Committee to recommend heavy investment in city parks

A meeting of Electric City’s parks and recreation committee last Thursday focused on two new city parks, and they will recommend the city council to move forward on developing them, spending nearly a half million dollars over the next four years.

The group, voting unanimously, recommended that the park plan go out for a 60-day public review.

Other recommendations include that the council hire and contract with a landscape engineering firm to design and create plans for both the McNett Avenue Park and the Grand Avenue Park. Both parks will be renamed at a later time.

It was recommended that the proposed basketball court planned for the Grand Avenue Park be made full size and that a large tree, which would be in the way, be removed.

In all the recommendations, the members voted unanimously.

Currently, the city has ties with the engineering firm Gray and Osborne.

Activity on McNett Park, behind the fire hall, is recommended for $12,500 worth of expenses in 2018 for planning and design. And in 2019, $260,500 for development.

The Grand Avenue Park plan calls for $5,000 for planning in the year 2020, with development costs of $167,000 in 2021.

All of those numbers are estimates, and city officials stated they would depend on how successful the city was in obtaining grants.

Community members involved were Jeff Piturachsatit, Clark Perman, Benjamin Palma, Cynthia Greely and Lynda Anderson. Two city councilmembers, Lonna Bussert and Aaron Derr, also serve on the committee.

The city’s planner, Kurt Danison, and Deputy City Clerk Russell Powers were also active in the meeting.

Other parts of the Pathway and Revitalization Plan would come in the future; the local group wanted to focus on the two parks.

These recommendations will be made to the council when it next meets April 11.