The city of Newberry will invest $2 million into critical infrastructure needs at Champions Park and hold public workshops to cast a long-term vision for its recreational facility usage.
City Manager Jordan Marlowe requested the item before the City Commission during a regular meeting on Monday. The motion passed unanimously, 5-0.
The funds will be reallocated from a pending court expansion project at Easton-Newberry Sports Complex. A few years ago, Marlowe said the commission allotted $6 million towards building new courts at the facility using $5 million from Wild Spaces and Public Places and $1 million from the American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Because the expansion only allowed for two courts, the project is on hold until more funding can be accounted for.
Marlowe suggested that until the city decides on a direction for the court project, $2 million of the complex’s funds could be used towards more immediate and litigious liabilities at Champions Park, such as uneven sidewalks and backstop netting at the baseball fields.
Even though the city has already started taking care of some of the sidewalk concerns and will have all 16 baseball nets replaced by July, Marlowe said projects like fixing the water pressure and fans in bathrooms still need to be addressed.
Commissioner Mark Clark said that since Champions Park is a major economic driver for not just the city but also Alachua County, he’d like more funding from the county to help maintain it.
Knowing that the county is out of money for this year, Marlowe said he intended to present a five-year plan to make sure Newberry is first in line when the county starts reallocating tourist and federal tax dollars within the next year or two.
“Champions Park has been the second largest driver of heads and beds in Alachua County for maybe six years running,” Marlowe said. “We put over $100 million back into Alachua County through this park, so it is doing what it needs to do. As we bring it back into our fold, back into our control, it’s time for us to enhance it, make it better, keep those kids coming back.”
The commission also voted Monday to establish a Mayor’s Youth Council to help promote community engagement and empower the city’s youth to engage directly with local government.
Five 11th through 12th grade members and two ninth through 10th grade alternates enrolled in Newberry public, private or homeschool programs will comprise the entity, which was first approved last July.
The commission will make the council’s initial appointments, where two one-year terms and three two-year terms will expire and be reappointed annually. Each youth commissioner will have one vote per agenda item.
On top of regular meetings with the mayor to share ideas and address concerns, the mayor, or a designee, will oversee the council’s regular meetings, which are subject to Florida Sunshine Law.
Council representative and Newberry High School incoming junior Anna McGehee said she hopes the council can create programs at elementary schools to help children, as well as at the new Veterans Memorial Park to support veterans throughout the year.
Mayor Tim Marden said they discussed building a community calendar that could communicate youth council events with the public and create summer internships with the city for incoming high school juniors and seniors.
“This was all in a vision of kind of building a bench for us,” Marden said. “We’re not going to be here forever [so to] kind of have other people that can take ownership of some of these pieces, I think it’s great. I fully support it.”
Marden also said he intends to hold roundtable discussions where anyone interested in starting or leading a new group can meet with him to get the ball rolling on establishing it. He told Mainstreet he hopes to hold the discussions quarterly.
The contract for city clerk applicant Randa Paul was unanimously approved Monday. The commission officially nominated Paul, who is a real estate agent and was the city’s only internal applicant, during the June 9 regular meeting.
According to additional meeting documents, the contract allocates $75,000 as a starting annual salary for the charter officer role with regular city retirement and insurance benefits.
A 2.5% salary increase is available in the first and second years following the successful completion of approved education or certification programs. A 3% salary increase could be granted in the third year following the completion of a final approved program.
If she accepts the position, Paul will assume city clerk duties following current City Clerk Judy Rice’s retirement in September.