Council advances design agreement for Sisler Park trail; MOU with school district still pending

The City of New Franklin moved forward on preliminary design work for a trail at Sisler Park by considering a resolution to contract OHM Advisors for design services and by discussing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the local school district to allow trail alignment behind school tennis courts and to share restroom infrastructure upgrades. The mayor told the community development committee the project’s overall cost might have been about $250,000, but city staff determined the service department could complete much of the work and the city needed only engineering and design. The mayor said the design proposal from the consultant was for $38,500 and that the parks commission supports using the parks budget to pay for the design work. A small portion of the proposed trail would cross or run behind school property adjacent to tennis courts. The mayor said attorneys for the city and the school district are negotiating an MOU that would cover right-of-way access, shared responsibility for new restrooms, and upgrades to the school’s sewage package plant. “We have an agreement in principle,” the mayor said, and the city expects the MOU to combine the trail design and the restroom/plant agreements into a single document for council review. Council members asked whether existing sidewalks behind the tennis courts were part of the design; the mayor said that area had been handled with previous tennis-court improvements, and the new design would allow the city to install, maintain and operate the trail section if the MOU grants access. The committee recorded support for moving the design forward; a roll-call sequence later in the meeting recorded affirmative votes. The mayor said the city will bring finalized documents back to council in two weeks (staff later said they expect to bring it back at the next meeting). The council did not finalize the MOU at this session. Ending: The city will proceed with design work funded from the parks budget and expects to present a final MOU and contract documents to council once the school district’s attorneys finish the agreement.