Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks Community Center topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Indian Trail Council pauses Chestnut Square Park Phase 2B to study alternate site layout for community center
Summary
The Town of Indian Trail voted to delay bidding on the Chestnut Square Park Phase 2B project and authorized staff to study alternative layouts that could accommodate a future community center. The move pauses procurement while engineers produce cost estimates and alternative footprint options.
Indian Trail — The Indian Trail Town Council unanimously voted Feb. 11 to pause bidding on Chestnut Square Park Phase 2B and to authorize a cost analysis of alternative site layouts intended to preserve room for a potential community center.
Todd Hunsinger, the town engineer, told the council that the original CIP ordinance allocated about $750,000 for the combined park phases and that Phase 2A built parking, on‑street stalls and shifted a stormwater pond, creating roughly a half acre of additional developable land. Hunsinger presented a concept that would combine the park parcel with an adjacent downtown property the town recently purchased, remove the Shady Bluff roadway, add a new parallel service road, and reposition parking and a multi‑purpose field to make space for a 15,000‑square‑foot, two‑story building — an alternative to a single 30,000‑square‑foot community center.
"Take that 30,000 square feet building, make it 15,000 square feet, two story," Hunsinger said, describing how grading and parking shifts could fit the facility and create extra parking and right‑of‑way without costly acquisitions. He said the culvert design for the Shady Bluff alignment is nearly complete and that design work could be shifted to analyze the new road alignment, reducing some design costs.
Hunsinger recommended pausing planned February–April bidding to allow consultants to analyze whether the alternative layout fits and to produce a price to build the road, regrade the site, move the field and add parking. He proposed two decision points: a short, cost‑to‑analyze estimate to return at the next meetings and, if the council agreed, a later approval step to authorize any added construction funding.
Council members questioned alternatives, building size and parking demand. One councilor noted that placing a building closer to Chestnut Parkway could shift traffic away from Indian Trail Road, while another asked whether the building must be in the proposed location or could go elsewhere on the property. Hunsinger said the concept allows flexibility and could include storage or a partial below‑grade level by taking advantage of existing slopes.
Council member [motion maker] moved to delay bidding, "and authorize a more in‑depth cost analysis to an alternative site layout as presented." The motion passed unanimously.
The pause gives staff and the town's consultant time to produce cost estimates and alternative site plans before the council commits to construction bids. Hunsinger said he expects initial analysis back at an upcoming meeting, with a clearer recommendation by March. If the council declines the alternative after analysis, staff will return to bidding Phase 2B as originally designed.
Speakers included Todd Hunsinger (town engineering staff) and multiple council members during the motion and discussion.
