By Nathan Prewett
For the Tribune
SPRINGVILLE — Funding for the sports parks in the city took up much of the discussion at a regular meeting of the Springville City Council on Monday night. Before that, the council appointed eight members to the newly formed recreation board and amended an ordinance to include a ninth member, which has not been filled yet.
The meeting began with approving a request from resident Peggy Jones to rezone her property from R1 to B2. A public hearing was held in which Jones spoke and said that she wanted to sell her property and make it commercial. None spoke out against the rezoning.
Afterwards the council appointed the members of the recreation board. At a meeting on April 16, the council passed Resolution 2018-04, establishing the board to oversee activities in the city. These are not limited to sports, said Springville Mayor William Isley, but also include other recreational activities, such as the Forever Wild land that was secured in March.
“We want to be somebody that can take our programs back and make it work so you want to stay here, you want to play here and you have what you want here in Springville, Alabama,” said Isley. “This board is what they’re going to do and it’s not just about playing sports.”
The appointed members were: Chip Martin, Mike Ennis, Alex Wolf, Carol Edwards, Doug Morrison, Beth Wingate, Scott Walker and Lisa Abram.
“I think we have an excellent board and I’m really excited about working with you,” said Councilor David Vinson, District 2. “I think you’re going to see a big change in how our park system’s done in the future.”
The resolution to increase the board from eight members to nine was passed as 2018-08.
Discussion on park funding followed and became the main subject of the council meeting. The parks mentioned were the Springville Park, an older park, and one new, unnamed and incomplete park located near Wal Mart in the city. It was said by several who spoke up during the meeting that facilities at the Springville Park were in need of renovations.
Isley posed the question of what to do to and brought up the possibility of splitting funds to renovate the old park and complete “at least 80 percent” of the new park.
“The park renovation funding is one that we spent a great deal of time for the last year,” he said. “Not just a few months, over the last year. There have been different scenarios of park funding, visions for parks, etcetera. And we’re going to move towards this matter. I will say even before I start, there are different opinions, not only from the city council and the mayor, but from citizens on funding for parks and youth programs. And there’s no one has the right answer or the correct answer.”
Seven speakers from the public gave their comments urging the council to take action on the current state of Springville Park, with some saying that people have begun to go outside of the city to see sporting events and some raising concerns on safety for children in the old park.
Later in the meeting, Isley proposed bonding $5 million, with $500,000 to pave streets in the city. However, questions and concerns were raised about the funding and on borrowing the money. These concerns were voiced by Councilors Herbert Toles, District 1, Wayne Tucker, District 3, and Tim Walker, District 5. Isley made a motion to adopt his proposal but it died when the vote was split 4-4.
Vinson made a motion proposing an alternate plan of $650,000 for renovations for the old park. He said that the council should not wait any longer on taking action on renovating the park. The motion was passed with six in favor and two against.
In other business, the council
- Approved a request by Councilor Sherry Reaves, District 7, for an expenditure of $2,200 for Movies in the Park;
- Approved a request by Fire Chief Richard Harvey expenditure of $2,680 for a fire hose;
- Passed Resolution 2018-13 relating to municipal water pollution prevention; and
- Entered into agreement with the Chamber of Commerce.
The next Springville City Council meeting will be held on May 30 at 4 p.m. following a work session on the same day at 3 p.m.