GAINESVILLE – Fiscal Year 2021 should be a boom year for Gainesville Parks and Recreation.
FY2021 begins in about three-and-a-half months, on July 1, and according to an energetic budget presentation made Thursday morning to the Gainesville City Council by Parks and Recreation Director Kate Mattison, FY2021 should be a time of long-awaited and much-needed investment.
Pointing at a list of park department projects planned for FY2021 displayed on a video monitor at the city council’s work session, Mattison said, “You can see FY21 is a long list; we’re going to be busy.”
Included on that list are:
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Construction of the Youth Sports Complex, also known as “The Coop”
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Midtown Greenway improvements
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Renovations to the Gainesville Civic Center
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Installation of newly designed park signage at all facilities
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Design of an outdoor pool at the Frances Meadows Aquatic Center
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Updating the fitness center at Frances Meadows Aquatic Center
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Renovations to existing restrooms and construction of new restroom at Wessell Park
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Playground improvements
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Purchase of park maintenance equipment and vehicles
Parks and Recreation Board of Directors Vice-chairman Chris Romberg sat with Mattison during her presentation and said 2021 would be a year of significant investment into Gainesville’s parks.
“We’re playing catch-up now,” Romberg began. “We’ve kind of operated in recession-mode for the past twelve years or so, and we’ve got a lot of catching-up to do; so it is a big budget and it’s a little bit scary, but I’m excited to see the things that are about to happen.”
The cost of all the planned projects for FY2021 is over $10-million according to Mattison. “So we have major capital (cost) total of $10.3-million for FY21, but $8.55-million of that is SPLOST funds.”
The remaining $1.75-million needed for the list of park projects above will come from the department’s $7.68-million annual operating budget.
While the dollar amounts might sound high to many, Mattison says Gainesville Parks and Recreation is fiscally responsible. “We cover 32-percent of our operating expenses through our fees and charges, so a 32-percent cost recovery rate…well above the national average of 28-percent, and we stayed under budget (to date in FY20), which is always a good thing.”
Mattison added that Parks and Recreation events had a major impact in the past year that trickles into the local economy. “We generated about $17-million in economic impact towards the local economy.”
Councilman George Wangemann agreed that Parks and Recreation is a major contributor to the overall welfare of the city. “This is a very important part of our city operations because it addresses quality of life.”
