Councilman Grif Chalfant said the next step won't come until January, when Steve Tumlin takes office as mayor and appoints new members of the council's parks and recreation committee. Councilwoman Holly Walquist, a strong proponent of the parks bond, has chaired the committee, but she lost her bid for re-election on Tuesday.
Chalfant said he would like the council to create several citizens committees, such as a committee devoted to facility improvements and one devoted to land buying. Each council member could appoint someone to these committees, Chalfant said.
Tumlin said, "I think Grif is on track," with that idea.
Mayor Bill Dunaway said that although formal decisions on the parks plan will wait until the new mayor and council take over, he wants the city to lock in interest rates on the bond issue as soon as possible.
Dunaway also said he hopes the new council will follow the same process carried out to build Henry Park, which opened last year after a year of planning.
City Manager Bill Bruton said the city retained architects to analyze what could be done with Henry Park, met with the neighbors, tweaked the plan based on what the community wanted, such as removing plans for a dog park there, and built it.
Dunaway wants to see the same kind of individualized attention given to each park the city uses the bond money to improve.
"It's too cumbersome for the city to take all the parks at the same time," Dunaway said.
Kim Gresh, one of the leaders of the pro-parks group Progress Marietta Inc., said that just because the bond passed, the work is not over for citizens.
"We as citizens have to make sure the money is spent the way we want it spent," she said. "I really hope the new mayor and new council ask citizens what we want and produce that, because we want to better everyone's life with parks they will use."
City Council had previously approved an outline of how the $25 million is to be spent: $11 million on improving existing city parks, $5 million on acquiring land, $5 million on developing new and existing facilities, trails and green space, and $4 million for planning, design and administration costs. But the specifics of how it will improve each park or what land to buy is up to the council to determine.
To lock interest rates on the $25 million bond, Dunaway suggested issuing the bond in the same package as refinancing three existing city bonds.
As council was discussing restructuring the bond debt on the Hilton Marietta Conference Center, Dunaway asked staff during the Oct. 9 council meeting to evaluate other city bonds that could be refinanced for savings. Staff members found three, fixed-rate General Obligation bonds.
The city owes a total of $40.4 million on the three bonds - two for the Marietta City School District and one used to build the police and fire headquarters - and would save a combined $1.9 million by refinancing, Bruton said.
But Tumlin is not so sure he wants to see the parks bond issued with the existing school and public-safety bonds.
"I think it's time for this council to respect the next council," Tumlin said.
Councilmembers will meet in a Committee of the Whole at 5:15 tonight in the fourth-floor conference room of City Hall.
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I wasn't much of a park advocate, until I saw the 180 degree turnaround of Henry Park. Money well spent.