Benny Westcott
As Sweet Home’s City Council members discussed the budget for this year’s capital improvement plan during a Feb. 16 special work session at City Hall, Councilor Diane Gerson urged her colleagues to take a more proactive stance than past councils on funding projects that would benefit the community.
“This council, for a long time before any of us were on it, kicked the can down the road so that nothing got done,” she said. “Now we have an opportunity to get some things done that we want to get done, and the community is growing.
“I don’t think we can stand still here. This is something that I think we all have a passion for – making the community livable.”
Councilor Lisa Gourley echoed her sentiment that livability should be a focus of the discussions.
“Our goal is to make Sweet Home as livable as possible, and to make this wonderful gem that we have shine as much as possible,” she said.
Gerson and Gourley were joined in attendance by Mayor Greg Mahler and councilors Susan Coleman, Dylan Richards, Angelita Sanchez and Dave Trask at the meeting, the purpose of which was to discuss the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.
The plan, presented to the council by city Finance Director Brandon Neish, lays out the proposed budget for various projects concerning the library, police department, parks, community and economic development, water, wastewater, stormwater, and streets. The plan outlines what sums of money the city plans to budget for projects in these various categories all the way through the year 2026.
The plan is reviewed by the council every year, so ideas outlined on the spreadsheet for five years out are by no means set in stone.
Park Improvements
One of the more lengthy topics of discussion at the meeting was how much funding should go to certain public parks, and which specific projects at those parks the funding should pay for.
The consensus among council members was that funding should be directed toward Sankey Park first, before other parks are improved.
“I really want to see Sankey Park completed first,” said Councilor Trask. “And I think the Parks Board wants to do that too.”
Some specific upgrades for Sankey listed in the capital improvement plan include constructing a bathroom, table and benches in upper Sankey Park, improving the playground and BMX track, and constructing a path connection to 16th Avenue and Fir Street.
Weighing in on how upgrades to the BMX track was near the top of the list of planned improvements for Sankey Park, Gourley said “I actually seriously question putting a BMX park at the top of Sankey Park, when how many people are going to utilize that?”
Trask spoke to the popularity of the BMX area.
“I was never a big fan, necessarily, of the BMX track,” he said. “But I didn’t realize how many people use it. I don’t go up there and see it, but I hear it from people.”
Mahler chimed in as well.
“I was a little surprised at how many people actually use the BMX track,” he said. “When you look at our community as a whole, you don’t have really a lot of activities for our younger generation.”
With this in mind, Mahler suggested that the track should be bumped up in the city’s priorities a bit.
Mahler also said he’s had quite a few citizens ask him about potentially building a dog park at Sankey, and city staff added that idea to the park’s improvement plan.
While the city’s parks master plan calls for a shift of funding focus to Strawberry Park after Sankey, several councilors felt that Northside Park, at the north end of 9th Avenue, should receive attention before Strawberry, located at the south end of Westwood Lane.
“After Sankey Park I would suggest focusing on Northside Park, because that’s low-hanging fruit. It’s not going to cost as much as Strawberry Park,” said Coleman.
Gourley agreed, saying of Northside Park “everyone knows where it’s at. They know that it’s not cared for the way that it should be.”
Gourley, who grew up in Sweet Home, went on to say, “I had to literally drive down and find Strawberry Park. I didn’t even know it was here. I feel like it’s a little more exclusive. If I lived in that neighborhood, maybe I’d feel different.”
In the capital improvement plan, it is noted that the drainage system at Strawberry Park ought to be improved. Gourley suggested taking a different approach to the park.
“I’m wondering if, instead of draining it, maybe we need to rethink what a park looks like, and focus on the vegetation and the experience there in a different way, drawing in birds and butterflies and that kind of thing,” she said.
Storm Runoff,
Street Improvements
Discussing the topic of stormwater, the council entertained the idea of raising rates for citizens in order to curb detrimental effects of excessive rain and snowmelt, including sandbagging and runoff.
“We’ve had flooding. We’ve had a lot of rain and a lot of problems,” said Gourley. “We’re talking about neighborhoods flooding. And it’s not OK for this to be going on at the rate that it is.”
Stormwater rates haven’t been increased since 2008.
The council also reviewed budgeted figures for a number of street improvement projects, something that Public Works Director Greg Springman said is vital.
“We’re so far behind on streets,” he said.
Neish, after hearing the council’s input, said he plans on updating the capital improvement budget plan to present to the council for further review at a later meeting.