July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
City seeks park funding options (01/16/2009)
Portland Board of Works
By By RACHELLE HAUGHN-
A local board has taken the next step toward securing funding for a park project in Portland.
Members of the Portland Board of Works voted Thursday morning to hire Greg Guerrettaz of Financial Solutions Group, Indianapolis, to look at several options for funding the remaining work on Hudson Family Park.
After the meeting, Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland, said private funding, grant funds and city funds are all options being studied for the project. He added that the city applied in 2008 for federal funds to be earmarked for the project and should know if the funds have been granted sometime this winter or spring.
Earmark funds are grants that are distributed through an appropriations bill. Communities have to submit plans for the project for which they would like to receive the funds to someone in the congress or senate. The request then goes to an appropriations committee for approval. Hosier said he submitted the city's request for earmark funds to Sen. Richard Lugar, Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Mike Pence.
Hosier said he is hopeful the city will receive the funds, but if not, other funding options could include bonding or the city receiving funds from President-elect Barack Obama's proposed stimulus package.
Hosier said no decision has been made on how the remaining work on the park project will be funded. Whatever is decided, the city council will have to give final approval, he said.
The remaining work on the park includes the pond, an amphitheater and other features and is expected to cost $2.75 to $3 million.
Board members voted to pay Guerrettaz, who was unable to attend the meeting, $18,000.
The board also voted to pay Guerrettaz $10,000 to study the city's financial past and future.
His job will be to look at the city's financial status from the past three years and project what the city's budget might look like in the next three years.
He also will determine how House Bill 1001, which caps property taxes, will affect the city's budget. Hosier said he wants a better understanding of how much the city will lose because of the property tax cap.
In other business Thursday, board members voted to pay RW Armstrong, Indianapolis, an additional $10,000 for work on the wetland delineation study of the former site of XPLEX Extreme Competition Park.
Board members voted in September to pay the Indianapolis company $12,881 to study the site and determine if it contains wetlands and if so, if the wetlands have been disturbed.
The study determined that there are about 15 acres of wetlands on the property that were disturbed during construction, Hosier said. The report on the findings has been sent to officials with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The next step for RW Armstrong is to figure out how to fix the damage to the wetlands. The $10,000 was not included in the original contract because city officials were not sure if the former sports park site, located on county road 100 North, east of U.S. 27, contained wetlands.
IDEM ordered the city to have the wetlands study completed.
The city also paid TJ's Concrete Construction, Portland, $45,780 to grade, seed and place a blanket-like material on the banks of a retention pond at the former park site.
IDEM officials also ordered the city to have the work done to prevent erosion of the banks during heavy rains, eventually working its way into area creeks and rivers..
Board member Robert McCreery asked if it would be possible for the city to be added to the list of debtors in the park's bankruptcy case to help recoup some of the money the city has spent.
Hosier said the city attorney is reviewing the matter.[[In-content Ad]]
Members of the Portland Board of Works voted Thursday morning to hire Greg Guerrettaz of Financial Solutions Group, Indianapolis, to look at several options for funding the remaining work on Hudson Family Park.
After the meeting, Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland, said private funding, grant funds and city funds are all options being studied for the project. He added that the city applied in 2008 for federal funds to be earmarked for the project and should know if the funds have been granted sometime this winter or spring.
Earmark funds are grants that are distributed through an appropriations bill. Communities have to submit plans for the project for which they would like to receive the funds to someone in the congress or senate. The request then goes to an appropriations committee for approval. Hosier said he submitted the city's request for earmark funds to Sen. Richard Lugar, Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Mike Pence.
Hosier said he is hopeful the city will receive the funds, but if not, other funding options could include bonding or the city receiving funds from President-elect Barack Obama's proposed stimulus package.
Hosier said no decision has been made on how the remaining work on the park project will be funded. Whatever is decided, the city council will have to give final approval, he said.
The remaining work on the park includes the pond, an amphitheater and other features and is expected to cost $2.75 to $3 million.
Board members voted to pay Guerrettaz, who was unable to attend the meeting, $18,000.
The board also voted to pay Guerrettaz $10,000 to study the city's financial past and future.
His job will be to look at the city's financial status from the past three years and project what the city's budget might look like in the next three years.
He also will determine how House Bill 1001, which caps property taxes, will affect the city's budget. Hosier said he wants a better understanding of how much the city will lose because of the property tax cap.
In other business Thursday, board members voted to pay RW Armstrong, Indianapolis, an additional $10,000 for work on the wetland delineation study of the former site of XPLEX Extreme Competition Park.
Board members voted in September to pay the Indianapolis company $12,881 to study the site and determine if it contains wetlands and if so, if the wetlands have been disturbed.
The study determined that there are about 15 acres of wetlands on the property that were disturbed during construction, Hosier said. The report on the findings has been sent to officials with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The next step for RW Armstrong is to figure out how to fix the damage to the wetlands. The $10,000 was not included in the original contract because city officials were not sure if the former sports park site, located on county road 100 North, east of U.S. 27, contained wetlands.
IDEM ordered the city to have the wetlands study completed.
The city also paid TJ's Concrete Construction, Portland, $45,780 to grade, seed and place a blanket-like material on the banks of a retention pond at the former park site.
IDEM officials also ordered the city to have the work done to prevent erosion of the banks during heavy rains, eventually working its way into area creeks and rivers..
Board member Robert McCreery asked if it would be possible for the city to be added to the list of debtors in the park's bankruptcy case to help recoup some of the money the city has spent.
Hosier said the city attorney is reviewing the matter.[[In-content Ad]]
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