Councilman Cox announces public meeting to discuss proposed athletic fields

Posted by Howard Owens on September 8, 2009 - 5:05pm
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First Ward City Councilman Bill Cox says there is growing opposition to the school district applying for a grant to develop the North Street Extension with a series of athletic fields.

To help give First Ward residents a chance to share their thoughts on the proposal, he is hosting a community meeting Saturday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 at the Salvation Army Headquarters, 529 E. Main St.

"There is growing public opposition to this development," Cox said in a statement today. "As a councilman, resident, and taxpayer, I want to present the feelings of First Ward residents and taxpayers to council at the next city council meeting. I will also share my position with our residents on this proposal during the meeting."

Doors will open at 9:15 a.m.

Posted by william tapp on September 9, 2009 - 9:32am
i got a great idea, how about stop spending money on stuff we don't need and spend some money on street repairs. the city has some of the worst street in the state i think.
don't build it if you cant keep it up.
Posted by John Roach on September 12, 2009 - 12:20pm
Counciman Cox's meeting had a lot more people there than I expected. There were about 50 or so and nobody was out and out in favor of this (one person did come a bit close).


One thing that came up was that this idea was voted on by the people of the school district a few years ago and was voted down. No means no?

Now, it appears the School Board wants to go around another public vote by asking for grants that avoid having to go to the public again. That may or not be true, I don't know. Maybe Mr. Burke, the School Board President, can clear that up.

Not one person said they believed that the tax payer will not have to pay for this someplace down the road. I think says a lot.
Posted by David Meyer on September 12, 2009 - 12:42pm
Mr. Tapp,I agree with you about the spending, but this would be the school district not the city.

That being said, as Mr. Roach correctly pointed out the school board appears to want to go around the voters and build something that the voters already rejected.

They just don't seem to get it do they? As I've said before here, the district's infrastructure is already WAY overbuilt for the number of students that they have and now they want to expand more? If those fields are built, they will have to be maintained. That will no doubt mean erecting a structure to house the equipment used to maintain them. It will also mean purchasing said equipment. It may even mean that they would have to increase staff to accomplish this maintenance. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

I say NO means NO. All this business about applying for grants is just a smoke screen. Where the hell do you think that (state) grant money comes from?? Does anyone honestly believe that if this project is undertaken that it won't affect the district's bottom line? Just like all that "free" state money that the district secured to create the overbuilt infrastructure. Those buildings have to be heated, cooled and maintained. Has your school tax bill gone down in recent years?

Kudos to Mr. Cox for bringing this issue to the fore.
Posted by Daniel Jones on September 12, 2009 - 12:55pm
Councilman Cox did the community a great service by holding this meeting. He deserves to be applauded for it.