A resolution in support of the application to the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant application was on the agenda, but Planning and Development Director Kelly Lasky said as it ended up passage of one was not required.

However, she said support of the application would still help the city in points awarded for the grant. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board has backed the initiative, she said.

City council has already verbally committed to allocate $50,000, which means the potential for $400,000 for the project should the city be awarded a Kate B. Reynolds Foundation grant and the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant.

The city has applied for $150,000 from Reynolds and is finishing an application for $200,000 from the trust fund.

Improvement plans include a splash pad and spray park for the center, which became the top priority following a stakeholder and after council determined its funding options for a new pool at Chaloner were all but exhausted.

Part of the plan includes removing the failing pool at the recreation center and replacing it with a splash pad.

Plans for the park include a new playground away from a flood-prone creek, a new shelter near the recreation center, a new shelter near where the splash pad would be and new parking. Plans also call for a walking trail and turning the existing tennis courts into multi-use courts.

Lasky told the board water features are a popular attraction. “It would be very welcomed by the city and community.”
Planning board Chair Gregory Browning said, “My thought is it would be a win-win.”

In another matter this evening the board agreed to pass on to city council a recommendation for approval of a rezoning request to rezone a .713-acre parcel of undeveloped land on Chockoyotte Street at the intersection of Fourth Avenue.

The rezoning, if approved by council, would change the parcel’s classification from B-4 commercial to R-6 residential.

The applicant is Travis Whitby, who wants to build up to three single family houses on the land which is currently owned by Vernon T. Bradley Living Trust.