Advisory board reviews capital-improvement plan; votes to move mobile entertainment stage earlier in six-year plan

Advisory board members on Jan. 7 reviewed the Parks & Recreation Department's draft capital-improvement program (CIP) for FY 2009'2014, discussed new projects and updates to ongoing work, and voted to recommend moving the proposed mobile entertainment stage earlier in the multi-year plan.

Among the new projects staff presented were a proposed 90-foot baseball field at Chancellor's Run that would require clearing wooded land, a road, a 75'100-car parking lot, irrigation, lighting and a restroom; staff estimated a roughly $2 million cost for the fully developed field. The board also reviewed a proposal for a mobile entertainment stage (a self-contained, towable stage with built-in sound and lighting) that staff said had been in earlier CIP drafts but was back as a new project in FY 2013 in the current plan. Board members recommended moving the stage to FY 2011 to reduce recurring setup labor and possibly generate rental revenue for county events.

Other new items included funding requests for museum collection storage to provide climate-controlled archival space, renovation and maintenance of indoor recreation facilities (paint, flooring replacement at Leonard Hall Recreation Center), and replacement of an aging pier at St. George's Island (public-landings project). Staff provided updates on ongoing projects including multiple sections of the 3 Notch Trail, automated ball-field lighting controls for county fields, Chaptico Park parking expansion and several pier replacements.

After discussion, a board member moved and the board seconded a recommendation that the mobile entertainment stage be moved into FY 2011. The motion passed by voice vote; meeting transcript records the motion, a second and the voice vote recorded as "ayes" with no named opposition and the chair noted the motion passed.

Board members discussed prioritization, fiscal constraints and external dependencies: for example, a proposed multi-field athletic complex in Charlotte Hall would be contingent on a state park-and-ride project that could provide parking. Staff also said some projects are subject to state and federal grant decisions and property-appraisal processes for potential land acquisition. The board agreed to provide advisory recommendations on the CIP to county commissioners during the commissioners' upcoming budget work sessions.