Document text
50 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, December 13, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 4, 2004 Bond setback won’t deter sports park backers By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Brian Sjothun says one bond measure’s failure is not the end of funding options to build Medford’s new sports park. "I just look at it as another hurdle," said the interim Parks and Recreation Department director. The city will join sports and park enthusiasts to develop a new plan with a consultant’s help in the near future. With the majority of ballots counted Wednesday, Medford voters soundly defeated Measure 15-59 with 13,100 votes (44.4 percent) in support and 16,377 votes (55.6 percent) against. The measure asked voters to authorize the sale of $10 million in bonds to develop the 132-acre park on Highway 99 between Lowry Lane and South Stage Road. Property taxes for the 20-year bonds would have been about $30 per year for a home with an assessed value of $150,000. Advertisement The $10 million was just for some basics, said Sjothun. "The total price tag was close to $18 million." The city in 2002 purchased the former Heitkamp farm property that will be the sports park with $5.7 million in bonds. Those bonds will be paid off partly through a hotel/motel tax increase passed in 2001. Sjothun said there’s still a little more than $600,000 remaining from that bond sale, plus a recent $10,000 grant from Pacific Power. Construction has begun on the new baseball field, funded by $2.3 million from the county’s sale of the Miles Field property to Wal-Mart. Sjothun said the $600,000-plus will pay for road access to the ballfield. City Manager Mike Dyal said Tuesday’s failed bond was just one of many options for the park development. "We wanted to see if we could raise money that way," he said. "Maybe we’ll come back at another time for another amount." He said the city has hired James Consulting Inc. of Medford to develop a funding plan. Councilman Greg Jones, former Parks and Recreation Director, said everyone’s putting their heads together to create a unified plan. "The big thing right now is to get the sport groups together and see what the immediate needs are ... so we don’t have seven different organizations going to one place asking for donations," he said. Mike Dunn, Rogue Valley Soccer Club president, is also president of the Safe and Healthy Kids Political Action Committee. The group was formed to promote the sports park bond and the city’s school sidewalk bond, which passed. "We got the sidewalks — I’m happy," he said. He said the other bond’s failure was not bad news for the park because there are so many individuals, groups and city staff committed to making the park happen. He said they’ll just have to look into regional, state and national funding. "This is more just a speed bump," he said. "We’re not going away — we’re just shifting gears and going into a different mode." Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities