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City green lights park improvements after all
3/25/2015 10:25:06 AM

By Craig Howard
Splash Contributor 

From obscure acronyms to traditional terms that date back to colonial times, municipal government appears at times to have a language of its own. 

On Tuesday, the Liberty Lake City Council dipped into the lexicon of the golf course next door to City Hall as it met for an old-fashioned mulligan. 

The do-over at the dais consisted of two votes on funding proposals that had failed the previous week. With Mayor Pro Tem Cris Kaminskas absent due to illness, initiatives that would have funded improvements at Pavillion Park and construction of a restroom at the Liberty Lake Ballfields each resulted in 3-3 gridlocks, negating both projects.

The only way an initiative can be brought back is when a council member on the prevailing side opts to make a motion for a re-vote. That happened on Tuesday as Council Member Keith Kopelson made the motion to bring back the restroom project while Council Member Odin Langford revived the Pavillion Park discussion.   

"Although I do feel that the right decision was made, I was troubled that we lacked a full council vote," Kopelson said. 

On Tuesday, with a complete council weighing in, both projects earned approval. The restrooms garnered six of seven votes with only Kopelson in the minority while the refurbishing of Pavillion Park earned a narrower victory with Kaminskas and Council Members Dan Dunne, Shane Brickner and Hugh Severs carrying the measure.  

In February, council agreed by a 4-3 vote to endorse a budget amendment for an expansion of the women's restroom, additional storage space, improved power connections and a permanent concession stand at Pavillion Park as well as a restroom at the ballfields. When approval of the contract for the restroom and the second read ordinance on a budget amendment for the park upgrades appeared on the March 17 council agenda, many figured both votes were shoo-ins.  

The restroom – consisting of just over $67,000 for the building, nearly $40,000 for installation and a $5,300 contingency – raised concerns from Kopelson again on Tuesday, specifically regarding the lack of a bidding process. The installation work was written up for the city's on-call contractor, Peplinski Construction.  

"I'm not comfortable with that," Kopelson said. "We're talking about a lot of money and, basically, our on-call contractor can say whatever they want and value it."

Allen said later that putting such a project out to bid would mean additional costs to the city, including design documents from each bidder. 

Kopelson also expressed apprehension with adding another amenity to the fields when the city may not own the property in the future. The city purchased the land from the Central Valley School District for a symbolic $10 with the understanding that the district could buy back the 20-acre plot back and reimburse the city for any renovations made under its ownership. Passage of a $121.9 million construction bond on Feb. 10 means CVSD will build a K-2 school on the land, although Allen has indicated there is room for both the ballfields and a school.   

"Had we known it was possible within the next year to undo all of this, I don't think we would have voted for the ballfields," Kopelson said. "I'm completely against doing anything financially until we have a solid agreement with the school district as far as reimbursement." 

Allen said she has spoken with CVSD Superintendent Ben Small who told her that "the district is not in the business of maintaining ballfields" and would consider having the city maintain ownership of the site even after purchasing the remaining acreage to build a new school. 

A workshop is scheduled for the April 21 council meeting in which the governing board will discuss the future of the ballfields and potential conversations with CVSD.

"I want to know what options you are interested in," Allen said. "There have been no negotiations to this point."

Council Member Bob Moore said he didn't anticipate the district buying back the ballfields. 

"I don't know what the motivation is for them to buy it back," Moore said. "They need part of the property to build a new school. I don't think they want the ballfields. They are something we paid for. We've invested over $1 million already. I think it's in our best interest to approve the restroom right now." 

Severs encouraged his colleagues to consider the value of the venue to the community.  

"Regardless of what happens with Central Valley, this is a pretty awesome amenity for our city," he said. "The community put a lot of work into this. It will need bathrooms whatever the district decides."

Severs applauded city staff for reducing the original cost of the ballfields restroom to clear space for the upgrades at Pavillion Park. Earlier this year, council approved an additional $245,000 for the ballfields. City staff's subsequent reduction of the restroom project to $136,000 cleared funding space for the proposed work at Pavillion Park. The new total of $388,000 still required a budget amendment of $143,000. All funds are to be taken from the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) fund, reserved for capital facilities.

Kaminskas pointed out that, unlike construction of a permanent restroom, rental of portable bathroom facilities "would be sunk costs the city won't get back."  

Jennifer Tomlinson, a Liberty Lake resident who led the campaign for baseball diamonds, spoke in favor of the project on Tuesday, emphasizing that no one she has spoken to supports the idea of portable restrooms. 

"I just want to thank you so much for bringing this topic up for vote again," she said. "We need a permanent restroom. Your constituents think it's the right thing to do."  

Tomlinson added that if the vote failed, she would put together a group of contractors that would address the project. She told council that $5,000 had already been raised for the work. 

"If you can't do it, I can," she said. 

Allen said based on a typical construction schedule, the restroom would likely be in place by late June or early July, meaning portable commodes would be in place until then.

The discussion on Pavillion Park drew debate from both sides, starting with Moore, who said he backed the upgrades but not the budgeting process.  

"I'm in favor of all the improvements," Moore said. "My objection is that it really wasn't budgeted for initially. I'm concerned about excess amendments to the budget. It makes the budget irrelevant. We started on the budget last August, and we're still amending it." 

Moore added that there are certain understandable exceptions for amendments such as the repair of the roof at the library and police station last April.

Kopelson also expressed concern with the preponderance of amendments, adding that "if it's something that's important to talk about it and make sure we put the right building in. Piece-mealing it together is not the answer." 

"Although this project might have merit, it certainly wasn't an emergency two months after the budget was approved," Kopelson said. "It's not worthy of a budget amendment at this point."

Dunne said he appreciated the opportunity to add improvements "that would match, in a very small way, the efforts of Friends of Pavillion Park," the grassroots group that brings entertainment to the greenspace each summer.   

"The work of our community volunteers and, specifically those with Friends of Pavillion Park, is epic," Dunne said. 

Referring to council's vote to delete the $85,000 proposed expenditure for the concession stand from Mayor Steve Peterson's preliminary 2015 budget in December, Kopelson made a motion to remove the concession stand from the latest budget amendment. Before the vote on the revamped funding, Allen noted that the change would likely present construction challenges with a wall and the roof of the renovated women's restroom.

The vote to remove the concession stand failed by a 4-3 count.  

Allen said a very optimistic timeline would be to have the project complete by early July. The city hopes to have the contract awarded at its April 21 meeting. 

Update on opening of ballfields
Prior to the two funding discussions, Allen provided an update on the readiness of the ballfields. With the practice and game schedule just around the corner, the city is still trying to address certain problems, such as pesky puddles. 

Allen told council that the contractor on the project would be in Liberty Lake on Friday "to remediate that area of all standing water." City maintenance crews have been working to address the lack of drainage on the grounds in preparation for the first scheduled practice on April 2. The inaugural game at the site is set for April 14. 

"I know we're in the home stretch, the 50-yard dash, with these fields," Allen said.

Jennifer Camp, parks and open space superintendent, told council that the maintenance crew has a goal of April 1 for the site to be playable. One of the main strategies will be to add a layer of soil as well as a red clay particle to condition the now muddy infields. 

"The fields are definitely not ready right now," Camp said. "There's going to be a lot of work being done this week." 

Camp said the infield conditioner should arrive in the next few days. She added that while the warmer than usual winter has brought an earlier recreation season, "the vendors have not caught up yet."

Allen said the city has been working to calibrate the fields based on the various teams and age levels that will utilize the grounds. She said baselines and distances between the pitching mound and home plate have now been mapped out with the necessary adjustments in the turf and infield. 

"We had to make modifications that were not the responsibility of the contractor," she said. "Every league has different distances."

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