By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Parks Department had a nice victory at the polls during a special election on August 3.
More than 71 percent of voters showed their support for a half-cent sales tax increase to make broad improvements to the city's parks system, including Krug Park, Hyde Park, the Bode Sports Complex, Civic Arena and more.
City manager Bryan Carter says it was satisfying to see so much of the community wanting to invest in its parks and overall beautification.
"It speaks to the value that this community has for its parks system," Carter said. "That system is a great strength, but it's also a lot to maintain, because of that strength. It costs quite a bit to maintain it and keep it up to speed, and voters sent an impressive message about the value they do have for it."
The half-cent sales tax increase, which has a 10-year sunset clause, is expected to generate around $50-60 million in that time.
The Park Sales Tax Committee agreed on a list of projects this past summer, including improvements to Krug Park, the Aquatic Park, Phil Welch Stadium, the Bode Parks Complex, Hyde Park and smaller parks all across town.
That list was approved by the city council with a 9-0 vote in late June.
A portion of the money will improve park restrooms and shelters. Another key investment will be in new equipment. Around $4.2 million will go toward equipment alone.
St. Joseph parks director Chuck Kempf says the smaller projects that deal with safety and day-to-day needs will be the first items crossed off the improvement list.
"I think what you're going to see early on is a lot of things that involve safety and ADA access, lighting projects at the youth sports fields," Kempf said.
Kempf also mentioned roof repairs to the Phil Welch Stadium grand stand and also to the Missouri Theater as renovations that are high on the priority list.
There are also more expensive items. A new Aquatic Park Lap Pool and Northside Splash Park are two of the bigger projects. Those two things combined would be about $9.7 million. The Krug Park project alone would equate to about $12 million.
Kempf says the best way to start making improvements to parks in a timely manner, and to start rolling out this tax money in a more manageable way, will be through obligation bonds.
"I feel pretty comfortable that if we bite these off three years at a time, we could start that next three-year period as the first one is ending and so on," Kempf said. "Just so we're able to get new projects."
Any obligation bond will need the approval of city council. Kempf says several members have already indicated they would be in favor of going in that direction.
Before those bonds are approved, Kempf says the other big task is prioritizing which big projects get worked on first.
"The money doesn't start accumulating until January 1," Kempf pointed out. "We won't get money in the bank until March, so we have to be a little bit careful. And then, that first six months there's only about $2.5 million...and hopefully here in about six months, we'll start seeing some fruits of this money and then over the next 2-3 years, I think some big things will happen."
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