Charles City Parks & Rec Board sees new skate park in next year’s plans

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Members of the Charles City Parks and Recreation Board decided at their monthly meeting this week to make some needed repairs to city park facilities next fiscal year, paint the Wildwood Golf Course clubhouse and use any funds left over from the board’s annual city hotel/motel tax allotment to finally build a new skatepark.

Other big-ticket items on the board’s radar are new playground equipment for one or more city parks and a splashpad.

Parks & Rec Department Director Tyler Mitchell and the board members have been working on setting priorities for a couple of months, getting ready for Mitchell to make his annual budget pitch to the City Council before the council starts its budget work for the fiscal year that will begin July 1, 2024.

After going through several updated costs for various projects, Parks & Rec Board Chair Jeff Otto said his priorities would be to replace the roofs on a couple of ball diamond dugouts, fix two shelter house roofs, paint the clubhouse, then add whatever is left over to money already set aside for a skate park.

Mitchell had set the price of the dugout roof replacements at Lions Field Park at $6,000 total, the cost of one shelter roof each at Lions Field and Wildwood at $10,000 total, and the cost of painting the clubhouse at $18,000.

The roof replacement cost could be less if volunteer labor or city staff or even a high school trade class could help with the project, it was suggested.

The board gets about $50,000 to $60,000 annually as its share of the city’s hotel/motel tax, a tax added to the charge for each room of lodging booked in Charles City. The tax is 7% for the city and 5% for the state.

Spending about $34,000 on the roofs and painting Wildwood clubhouse would leave roughly $25,000 from the hotel/motel tax. Added to $20,000 that the Parks & Rec Board has already set aside for a skate park, plus $5,000 that the Lions Club has pledged toward a skate park, and about $50,000 could be available.

Dipping a little into previous hotel-motel tax funds that have been set aside for emergencies could come up with the $55,000 to $60,000 that a new skate park would cost, including $20,000 to $25,000 for a new cement pad and about $35,000 for skate features such as ramps and rails.

The board has been talking about a new skate park for several years, ever since the skate park near the swimming pool was dismantled after its features – largely made out of wood – had deteriorated to the point where they were unsafe.

Phoebe Pittman, the City Council liaison to the Parks & Rec Board, suggested finishing a skate park then starting fundraising for playground equipment. She said it would likely be easier to raise funds for a playground, especially if it was built to be all-inclusive.

Board member Scott Nolte said if the board built a skatepark then it would have something to point to, showing what it can accomplish and using that to raise funds for other projects.

One of the first things the board will need to do if it wants to build a skate park is settle on a location. While various spots have been considered, most members have expressed support for an area the city owns east of Brantingham Bridge up a ways from the Cedar River, on land the city acquired in federal flood plain purchases after the 2008 flood.

Also at the meeting, Mitchell presented the final usage and financial numbers for the year’s swimming pool and Wildwood Golf Course seasons.

The pool season ran May 29 to Aug. 12, allowing for 73 days it could have been open. The pool was closed 13 of those days – six because of weather, four because of staff shortages and three for pool repairs. Nine other days the pool closed early because of staff shortages.

Attendance was down significantly from previous years, Mitchell said. Total attendance for the season was 8,965, with an average daily attendance of 85. That compares to a total of 12,550 and an average of 114 daily in 2022, and 12,217 total and 182 daily average in 2021.

Even so, income increased this year, largely due to revenue from a concession stand which was added this year. Total expenses were down, largely because of a new chemical regulator that is saving on chemical costs.

Total loss for the pool this year was about $39,075, down from $44,140 in 2022 and $43,048 in 2021. Most municipal swimming pools lose money, and are considered a public service provided for the community.

Mitchell said Wildwood made money for the second year in a row, even after all expenses and salaries were paid. He said the season could have been much more profitable if it hadn’t been so dry in August, forcing the course to be shut down for significant periods and to cancel a couple of golf tournaments.

The course earned $2,504 this year, compared with earning $3,509 last year. In 2021 the course lost $3,015, which is more typical of municipal courses.

Tyler also told the board he will make the official request at a City Council workshop meeting Wednesday, Nov. 29, for the city to borrow up to $910,000 to repair the outdoor pool at Lions Field Park.

That is the amount the City Council can borrow on its own authority without asking voters to approve issuing bonds, and is expected to cover the costs of repairing many significant problems with the 33-year-old pool.

The repairs and updates would include pool floor and wall expansion joint repair, gutter low point repair, gutter handhold replacement and/or repair, gutter crack repair, surge tank and plunge pool leak-proofing, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance work.

Repairs to the mechanical system would include updated piping and/or location for the recirculation pump, filter replacement, chlorine system replacement, an acid system addition for the new chlorination system and variable frequency drive installation on the pumps so they can be run at different speeds as demand requires.

The City Council could make a decision on the funding request at the next regular meeting after the workshop.

City Council member Pittman and Mayor Dean Andrews both said at the Parks & Rec Board meeting that they are confident the council will approve the request.