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Paradise wants $80,000 from RAPZ tax fund for work on park

February 24th, 2013 Posted in Opinion

By Dawn Otterby

PARADISE — The Town Council will ask the Recreation, Arts, Parks and Zoos tax fund for $80,000 this year, and put any money received toward a new town park.

Jason Summers, the Paradise resident who has been overseeing the project, attended the meeting Feb. 20 to update the council. “I don’t know that it really matters,” said Summers in reference to the dollar amount the council decided to ask for. “I don’t think we’ll get more than we’ve been getting.”

Located at 9500 S. Highway 165, the new facility is currently under construction. Once completed, the park will include three soccer fields, two baseball diamonds, two riding arenas and a playground.

RAPZ tax fund applications must by submitted by March 1. According to Cache County this will be the fifth year Paradise has applied for funding for the new multipurpose park. Starting in 2004, Paradise received $17,730 to begin work on the equestrian portion of the space. The town received another $80,000 to continue work in 2005. In 2011, after a four-year break, Paradise was given $30,000 for the equestrian space and to begin work on the park’s sports complex. Using the $25,000 that Paradise was issued in 2012, the town finished the equestrian park and continued to work on the infrastructure.

Council members also discussed required maintenance and operational costs associated with the new park.

“What’s unfortunate about RAPZ tax and impact fees is that those are for new growth, new projects,” Mayor Leland Howlett said, “but they don’t cover reoccurring costs.”

The council is currently debating how to get water to the park, control dust caused by the arena and fund the park once it is open. Several ideas were considered but no official decisions were made.

In other business the council:

  •  signed checks totaling $14,111.15.
  • reminded citizens of the dog clinic, which will take place March 1 from 10 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
  • announced that two council positions and the mayorship will be up for reelection in the fall.

The next council meeting will be March 6 at 7 p.m.

NW

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