GAINESVILLE – The Gainesville City Council got back to work Thursday morning in the first official meeting of 2018, agreeing to move forward on a pair of resolutions.
Even before Mayor Danny Dunagan gaveled the work session to order, the conversation among council members and city staff was that 2018 looked to be an exciting year and they were anxious to get to work.
Two of the first items that will be decided at Tuesday’s voting session were given an initial okay at the work session: providing an additional $132,600 for the planned Desota Park Renovation Project; and an increase to Gainesville Police Department staffing for an additional certified police officer to serve in a School Resource Officer capacity.
Parks and Recreation Agency Director Melvin Cooper said his department only received one bid response regarding the demolition and erosion control needed to properly reconstruct the tennis and basketball courts at Desota Park.
“We had twelve contractors that we targeted,” Cooper explained. “Only three showed up for the pre-bid meeting and only one contractor bid on the project.”
Cooper was comfortable with the quality of work done by the lone bidder and asked for the additional funding. “It’s a very important project. That park hasn’t had any major work done on it in a long time and we feel like it’s beneficial to move forward with that project.”
Cooper said the additional funds would also allow for new sidewalks throughout the park and replacement of the old chain-link fencing, “with new ornamental decorative fencing.”
Cooper said if the resolution is approved for the additional work at Desota Park it would begin immediately and take 90-days to complete.
The second resolution that will be considered at Tuesday’s voting session is to provide funding for one additional School Resource Officer.
Gainesville Police Chief Carol Martin told council members, “Dr. (Jeremy) Williams from the city school board approached me a couple of months ago to increase our SROs from four to five.”
“With that they agreed to increase their funding from a 75-25 percent match to a 80-20 percent match,” Martin explained. “When you consider the numbers and the percentages it all equals out.”
Martin said GPD has funding in FY18 to accommodate Williams’ request, but additional funding for the extra position would need to be added for the FY19 budget. FY19 budget development begins later this month.
“There’s more schools to cover so there’s a lot more coverage we need to do,” Martin said.
A vote on these two resolutions will happen Tuesday, January 9, at 5:30 p.m. in the Gainesville Justice Center on Queen City Parkway.
