Events center at fairgrounds? Aquatic center?

What will (and what should) Evanston pursue if voters approve sixth penny tax?

Kayne Pyatt, Herald Reporter
Posted 12/4/19

Evanston City Council coverage for Nov. 26 meeting

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Events center at fairgrounds? Aquatic center?

What will (and what should) Evanston pursue if voters approve sixth penny tax?

Posted

EVANSTON — Brent Hatch, chair of the Uinta County Development Commission (UCEDC) was first on the agenda for last week’s Evanston City Council work session, held Tuesday. Hatch came to encourage the city to identify a specific project or projects and determine the cost for each as soon as possible. The project would be the recipient of the proceeds raised from a proposed capital facilities sixth penny tax if it is passed.

Hatch said the UCEDC had been working with George K. Baum & Company, a bonding company, and had provided an estimated timeline for the process of preparing and placing a sixth penny tax on the primary election ballot on Aug. 18, 2020. Everything would need to be finalized and the county clerk would need to be notified of the ballot addition by April 30, 2020.

“This additional penny tax would raise $1.7 million annually and tourists and visitors to the county would provide most of the revenue,” Hatch said. “It would not create a burden on local citizens. The cost of the project needs to come close to the granted dollars … [because] if there is an overage it would have to come out of the city budget.”

Hatch went on to explain that there are three choices for how the measure could be voted on: the primary election, a general election or a special election that would require additional costs. He said the primary election is the ideal format. 

Councilman David Welling said, “We don’t want to wait for the legislature to do something to help cities and counties.”

Mayor Kent Williams said the city, the UCEDC, and the county need to work together to establish the project which, he said, should be something that also benefits Bridger Valley. Williams said an events complex has been mentioned by county officials.

A lively discussion centered around two main project ideas: an aquatic center near the rec center or an events complex center placed at the fairgrounds.

“If the ballot passes, the bonding company starts to sell bonds immediately and bonds are at 2% now so the amount could be considerably more. They will be municipal bonds, which are a guaranteed revenue stream,” Hatch said.

Williams said, “I personally would like to see an events center, designed to our size, and I think it would be an opportunity to improve the fairgrounds we already have. It could be an additional source of revenue for the city with events held there winter and summer. What we need to do is identify what the priority is and I think the county is leaning towards an events center as well. We do need to get this done very soon and get some hard numbers on costs and get it to the county clerk soon.”

The mayor thanked Hatch for his presentation and said the council would work on making a decision soon. He asked council members to come up with costs and ideas and asked Evanston Parks and Recreation District Director Scott Ehlers to bring costs for the aquatic center as well and they could preview the ideas and come to a decision regarding the project they would support.

Evanston Community Development Director Rocco O’Neill next reported on the environmental assessment of the Sunset Cabins done by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). O’Neill said the EPA report showed that the cabins were contaminated with asbestos and mercury, the roofs have collapsed, and they are in a deteriorating condition. He said he provided the report to the Evanston Historic Preservation Commission, which has no future plans for the cabins and identified no revenue stream for renovating them. The commission would like to see the highway marker remain and perhaps an interpretative marker, O’Neill said. “It would be wise to include the commission on any plans for the property.”

There was discussion on how the property could be utilized as a parking lot and connected to Hamblin Park and the fairgrounds.