Recreation center headed for ballot?

Park board to decide at special January meeting

John Shank
Posted 12/16/18

Commissioners looking to build 80,000 square-foot complex in two phases.

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Recreation center headed for ballot?

Park board to decide at special January meeting

Posted

ROCHELLE — A special meeting is planned for Monday, Jan. 7 when Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District commissioners will decide whether to place a binding referendum for a new recreation center on the April election ballot.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the board discussed several options to consider regarding the funding options for building a community recreation facility at the Helms South property adjacent to Walgreens, including what type of bonds could be used and how much money to ask for in the proposition.

Design plans call for an 80,000 square-foot facility to be built in two phases, with phase one consisting of a fitness center, a large multi-purpose turf area, a large gymnasium complex and several other smaller gathering spaces. The cost of phase one is estimated at approximately $11 million.

Phase two would include the addition of a $3 million competitive indoor swimming complex at a later date.

Originally, park board commissioners discussed the possibility of using alternate revenue bonds to pay for the project. However, with this method, if residents were to petition the board for those bonds to be put on a ballot, it would delay getting the referendum on the ballot until 2020.

Park officials are now considering using general obligation bonds and putting a referendum directly on the ballot in 2019, asking for an amount between $11 million to $14 million.

“The risk of waiting until 2020 is that construction bids could be much higher,” explained park district financial adviser Tom Chapman. “By going with general obligation bonds, you can get it on the ballot this spring.”

Several members of the public spoke during Monday night’s meeting, some who want to see the park district leaders move forward with a recreation center, and others who want to make sure voters have a say.

Former park district commissioner Christa Seebach and her husband, Jerry, both addressed the board and handed over a petition of 116 signatures asking the park district to put the matter to referendum.

“Have you thought about applying for grants and private donations to help fund this?” Christa Seebach asked, while Jerry Seebach urged the board to allow the voters to decide if they want to support a recreation center.

Richard Overby told the board that Rochelle definitely needs a recreation center to improve quality of life.

“It’s long overdue here,” Overby stated. “Rochelle needs this and you board members have been elected to make those decisions, so go ahead with it.”

John Kaminski presented another petition with 39 signatures asking for a referendum. He said he is concerned about the total amount of taxes from all local public taxing bodies, and pointed out that Rochelle is not an affluent community and fears overall tax burdens will strap many households.

“Be careful of having tunnel vision just in your area,” he stated. “I can see why a rec center is hugely attractive, but you have to take into consideration the community’s entire tax obligations.”

Henry Bunger runs the Rochelle Youth Basketball Association, and he said a recreation center would help his group and also improve home values.

“We had larger numbers of players this year and a recreation center would be huge for us, because we could play multiple games and accommodate the growing numbers,” he said. “Plus, when you talk about raising taxes about $6 per month on most homeowners, that’s not a lot of money considering their home values will go up because we have this facility.”

Jeff White pleaded with the board to put the issue on a binding referendum.

“I don’t know how you are going to pay for all of this, but if it’s so great have a vote,” he urged. “Put it on a ballot.”

Dale Meyers suggested the board build the pool as part of the initial phase.
“I think it’s a great idea, but I don’t think you are building it big enough,” he said. “You need to incorporate a pool right off the bat.”

After the public comment portion of the meeting, Chapman told the board members they needed to make a decision by Jan. 14 in order for the proposition to be added to the April 2 ballot.

The commissioners decided on Jan. 7, but will announce a location and time in the coming days.