, including possible land acquisitions; possible funding for some of the enhancements through the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency); the possibility of including golf course improvements in the referendum process; how to justify estimated cost numbers and concerns about low estimates resulting in insufficient funding to complete the projects; how to activate community engagement to determine community needs and desires; wording of the referendum question in a way to be clear enough to elicit support from voters; reliance on enhancement details provided in the Master Plan; concerns about needing additional community input and buy -in to suggested enhancements and bond issue; possibility of funding from other sources; and what the estimated increase in taxes could be based on various potential bond amounts. CONSENSUS: The City Commission agreed by consensus to use $20 million as a starting figure for a possible bond referendum for park system enhancements for discussion purposes, and to proceed with discussion of the six parks identified in the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Master Plan for site master planning, with the inclusion of development of the Northeast Industrial Park as an active park as the seventh park for discussion and inclusion for funding through a bond referendum process. It was also agreed the discussion for purposes of this workshop would be done on a park -by -park basis and line by line for each proposed enhancement to