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Council approves management agreement with Rescue Mission to manage Southern Park, administration says no sale involved
Summary
Council approved Ordinance 26-002 authorizing a long-term management agreement and lease with the Rescue Mission of Trenton to manage and maintain Southern Park. Some public commenters questioned legality; administration said the land remains city-owned and rescue mission maintenance will not be paid for by taxpayers.
The City Council adopted Ordinance 26-002 authorizing a management agreement (long-term lease) with the Rescue Mission of Trenton to manage, monitor and maintain Southern Park and adjacent vacant parcels. At second reading resident Robin Vaughn spoke against granting city property or rights to a nonprofit and asked whether shared-services law permits such an arrangement with a nongovernmental entity.
Director Bridges and Business Administrator Maria Richardson responded that the arrangement is a long-term lease/management agreement, not a sale, and that shared-services language in the agreement involves the county and not a transfer of city land. "We are entering into long term lease...we are not giving land away," Director Bridges said, and BA Richardson added the property "will continue to be a city owned property. They will only maintain it."
The administration said the Rescue Mission will be able to raise grant funding only if the organization has secure, long-term use of the land (15–20 years), and that taxpayers will not be responsible for the maintenance costs. Council members spoke in favor of the project’s potential to convert dormant spaces into usable parkland, and the ordinance passed on a roll call vote.
