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WS Minutes 2022.02.151 PRATTVILLE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2022 5:00 P.M. The Prattville City Council held a work session on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Council President Starnes and all Councilors were recorded as present with the exception of Councilors Jackson, Chambers, and Gornto. Council President Starnes declared a quorum present. *Councilor Gornto arrived in the Council Chambers at 5:41 p.m. and Councilor Chambers logged into the work session via ZOOM at 6:09 p.m. Mayor Bill Gillespie, Jr. and the Mayor’s Executive Assistant Lisa Byrd were recorded as being present, in addition to the following staff: City Engineer Robby Anderson, City Clerk Paula G. Barlow, Parks and Recreation Director Kellie Cook, Information Technology Director Jose Figueroa, Finance Director Daniel Oakley, City Attorney Andrew Odom, Assistant City Clerk Dawn Russell, Deputy Finance Director Carlee Sims, City Planner Scott Stephens, and Human Resources Director Lisa Thrash. Council President Starnes opened the work session stating the purpose was to discuss Tier 1 parks projects with a summary from Councilor Strichik, presentations by Greg Thompson (Engineers of the South) and Will Barrett (Civil Southeast LLC), and payment options discussion with Mr. Oakley. At the conclusion of the work session, the floor would be open to the public for comments. Council President Starnes turned the work session over to Councilor Strichik. Councilor Strichik advised Tier 1 parks projects included expansion and upgrades to Stanley Jensen Stadium, Pratt Park, and Newton Park. Councilor Strichik reiterated that plans were two years in the making and involved public input meetings and several work sessions. Councilor Strichik introduced Mr. Greg Thompson with Engineers of the South, to present the Newton Park project. Mr. Thompson thanked the Council for the opportunity to work with the City of Prattville. He outlined the upgrades to Newton Park to include resurfacing of the existing five (5) tennis courts, building of five (5) additional tennis courts, building four (4) pickleball courts, a new restroom building, improved asphalt parking, improved walking path, skate park, and a $50,000.00 playground allowance. Mr. Thompson stated that the layout will improve public access. The estimated cost of the project totaled $3.29 million. Mayor Gillespie commented some parts of the presentation were still concepts for discussion and some parts may or may not be included. Councilor Striplin requested clarification of the meaning of “proposed” and “future” in terms of punch list items and which were included in the estimated cost. Councilor Starnes asked about the number of softball fields that would remain. Council President Pro Tempore Boone stated she had constituents comment about wanting a skate park venue and pickleball courts. Councilor Strichik turned the work session over to Mr. Will Barrett with Civil Southeast LLC, to present the Pratt Park and Stanley Jensen Stadium projects. Mr. Barrett introduced Paxton Reese (Civil Southeast LLC) and Casey Ivy (SS&L Architects). Mr. Barrett outlined upgrades 2 to Pratt Park to include updating the playground area with new structures that will be accessible to any ability, improving festival seating to allow for a 360-degree view of surroundings, renovation of restrooms to include an adult changing station, extension of metal fencing, replacing the existing barbeque pit with a pavilion type structure for year-round use, and removal of wood mulch to be replaced with rubberized surfaces. The estimated cost of the project totaled $1.64 million. Mayor Gillespie asked if challenges in financing surfaced, would it be okay to take modules out of the renovation. Councilor Strichik asked if the artesian wells around downtown Prattville would pose a threat to construction. Mr. Barrett moved on to the Stanley Jensen Stadium plans to include keeping the current home stands but making them visitor seating, overhauling the current visitor side to make the new home stands, adding an arched entry on Doster Road, creating a new entry by the home side, adding new restrooms and concession area, south endzone structure that holds the new scoreboard and video screen with updated locker rooms, new press box, a police observation area, and new lighting system. Mr. Barrett turned over the presentation to Mr. Ivy, who went into more detail about the proposed plans. The estimated cost of the project totaled $12.82 million. Council President Pro Tempore Boone wanted the reason for the elevator in the new press box multi-purpose module to be explained. Mr. Reese stated that due to the cumulative square footage of the press box area and ADA accessibility, an elevator was mandated. Councilor Strichik advised that a major update of the stadium was more cost-effective than having to purchase land and then build the footprint and structures for a new stadium. Councilor Strichik turned the work session over to Mr. Oakley, who presented a high-view summary of financing the projects. Mr. Oakley stated he was interested in getting the financing of the Tier 1 park projects down to $10 million with an estimated $2 million safety net. He mentioned there are other tiers of projects for the Parks and Recreation Department and he did not want to tie up so much funding where future projects could not be afforded. Mr. Oakley also addressed the Autauga County Board of Education’s pledged donation of $1.7 million, debt service, depreciation, and recently renewed one-cent sales tax. Mr. Oakley felt comfortable with a bond issue of approximately $12.06 million with the balancing coming from cash on hand and American Rescue Plan Act funds. Mayor Gillespie advised he had been in contact with the Board of Education on funds for the video board and locker rooms. Mayor Gillespie mentioned that some relief funding was already allocated to fire trucks, ambulances, and the upgrade of handheld radios for the Police and Fire Departments. Councilor Striplin asked if there was a plan in place to accept alternatives in the bidding portion of the projects. Councilor Gornto arrived in the Council Chambers at 5:41 p.m. Councilor Strichik thanked the engineers and Mr. Oakley for their presentations. He also acknowledged the hard work from the Parks and Recreation Department. Councilor Strichik continued the work session with comments from persons present. There would be a three- minute time limit for each person wishing to make comments and comments could only pertain to the topic of the work session. Jon Lee Finnegan, 211 Deer Trace, requested the presentations tonight be made accessible to the public and asked if there would be more public input on the projects. Councilor Strichik advised that the City is open to any suggestions and comments and agreed that more material about the projects should be placed on the City’s social media platforms. Councilor Strichik 3 commented that he would like the package to be voted on during the first or second City Council meeting in March, so the projects could move forward. Councilor Chambers logged into the work session via ZOOM at 6:09 p.m. Diane Rolling, 119 Magnolia Drive, asked about her earlier request to place the Tier 1 parks projects presentations on the City’s website. She stated it would be beneficial for citizens. Ms. Rolling offered Mr. Oakley her recording of the Board of Education meeting. Kelly Bibb, 1005 Longfield Drive, voiced her support for the proposed Newton Park improvements. She asked how extensive the renovation of the existing tennis courts would be and if it would interfere with the school tennis season. She requested that a bottled water filling station or some sort of drinking water source be added to the plans for utilization by players. She also mentioned the existing lighting being in bad shape and a real need for additional spectator seating. Councilor Strichik advised that the proposed upgrades to Newton Park and Stanley Jensen Stadium would cause some disruption, but committed that everything possible would be done to mitigate those disruptions. Raymond Hines, 130 Guilford Lane, voiced his support for the proposed Newton Park improvements. He commented about the age of the courts and their current poor condition. With no other public comments, Councilor Strichik turned the work session over to Council President Starnes. At 6:20 p.m. Council President Starnes moved into the regular agenda of the City Council meeting. APPROVED: ___________________________ Paula G. Barlow City Clerk ___________________________ Gerald “Jerry” Starnes, President Prattville City Council SUBMITTED BY: Dawn Russell Assistant City Clerk