Minutes 2021-10-26 Work Session1
PRATTVILLE CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION MINUTES
TUESDAY, October 26, 2021
5:30 P.M.
The Prattville City Council held a W ork Session on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. in
the Council Chambers at City Hall.
Council President Starnes announced the Work Session was to discuss the three items on the
agenda from the previous Council meeting on October 19, 2021, concerning Parks and
Recreation.
The Work Session was called to order by Council President Starnes and all Councilors were
present. Will Barrett, Engineer, Civil Southeast; Greg Thompson, Engineer, Engineers of the
South; Kellie Cook, Parks and Recreation Director; and Daniel Oakley Finance Director were
also present to answer questions from the Council.
Council President Starnes noted that he would turn over the Work Session to Councilor Strichik
to discuss the items. He advised once Council Strichik concluded with the W ork Session then
he would open the floor up to the public for any comments concerning only the items discussed.
He advised this time was for comments only and not feedback. This would give the Councilors
the opportunity to hear the concerns from citizens to consider when reviewing the items over
the next week. The meeting will end with closing comments from the Mayor and Council.
Council President Starnes turned the Work Session over to Councilor Strichik.
Councilor Strichik gave an overview of the projects.
Each Councilor was given the opportunity to ask their questions and receive answers from
those in attendance.
Councilor Striplin addressed the tennis courts' seating, costs of new versus a remodel of the
stadium, other locations for the stadium and financing beyond the useful life of the projects.
Councilor Chambers addressed cost-sharing with the Autauga County Board of Education.
Council President Starnes advised he has been a member of the Parks and Recreation
committee for eight years and they have been kicking the can down the road on the stadium.
He stated he thinks the stadium should be built at the high school but either way, it was time to
set aside politics and get the stadium remodeled.
Councilor Gornto addressed partnerships and bond issues and how would these projects affect
the McQueen Smith Road project.
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Council President Pro Tempore Boone advised she would like to see some partnerships come
into play to get the amenities and wants over the necessities done to the facilities. She stated
all projects need to be completed whether scaled back on the amenities or not and that the
Council needed to come up with a number and see what the City could get completed with that
number. She understood that changes to the plans cost money and suggested the City do the
plans as need(s) of the projects and add wants at the end. Council President Pro Tempore
Boone agreed that the stadium could be built at a different location but advised she did not
think it was a good idea to build at the high school. She envisions the high school getting big
enough to split and this could cause a problem with one school having a stadium and another
not.
Daniel Oakley stated all three projects totaled around 16 million and that he would like to see
it around 13 million from a finance standpoint. Receiving 2 million from the BOE partnership for
the locker rooms, paying approximately 1 million in cash, and then finance the remaining 10
million.
Councilor Jackson asked what the necessities were for the stadium.
Will Barrett, advised the grandstands, press box, locker rooms, ticket booths and restrooms
were the necessities.
Councilor Gornto asked if passed, how long would it take for the stadium to be complete.
Will Barret advised the estimated time was August 2023 but that was when they were to be in
contract by October but subsequently, he felt the firm could still meet the deadline.
Jon Lee Finnegan, 211 Deer Trace, advised the Work Session was helpful but she was worried
about the economy and if the City could afford these projects. She wanted to have input into
choosing the designs and thinks another location for the stadium would be better.
Harris Vance, Cardinal Lane, advised that the City needed to plan for the future and to go
bigger than what was needed but not too big.
Tim Tidmore, Autauga County Board of Education, 153 West Fourth Street, advised the
Autauga County Board of Education was committed to partnering with the City of Prattville to
make sure the stadium improvements go forward.
Diane Rolling, 119 Magnolia Drive, advised that she wanted to make sure that the
improvements to Pratt Park did not include taking away the pool area. She asked what
happened to the discounts and cost savings that were discussed during the July 30th meeting.
Patrick Lucas, 211 Caliber Xing, advised he was in favor of the stadium but wanted to know
why this was in question since MacGray 2.0 costs more than this. He advised that the games
at the stadium bring in a lot of money. He stated that the City needs to invest money back into
our kids.
Council President Pro Tempore Boone replied that the money that is brought in at the stadium
(entry fees, parking and concessions) do not come to the City, but go to the Autauga County
Board of Education through their groups i.e. quarterback club, boosters, etc.
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Coach J.P. Wallace, Prattville High School, 1240 Conestoga Wagon Trail, advised the locker
rooms were not big enough for the whole team (approximately 120 kids) and that some kids
had to gather in a tent outside. He stressed the need to upgrade the Stanley Jensen Stadium
facility.
With no other persons wishing to address the Council, Council President Starnes asked if the
Mayor and Councilors had comments they wanted to share.
The Mayor thanked all and stressed the need for partnerships to ensure the wants/needs could
happen.
Councilor Chambers addressed the comments of him not attending the Work Session on July
30, 2021, and stated that he was out of state and was unable to attend but he did attempt to
view the zoom and youtube video recording, but the audio was not good quality and he was
unable to hear. He said the email responses to his questions and tonight were helpful and he
saw the need to move forward with the projects.
Councilor Strichik thanked Daniel Oakley and Kellie Cook for all of their work and for the good
dialect from the other Councilors. He felt this was a good W ork Session and it was time to
move forward.
ADJOURN:
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 7:07
p.m.
APPROVED:
___________________________
Paula G. Barlow
City Clerk
___________________________
Gerald “Jerry” Starnes, President
Prattville City Council