Parks Church asks for remediation funds after buried gas tanks; board approves full request after debate

The Reinvestment Zone No. 1 board debated a post-construction request from Parks Church to cover environmental remediation costs after construction crews discovered four large buried gas tanks beneath a property at Davis and Tennessee Streets. Cassie Bonegarner, planning manager, told the board staff identified eligible remediation expenditures up to $453,000 from invoices but noted the request was submitted after the work was completed and staff recommended an award of $50,000 under existing funding guidelines for environmental remediation. "This request was sent post work though, which means we don't have multiple bids, just the invoices of this work," Bonegarner said.

Pastor Kyle Bridal of Parks Church described the church's long-standing community work and said the excavation revealed tanks likely buried in the 1920s or 1930s that required immediate remediation. "We hit 4 very large gas tanks...we estimate that these tanks had been buried since the 1920s or 1930s," Bridal said, and asked the board to consider a meritorious exception for the full amount of the church's request. Board members exchanged views about precedent and funding limits: some supported the staff-recommended threshold (discussed in session as a policy ceiling of $200,000 for a meritorious exception), while others cited prior decisions that funded post-remediation requests and argued the church's community contributions merited full funding.

After debate, members moved and voted first on a $200,000 meritorious exception and then on a motion to fund the applicant's full request. The transcript records verbal aye/nay calls and a final announcement that the full amount passed. Bonegarner said any necessary budget amendment would be presented at the next TIRZ meeting and, if approved there, would then go to city council for final action.