The Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department recently learned it can't own land under state law, even though the department currently owns property.
During Tuesday's Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Parks Director Todd Spalding said the Jefferson City legal department contacted him about the discrepancy in the city's charter and state law. The city charter states the Parks and Recreation Commission "may purchase or otherwise secure ground to be used for parks." However, since the Parks Department is a subset of the city, the city has to be the official owner of the properties, according to Bryan Wolford, Jefferson City's associate city counselor.
"The city is the parental unit and subsets of the city are the city, so it's the city who should actually hold the title to (the properties)," Wolford said, adding the city would most likely re-title properties owned by the Parks Department to list the city as the owner.
Wolford said when there is a conflict between state law and a city's charter, state law will take precedence.
Asked how the department was able to purchase properties up to this point, Wolford said there were "different administrations and city counselors in the past who just kind of agreed to it." He added City Counselor Ryan Moehlman is working to correct the mistake.
The conflict came up when the commission discussed renewing a farming contract with Fischer Farms. Under the proposal, Fischer Farms leases 52 acres to farm for one year with the option of renewing up to four additional one-year periods. Tuesday's proposal was for the final year of the agreement.
Some commission members thought the Parks Department purchased part of that land with the department's money and did not understand why the city would own the property.
Spalding said he was told the commission could renew the contract for a final year, but once the contract expires Dec. 31, 2018, the city will take over the contract.
The commission approved renewing the agreement, with the total annual revenue being $16,133.
Commission member Bill Plank said he also wanted to make sure the city and Parks Department were on the same page so there are no future money issues. The Parks Department uses money gained from the half-percent parks sales tax to improve local parks.
"I just don't want it to come down to where we're grappling with money, saying, 'Well, our budget is more important than your budget,'" Plank said.
The city and Parks Department will need to discuss how placing the properties under the city's name will impact department funding, Wolford and Spalding said.
"We'll get it hashed out," Wolford said. "The city is not in it for a big money grab, and they're not after the resources. We just want to follow the law."
In other business Tuesday, the Parks and Recreation Commission approved a $16,856 settlement with Building Solutions and James Lage Masonry and Construction for construction of the Turtle Creek Subdivision greenway extension.
According to a memo presented to the commission, James Lage Masonry and Construction talked with the Parks Department in April about widening a sidewalk at Turtle Creek Subdivision to 10 feet, the width of a greenway, to provide an extension of the greenway.
The Parks Department agreed to share the cost of construction if James Lage Masonry and Construction and Building Solutions constructed the greenway extension. However, there was not a written contract created before work began, and city staff felt settling with the two companies was the most appropriate measure, according to the memo.
Also during Tuesday's meeting, the commission approved purchasing 12 new benches for Ellis Porter-Riverside Park for $16,951. There will be eight benches with backs and four without backs.
"When I go out in the day, I try to see who's using what trails. And I saw that one gets used all the time, but we don't have hardly any benches out there," Spalding said. "We just thought that would be a nice little thing."