$1.952 million proposed for MBL Park work in FY ’23
Potential park, road, Town Hall and Campbell Station Inn improvements led Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s discussions as it continued its budget process during a workshop on Capital Investment Programs Thursday, March 10.
Among the Parks & Recreation fiscal year 2023 budget proposals is Mayor Bob Leonard Park reconstruction, $1.302 million, and MBL Park Field 2 turf replacement, $650,000.
“CIP is one of our largest funds that we plan for each and every year,” Town administrator David Smoak said during the workshop, which took place before the regularly scheduled meeting. “These are projects that we look out over a six-year period. Anything over $25,000 as a one-time expense is how we allocate money in our CIP.
“For the Town, that typically consists of park projects, road projects, sidewalks, greenways, any kind of land acquisition that we do,” he added.
Smoak then presented a number of projects the Board will prioritize during the budget process before the final budget is approved.
Right now, he said the Town has $4.3 million left in its CIP for ongoing projects.
“Some of these projects have been going on for a couple of years; some are just wrapping up. For instance, we have the Watt Road intersection, Virtue Road, McFee Park’s Phase 3, the climate-controlled building, which is halfway done now, and then the Grigsby Chapel corridor,” Smoak said. “We should be able to wrap up in the next three to four months, if not today. So, we still have plenty on our list of things we’re prioritizing to do before we even step into planning for FY 2023. Currently, we have $4.6 million planned for greenways and general government projects.
Breaking it down even further, “We’ve got $6.8 million in park projects and $31 million in engineering projects,” Smoak said.
“Of course, many of these are grant opportunities for us … the total funding right now, based on General Fund obligations that we put into the CIP, as well as grant opportunities is right at $47 million over the next six years,” he added.
They also discussed construction of a restroom building for Town Hall park, with construction cost listed at $200,000 in FY 2023 should it be approved.
“This park behind us has become extremely popular the first few months it has been opened,” Smoak said.
He noted during the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours, families have been using the Town Hall restrooms, but “on weekends, that’s a different story.”
Other projects proposed for funding in FY 2023 include:
• Campbell Station Inn, $250,000; Town Center improvements at Biddle Farm (restroom facility and lighting small section at Brooklawn), $350,000; Town Center amphitheater, $250,000; and land acquisition, $300,000.
($1.8 million over the next six years); Town Hall renovations, $1.1 million (with 1 million from ARPA funds); Little Turkey Creek Greenway from Brookmere to Sheffield subdivisions, $600,000, and another section of Little Turkey Creek Greenway from the enclave at Sheffield to Turkey Creek Road, $165,000.
• Engineering: construction on Boyd Station Road improvements, $300,000; Kingston Pike pedestrian crosswalk improvements, $250,000; lane re-assignments at the Kingston Pike/Campbell Station Road intersection to help alleviate backups, $30,000 for design and $10,000 for right-of-way acquisitions; design and right-of-way acquisitions for Evans Road improvements, $550,000 total; right-of-way acquisitions for Union Road improvements, $870,000; Phase II of Virtue/Boyd Station roads improvements (NEPA and design), $762,000; and CMAQ town-wide traffic signal system upgrade ($100,000 from Town, $6.10 million from federal grant); and Jamestowne Boulevard improvements design, $350,000.
Projects proposed to be funded for FY 2024 include:
• General government: land acquisition, $300,000; construction of Sonja Drive sidewalk, $500,000; Red Mill Dam trailhead, $170,000; Anchor Park pedestrian crossing improvements, $230,000; and Turkey Creek Greenway study, $100,000.
• Parks and Recreation: MBLP walking trail and Americans with Disabilities Act repair/repaving, $130,000; McFee Dog Park restroom building, $410,000;
• Engineering: Grigsby Chapel Road corridor traffic mitigation construction $280,000; construction on lane re-assignments at Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road, $160,000; construction on Evans Road improvements, $2 million; construction on Union Road improvements, $5.850 million; Phase II of Virtue/Boyd Station roads improvements (right-of-way acquisitions) $925,000 (construction funding of $7.480 million is scheduled for FY 2025); and right-of-way acquisition for Jamestowne Boulevard improvements design, $700,000.
