Here’s where money from Salt Lake City parks bonds will go

 

SALT LAKE CITY — The first tranche of a voter-approved city bond is expected to generate close to $24.7 million toward parks and trails projects across the city, as well as contingency related to the projects, once it’s issued in the coming months.

City leaders and public lands officials are currently hashing out the final details before the Salt Lake City Council approves the sale of the first bond later this year, likely in either June or July. It’ll be the first of a few bond tranches carried out in the coming years after residents approved up to $85 million in general obligation bonds for parks projects in November.

“This is exciting,” said Salt Lake City Council Chairman Darin Mano during a meeting Tuesday, after members of the council received their first major update since last year’s election.

City public lands officials outlined the projects they would like to see funded first. Those are:

• $9 million toward the construction of the Glendale Regional Park. The park’s first phase is scheduled to open next year.
• $5 million toward the completion of the Folsom Trail This would fill in a missing gap between 1000 West and the Fisher Mansion, so it connects with the Jordan River Parkway Trail.
• $3.33 million toward various consultant, engineering and cost overrun fees.
• $2 million toward a replacement of the playground at Liberty Park.
• $1.43 million toward filling three project manager and planner positions aimed at speeding up the project process.
• $1.05 million toward parks, trails, and open spaces across the city. This will be broken into about a dozen parks across all seven council districts, such as Cottonwood Park in District 1, Warm Springs/North Gateway Park in District 3, and Donner Trail Park in District 6.
• $850,000 toward ongoing efforts to improve Allen Park.
• $600,000 toward environmental cleanup and rezoning efforts at the Fleet Block green space. Another $600,000 would go toward improvements to the Jordan River Corridor.
• $500,000 toward repairs to the tennis courts at Fairmont Park.
• $294,000 toward public art projects.

The council still has time to adjust the projects funded before issuing the first bonds. That said, its members voted unanimously in a straw poll to have city staff go ahead with preparing the bonds to be issued without any changes to the proposal.

If there aren’t any changes, the money toward the Folsom Trail completion and Liberty Park playground replacement represents 100% of the money needed for each project, according to Tom Millar, a planning manager for the Salt Lake City Public Lands Department. The remaining projects would receive more funding from future tranches.

This first set of bonds would also represent about 29% of the total obligation bond, added Ben Luedtke, the city’s budget and public policy analyst. The remaining $60.3 million will likely be split into two or three other bond issuances.

He explained that the city is breaking the bond into different segments so the money generated from the bonds goes to projects that are ready to go instead of waiting around to be used for several years.

“This is done to ensure that the city is able to use the funds within a reasonable time, preferably three years or so,” he told members of the City Council in an informational meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The bond issuances are typically repaid over a span of 20 years. He explained that since it’s a general obligation bond, the property tax residents agreed to take on will be limited to only repaying this debt. That tax ends once the bond is paid off.

One other city park stands to benefit from upgrades in the near future, too. Pioneer Park is not listed in the parks bond project; however, Luedtke pointed out to the council that $10 million was recently generated for improvements through a sales tax bond issued late last year. The money from that is “ready to be used” once the project begins.

A city website about the project notes that the first construction phase may include “natural plantings, the plaza and event pavilion.” It’s slated to begin as early as this year.