BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
At the Prattville City Council Tuesday, three resolutions were a point of much discussion and ended up being pulled from the agenda, for now. They concerned moving forward with design plans for possible major renovations including Pratt Park, Stanley Jensen Stadium and Newton Park.
The City Council voted by majority to remove them from the agenda, and will hold a work session on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall for further discussion.
As the council was about to bring the resolutions up for a vote Tuesday, Councilman John Chambers asked if the vote could be postponed, and a work session be set to further discuss details.
“I wanted to see if we could make a motion for a work session and to hold the next three resolutions that we have on the agenda. I don’t want to get this misconstrued. I am a big supporter of the Parks and Rec. I agree renovations are badly needed,” Chambers said. “This is not me saying I don’t want to do any of these projects by any stretch. I just wasn’t able to attend last week’s meeting unfortunately. All I am asking for is a couple of extra weeks so we can have that and get more details and facts that we can share with our constituents who may show some concerns.”
Councilman Roberts Strichik said that work sessions have previously been held on proposed improvements/renovations.
“As far as a work session we had a work session earlier in the year before we entered the budget to discuss these projects. The meeting last Tuesday was very informative. We had engineers come and present and provide information. Tonight we are not actually voting to approve funding for any of these projects. We are agreeing to vote to go into an agreement with two engineering development firms to work on these projects.”
Will Barrett, with Civil Southeast, then came forward to explain what exactly the council would be voting on Tuesday evening.
“We have been working toward this for several months now. Pratt Park and Stanley Jensen Stadium are the two projects that my firm Civil Southeast will be spearheading the design on. Both are badly needed and both are at the point of a design agreement,” Barrett said. “This is not ordering anything to be built, but be designed.”
For the proposed improvements Pratt Park would consist of a new playground structure, new restroom structure near the playground, some drainage improvements and safety enhancements in the area, as well as relocating the old barbecue pit in a newer, cleaner venue.
The stadium itself would involve a new homestand in place of the current visitor’s stand that is badly aged; new locker rooms, new restrooms and new concession areas. It would also include new parking and new lighting and new audio/video as well.
“That is the brunt of the design features at the stadium project,” Barrett said. “The stadium agreement before you is strictly for preliminary design services, not the design for the entire project. There are so many moving parts in that stadium design that I think it is incumbent upon us to break this into three phases as an agreement. Phase 1, which is on the agenda tonight, will include a survey, updated floor plans, updated model and a more detailed construction cost estimate that everyone can be comfortable with before proceeding into a full-blown design agreement.
“Phase 1 will be considered complete when the Parks and Rec director, city council and mayor are all in agreement to move forward with the project based on the updated floor plan and the updated cost estimate. At that point, the Phase 2 agreement for complete design could be executed. Phase 2 agreement would include design of the project including full construction plans and specifications and that isn’t something we are discussing right now.”
Barrett said that once the contract can be bid and awarded to the lowest responsible contractor, then Phase 3 would involve construction monitoring, engineering and materials testing would all be taken care of at that point.
“But the three-phase approach for the stadium is the best way to approach it,” Barrett said. “Because at this point, we are looking at a concept and there are a lot of moving parts and lots of ideas right now about where all that will land. So, this is just a preliminary design service for the stadium.”
Chambers said, “I appreciate all your work. I’ve looked at the renderings, they look really nice. Again, I am very interested in these projects. I still think there are a few questions out there. We had the privilege to be a part of the Parks and Rec meetings. But I just want to have that sense of information and have the facts that I can provide that I don’t feel I quite have at this point in time. $425,000 obviously is nothing to sneeze at. I just want to make sure I can justify that to my constituents and people who are concerned. It is not me saying I don’t like these projects or don’t want to do them. I am just asking for some time to have those discussions.”
Councilwoman Lora Lee Boone also weighed in on the postponement of the vote, and holding a work session.
“I sit on the parks and rec committee. I have seen this information from beginning to end. I have seen how it has fleshed out and developed. And yet I am still at the phase where I would like to see all the councilors come together and be in total agreement or as close to possible as we can as to how we are going to specifically address these projects,” Boone said. “Are we going to do all three at once? Are we going to do them one at a time? These are the three top tier of what we need to do.”
Boone said she does not believe all Prattville Council members are in agreement on how to proceed.
“Yes, the stadium needs renovations. Are we going to do it on a large scale or small scale? Are we going to divide it into multiple phases? Are we going to knock it down and do it all at once so that only one season is missed? There are just so many things that we as a whole council still need to discuss, so I would like see little more time before we move ahead.”
She said that the projects need to be right and have consensus of the council.
“This does not need to be one committee’s project, but a council project. I would like for the council to come together in support of this and have the council ready when we move forward with debt as well as this being the very first thing that we issue debt for out of our one cent sales tax that we have continued. We need to have solidarity on this and handle it correctly,” Boone said.
Councilman Albert Striplin also shared his opinion on holding the vote on the three resolutions, and was in favor of a work session.
“I would like to echo those comments. From my experience from serving on different committees over the years, I have found that councilors who serve on a specific committee eat, live and breathe a specific project for weeks, months and years,” Striplin said. “The remainder of the council has very little idea of the depth of that project, nor of the understanding that the other three councilors have about it. I think the comments that Councilor Boone and Chambers made are relevant. In some shape, form or fashion we need to get a little more understanding of each one of these, determine what phases we are going to do, how many phases there are going to be.”
A vote was taken to postpone the three resolutions, and it was seconded. All in favor of postponing the resolutions were Striplin, Marcus Jackson, Chambers, Blaine Gornto and Boone. All opposed to postponing were Jerry Starnes and Strichik.
Starnes asked Strichik if he was in favor of another work session, and his comments were clear.
“No, not really. I want to get this passed through tonight so we can move on. We’ve waited for 60 years what’s another two weeks I guess. What are we doing? So, no I don’t want to have another work session. We had a work session last Tuesday as well for the public to make their comments and ask their questions. We passed that. So we are going to wait another 60 years to bring this up? Are we going to sit here in the same old crap that we sit in and not serve our citizens and our youth anymore? It is ridiculous. So I am fine. Do what you got to do.”
During public comments, Prattville resident Jon Lee Finnegan address the council about her concerns over planned expenditures overall for the city.
“I worry we are going to get into debt as we did for Highpoint. At the Sept. 21 meeting $1.3 million for Project Katz and one million, fifty thousand for the Boutwell Property were approved. Tonight Resolution 5 is $2.6 million up front plus close to 1.5 to $2 million over five years. Resolutions 9-11, costs have been quoted as totaling between $13.5 million and $16 million with plans on taking out bonds to pay for it,” Finnegan said. “These last three resolutions are just the beginning for Parks and Rec. The Whetstone BMX Park and Upper Kingston Soccer fields renovations total about $7 million. We have approximately 10 other park renovations that do not have costs projected. Mac Gray Park 2.0 still has a an outstanding balance of approximately $4.4 million. There has also been discussion of partnering with the YMCA to develop a state-of-the-art aquatic center. Cost was quoted at $17 million. This is not even including future spending on other big city projects like the widening of McQueen Smith and phase 2 sewer projects which will total in the millions. With the current unsettling state of the economy we don’t know what the future holds. Let’s not get into the same debt situation like we did with Highpoint. I sincerely feel you are counting your chickens before they hatch.”
Prattville resident Dianne Rolling also addressed some concerns to the council about future expenditures.
“I am here to speak on Resolution 11, the Stanley Jensen Stadium. I have four grandsons that currently play football at the stadium. That being said we don’t need a “showpiece ticket booth,” a two-level press box with upper floors for coaches, media, etc. a jumbotron billboard or any of the other features that will make a “state of the art” stadium like Auburn and Sanford. We are a high school, not a college town. We do however need a new locker room, bathrooms renovated, as well as a concession stand and other necessary renovations for the stadium. The excess money can be used to help benefit the Autauga County Public Schools with the current overcrowding and other necessities that the schools currently need. The city has currently approved well over 1,000 homes that are being built and it will only add to the already overcrowding issue of the schools.”
The Work Session will be held Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the courtroom of Prattville City Hall. The meeting is open to the public.
