As the Jefferson City Council considers whether to help fund a proposed multipurpose building, the facility's purpose may have shifted somewhere between serving residents and attracting tourism.
The City Council will meet in a special work session Monday to hear presentations on the facility from staff, the Lincoln University president and the chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission before discussing a potential vote to authorize using city funds for the project. The Parks and Recreation Commission will also meet Monday, both before and after the work session itself.
In meetings starting early this month, council members have indicated a willingness to contribute to the project, being pursued as a partnership between Lincoln University, and the Parks and Recreation Commission, as a way to ensure the facility will be large enough to attract tournaments to the area.
In October, the commission authorized department staff to pursue a potential collaboration with Lincoln University on a proposed multipurpose building. If the partnership is pursued, the facility would operate as both a multipurpose facility and a student recreational facility on Lafayette Street.
Between Lincoln University and the parks commission, $10.1 million is available for the collaborative project. Within the existing budget, the two entities can afford a three-court facility, but commission members have said they would prefer to see a four-court facility that could attract outside tournaments and meet the needs of existing programs. The architect for the facility has said an additional court would add up to $1.6 million to the facility's cost.
At a joint commission and council meeting in early December, several city officials indicated a willingness to consider using the city's lodging tax, previously earmarked for a conference center, as additional funds for the project.
However, that idea has seemingly been
abandoned by most, if not all, city officials, who are now looking at the possibility of providing a long-term loan or line of credit to parks to fund the added court.
Mayor Eric Struemph said he believes the city can find money for the project outside of the lodging tax funds, which he said should be used for a conference center-type project down the road.
"I don't think using the lodging tax toward this project is something we, as a city, wants to do," Struemph said.
At the last council meeting, a $1.5 million cap on the loan was discussed and Struemph said that figure remains "relatively realistic."
"I don't think everyone realizes how truly important this project is to us as a community," Struemph said. "It's vitally important that we get this project done at a four-court size or more. ... I think this is just a win-win-win for everyone."
As the potential use of city funds is discussed, many have focused on what the facility could bring to the area in terms of tourism and added economic benefits.
Third Ward Councilman Ken Hussey said if the city is going to contribute funding for the project, there needs to be some assurance it would generate revenue by attracting tourists to the area, though he noted plenty of local organizations could avoid travel and host tournaments locally, using the facility.
"The more we can keep people here, that's even better for us," Hussey said.
But can the facility function well while trying to serve residents and students, as well as accommodate outside tournaments?
"There's kind of a fine line between the two," said Bill Lockwood, director of the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department. "Probably the way the facility will function is that at certain times one of those will take the lead and at certain times the other one, but I don't think either are incompatible with each other."
Lockwood said the facility began as a way to meet the needs of residents and accommodate parks programs, but a combination of serving the local community and attracting outside groups is what could enable the facility to operate.
Commissioner Michael Couty said the primary goal has always been to serve the local community, but by bringing in outside tournaments when possible, ongoing operating costs of the facility can be offset and costs to residents can be kept to a minimum.
"If we can get outside revenue to come in to sustain various activities, you can keep your costs down so everything's affordable for the community," Couty said.
Commissioner Steve Duncan agreed, adding that any events attracted by the new facility would benefit parks, the city and the county due to increased sales tax revenues. Attracting tournaments is also a way to ensure the facility is almost always being used, he said. Parks programs primarily would use the facility for programming needs during the week, he said, which leaves weekends free for tournaments.
"We want that thing used seven days a week, 365 days a year," Duncan said. "First and foremost, our goal is to build a recreation center for our local patrons."
Other commissioners and council members contacted by the News Tribune voiced similar opinions, largely stating the primary goal of the facility would be to serve residents, with a secondary focus on attracting events that would help offset operational costs.
But one council member said the way discussions have been going, he gets the impression tourism is the main focus.
"I think they're looking more toward attracting outside people and not so much at serving the locals," said 4th Ward Councilman Glen Costales.
Costales said he believes the two goals are competing interests and incompatible for one facility. But more than that, he said, he is against using any city funds for the project, citing constituent concerns.
At the council meeting last week, Costales said he approached residents about the idea of using the lodging tax funds to help the multipurpose project. He said, at the time, 39 people were against it and three supported it. (Five had no opinion, he said.) Since then, Costales said he's heard from 68 more residents all saying they do not support using lodging tax funds for the project.
And even though the council has moved away from using those funds in particular, Costales said residents have made it clear to him that they don't want city funds used on the project.
"My phone was busy," Costales said. "They're just calling."
Costales said he has prepared a statement for Monday that references a financial policy approved by the council in October that set the goal for the city's fund balance to be 17 percent of the city's general fund budget. If the council opts to offer a loan or line of credit for the multipurpose facility, it could feasibly come out of the city's fund balance and bring the amount below 17 percent, something Costales said would be "folly and financially irresponsible."
"We should follow the ordinance we passed just two months ago," Costales said.
Plus, he said, the city has other needs that should be prioritized, such as equipment replacement and repair, and replacing the HVAC unit in the police department, estimated to cost around $1 million.
Costales said he does not expect other council members to agree and is prepared to be the only vote against using city funds on the multipurpose project.
Fourth Ward Councilman Carlos Graham said he plans to recuse himself from any discussions at the city level about contributing to the partnership because he is a Lincoln University employee.
Want to speak your mind?
The City Council work session on the multipurpose building is set for 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall. Public comment on the multipurpose facility will be limited to five minutes per person.