Lincoln Park District seeks deeds to four city owned parks

 

[December 02, 2019] 

At the Tuesday night Committee of the Whole of the Lincoln City Council, Lincoln Park District Executive Director John Andrews approached the council with a request to deed over certain city parks to the park district.

Andrews is asking for the deeds to the properties so that the park district may apply for grants for park improvements. Tuesday evening he explained that there are grants available to park districts for such improvements but the improvements can only be made to property owned by the district.

Andrews pointed out that the park district is already maintaining the Lincoln city parks and has done so for the past 30 years or more. He said that they handle all the lawn care and repairs, and also field complaints about the local parks because most people do not know that the park district is not the actual owner.

He said that one good point would be that the city would be free of all liability for all the parks. He said that the park district and city have never had an intergovernmental agreement on the limits of liability for each entity, so transferring ownership would be to everyone’s advantage.

He also mentioned the grants, saying that the park district has done a lot with the parks they do own and are now in a position to do more in other parks in town. He mentioned that grants could be won for things like splash pads in certain parks.

Andrews made his presentation brief, and the floor was then opened for discussion. Kevin Bateman was the first to speak saying that he did think it was a good idea, but also had a few concerns.

Primarily, Bateman wondered about the use of city parks by organizations for festivals and such. He said that for example the Railsplitter Festival uses Postville Park. What would happen for those people?

Andrews said that the Lincoln Park District has always been supportive of the community and community events. He felt that anyone who wished to utilize the park would be given the same consideration they are given by the city. He said that there are already groups that use parks under the park district jurisdiction, such as the car show at Memorial Park.

Andrews noted that the city does not have a budget for park improvements so nothing is being done to make the parks better. He said that winning grants would make a significant difference.

Steve Parrott asked if Andrews was asking for all the city owned parks. Andrews said he was asking specifically for Melrose, Mayfair, Postville and Ray White. The Apex Park on Eighth Street had been mentioned by Bateman earlier. Andrews said that the park district board had not considered Eighth Street because that property was gifted to the city by Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. He said he wasn’t sure how the hospital would feel about the city giving the property away, and the park district did not want to cause a problem. At the same time, he added that if the hospital was on board with the idea, the park district would certainly work with them for the future development of that park.

It was then noted by the city that Apex while called a park in conversations is not actually designated as a city park.

Sam Downs asked about projects that are currently underway. He noted that the Lincoln Rotary is working to raise funding for a wheelchair swing for disabled youth. He wondered if the park district would still go along with that swing being installed in Postville Park. Andrews said the park district would absolutely support that.

Downs then asked if the park district would have access to other grants that would do more ADA accessible play areas in the city parks. Andrews said that yes, there were grants that could be applied for and the park district would pursue those grants.

Andrews said that the state issues $30 million per year in grants, but it is a “process” to earn one. There are no guarantees that the Lincoln Park District would win grants right away, it could take time for those awards to come.

Jeff Hoinacki asked city attorney John Hoblit for input on how to go about transferring the deeds. Hoblit said that the city could issue the deeds as ‘gifts’ to the park district. He added that his largest concern would be for the future of the park district and what would happen to the parks if the park district were to dissolve. He recommended that there be some type of return policy or ‘right to first refusal’ on the return of the property. He said he would do more research on the topic.

Andrews did note that the park district cannot sell property and cannot swap properties. He said it could accept the properties as gifts from the city.

Tracy Welch asked about the creation of a dog park as part of the park districts improvement plan. He noted that a committee had gone to the park district and their requests were not well received. Welch added that he was not criticizing the park district, because the city was also unable to accommodate the committee’s request. Welch wondered if the park district would be willing to go forward with a dog park.

Andrews said that a dog park was a possibility. He said that in discussions at the office, his program coordinator, Abigail O’Brien, has already talked about the need for a dog park. Andrews said that the best way to do a dog park though would require a good amount of space because there should be two designated areas and the areas should be rotated annually. He said that one area would be utilized for a year, then closed and the second area opened. The closed area would then need to be cleaned up and reseeded. He said a dog park would get torn and worn and the rotation would provide a nice park one year at a time.

City Treasurer Chuck Conzo also spoke, noting that the Apex while not officially designated as a park, had been listed on certain tax exempt documents as “intended for a future park.” He also asked about All Veterans Park on Union Street, and Andrews said the park district could add that one to the list if the city chose.

At the end of the discussion, there were no action items placed on the voting agenda regarding this request. There is further research that needs to be done before an informed decision can be made by the council.

However, the council is in favor of exploring the request. Andrews said he had come to the council at this time, because there are grants that can be applied for in June. He wanted to give the council ample time to decide and still have ample time to apply for grants if the decisions are in favor on the transfers.

[Nila Smith]