Manhattan City Commissioners approved $3.02 million for Anneberg Park improvements Tuesday night in City Hall.
The improvements will include new synthetic turf athletic fields and lighting.
Bayer Construction Company, Inc., of Manhattan will receive $2,096, 116.10 to construct bases for the new fields, while Shaw Sports Turf of Calhoun, Ga., will receive $549,747 for the synthetic turf construction. Olsson Associates of Manhattan will receive $46,445 for engineering services for the project.
Funding for these improvements will be from the Special Parks and Recreation Fund and alcohol tax revenues. City Administration anticipates issuing temporary notes for the construction of the improvements and then issuing general obligation bonds for permanent financing in 2018 or 2019.
Earlier this summer Mayor Karen McCulloh and commissioner Usha Reddi expressed concerns about using synthetic turf as opposed to grass, but further information detailing the project has eased those objections.
“I want to say thank you to all of you,” Director of Manhattan Parks and Recreation Eddie Eastes said told the commission. “Questions and concerns that you had at the last meeting have really helped us to take a step back and look at this project to make sure we’re truly doing something that’s going to be beneficial for the community.
“This is a big step and we need to really look at it.”
McCulloh said she’s happy with the direction the project has taken.
“And I appreciate you and your staff listening to comments from the public we brought to you and I feel very comfortable with what we’re going forward with, now,” she said.
In other items, commissioners approved a Fixed-Base Operator agreement with the Kansas Air Center and also an agreement for for a Fixed Base Operations Facility at Manhattan Regional Airport.
Finally, commissioners heard public comment on the 2016 budget, which is proposed to be an increase of 2.926 mills from last year’s budget and a total of 46.889 mills.
The mill levy is the tax rate that is applied to the assessed value of a property. One mill is one dollar per $1,000 dollars of assessed value. It consists of a local portion which is used to fund area services and a statewide portion which is used to fund public schools.
The budget will be submitted for publication before final approval.
