Abilene council eyes November bond for rec centers, zoo expansion, street reconstruction

The Abilene City Council took no action Thursday morning, but a count of nodding heads indicated possible unanimous approval of calling a bond election for November.

No decisions could be made, Mayor Anthony Williams said, but he heard a consensus that the council was interested in further discussions on setting a major bond election this year.

That bond could ask voters to pay for two new north Abilene recreation centers, expansion of the Abilene Zoo into 22 acres north of the current facility, installation of a permanent path around Kirby Lake and putting a significant amount of money into street reconstruction.

While the street improvement fee is providing funds for maintenance, council members were told, and agreed, that a bond would be necessary to pay for reconstruction. Some streets are beyond repair.

What might come

It's too late to put forth proposals for the May 6 city election, when Abilene residents will choose a new mayor and fill Places 3 and 4 on the council with new members. A bond election would have to come in the fall.

Williams and two-term Place 3 Councilwoman Donna Albus participated in the workshop that covered capital improvements, personnel matters and planning. Neither is running for re-election.

Place 4 Councilman Weldon Hurt is giving up his Place 4 seat with hopes of sitting at the dais later in May as mayor.

All three weighed in favorably to asking voters if they wanted to spend what would be a substantial amount of money.

Voters could find three propositions on the ballot: Streets ($50 million or more), zoo ($12.5 million) and the quality of life proposals (two rec centers at $27.5 million and Kirby Lake trail at $9 million).

The total nears $100 million, possibly more depending on the amount of funding sought for streets, if all three go to election.

Thus, Williams said this meeting perhaps was more important than summer fiscal year budget talks.

The special-called meeting was held at City Hall's council chamber - called "the community living room" - that was remodeled in 2022. The project made it more Americans with Disabilities Act compliant by adding a ramp and sign language interpretation of the proceedings.

A 25-minute video shown at the beginning of the meeting showed other 2022 highlights for the city, comparing the past five years.

"It's action-packed," City Manager Robert Hanna promised, "as far as municipal videos go. Pop the popcorn."

Attending in the audience were other candidates for the May 6 election, minus Place 3 hopeful Cynthia Alvidrez.

The word is on the streets

Streets, of course, drew the most attention Thursday.

Hanna told the council that the street maintenance is making a difference, but a bond would be needed to make a bigger impact.

Abilenians in 2015 voted to pay $46 million to fix the worst, most-traveled streets. And over eight years, Hanna said, more than $123 million has gone into streets.

Hanna said less than $600,000 was budgeted for streets when he came in 2016; this year, more than $21 million will be spent.

Williams, who was on the council before becoming mayor, admitted previous council did not have the courage to demand more money be spent on streets, nor did it get an accurate assessment from the city.

That said, kicking the can some more is not the answer.

Hanna offered three bond scenarios as examples: $50 million for streets would result in a 4.9-cent tax rate increase; $65 million a 6.4-cent hike and $80 million a 7.9-cent hike.

Residents are "going to have to invest more money," Williams said.

New recreation centers price tag is $27.5 million

The price tag of building new G.V. Daniels and Cesar Chavez recreation centers was given as $27.5 million. The Daniels facility is located at North Eighth Street and Treadaway Boulevards; the Chavez facility is located at Sears Park.

Prior to capital improvement discussion, one person - City Council candidate James Sargent asked for an update on the playground at Sears Park damaged by vandals. Hanna said it would be rebuilt and be "better than what we had before."

A community meeting has been set for 6 p.m. Thursday to determine what the new play area should include.

In the video shown to council, the playground installed last year at Rose Park was championed. It is a ground-level setup that not only allows handicapped youngsters to play but at the same level as other children so they can play together.

The age, access and maintenance issues of the two recreation facilities was noted by Lesli Andrews, head of parks and recreation for the city.

Council members discussed other benefits to building new and doing it now. Building new facilities was talked about last year but not put on the ballot in November, when voters tackled a "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinance, updates of the city's charter and construction of a ninth fire station.

The price tag then was $25 million, meaning the cost now would be $2.5 million more for two facilities. They would be roughly identical, council was told.

Council members spoke to additional benefits beyond "bats and balls," such as instilling neighborhood pride and possibly working with the Abilene ISD to use the facilities for after-school education. There also was talk about getting more weekday use from the new facilities.

There are no immediate plans to build similar facilities at Cobb (north side) and/or Rose (south side) parks.

Kirby Lake path and pickleball

A survey of the public showed about 85% approval for a bond to pay for the addition of hiking and biking trails.

Kirby Lake, not long ago, was a fishing hole largely isolated from Abilene. But home development, along with additional lake-area campuses in the Wylie ISD have turned the area more residential.

That is why the city's new fire station will be built in that area, and there was brief mention Thursday that another recreation center for far south Abilene may be needed.

The trail plan was to build a 10-foot Texas Bluff Concrete path around the 740-acre manmade lake.

Andrews said Thursday that Abilene has 0.6 of a mile of trails per 10,000 residents when elsewhere there is 2.1 miles.

"We are pretty behind on trail development," she said. And that includes Cedar Creek, where Texas Bluff Concrete was installed. That product gives the path a more nature look compared to standard concrete.

Asked if a natural path, such as gravel, would be less expensive, Hanna said its maintenance costs would negate any upfront savings, and it would not be as accessible to all.

Eventually, paths at Kirby Park could connect to those at the South 11th start of the Cedar Creek Waterway trail.

As for pickleball, the plan would be to build eight courts near the Rose Park tennis courts. Pickleball combines tennis, badminton and ping-pong and, as Councilman Travis Craver said Thursday, is one of the fastest-growing sports in America.

"You would," Williams responded to Craver, drawing laughs.

The highest percentage of players are "in your age bracket," Craver fired back at the elder Williams.

To more laughter, Councilman Kyle McAlister, said, "Game, set and match."

The cost for the court would be about $1 million. It would not require more parking but a restroom upgrade nearby would be needed, Andrews said.

Hanna told the council that money for this likely could be found without requiring a bond.

Expansion north for Abilene Zoo

If there is little love for the condition of Abilene streets, there is an abundance for the Abilene Zoo.

And if Director Jesse Pottebaum can get the money, the zoo will attract more people and generated more review.

Pottebaum outlined a three-part plan that focuses on using 22 acres north of the zoo, set aside for future expansion when the zoo opened in 1966.

The plan would be to send Phase 1, broken into two parts, to voters this year. In the past, the Grover Nelson Foundation has chipped in an equal amount of money, cutting the cost to the public in half.

The cost of Phase 1, according to Pottebaum, would be about $25 million - $9 million to upgrade an exhibit of black rhinos and $15.5 million to build a two-story cafė and an amphitheater for entertainment events, among other projects.

Pottebaum said the rhino exhibit is important as there are only 5,000 or so still in the wild.

The foundation could pay for half, meaning taxpayers would pony up $12 million-$13 million.

Pottebaum said attendance, which likely topped the 2021 record of 265,000 last year despite an extended heatwave, quickly could pass 300,000 and keeping rising, He said 65% of visitors are not Abilenians.

Revenues could shoot this year to $4.5 million and go higher, and more than 50 jobs could be added over time.

Other zoo improvements sought include the parking area. creating an in-zoo play area, creating a longer train trek and adding a greater education component.

Council members widely agreed the zoo was a big plus for Abilene and that is was a leading example of a public-private partnership. Last year, the city and All Kind Animal Initiative joined to turn over operation of the city's animal shelter to the nonprofit, and to determine a new location in east Abilene.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: $100 million or more bond under consideration for city of Abilene