The Rexburg City Council met on Wednesday, Dec. 7, to review community support statisitcs regrading the recreation tax district. Michael Svetz of Pros Consulting presented a PowerPoint slide outlining the new survey results. Below is the ditigal rendering of the center.
The Rexburg City Council invited community members and mayors from neighboring cities to attend a concept planning meeting for a proposed recreation center Wednesday.
The city of Rexburg has already enlisted Pros Consulting to survey the citizens of Madison County about their interests and facility requests for a potential 78,000 square foot recreation center to be built within county limits.
The surveys have gauged what activities are in highest demand, which helps the design team determine which facilities are required to meet these needs. Below is a chart of the current priority spaces.
“The survey that we did showed that the aquatics facility, the gymnasium, and the walking track were high on the list of things that people wanted as well as the child care/child watch areas and things like that. Those things are of course high on our list of things that we have included in the initial concept,” said Rexburg Mayor Jerry Merrill.
The current vision is to connect the center to Rexburg using one of the three sites highlighted in red below. This will allow the city to utilize and build upon the value of facilities that already exist.
While the council is most heavily considering the south option, Mayor Steven Adams of Sugar City was concerned that this would greatly limit expansion in the future.
A Rexburg Rapids representative said that about 50% of their customers come from out of town. Another proposed spot was the field by Madison High School and a spot over by Walmart with easy traveler access to the highway.
Mayor Adams also wanted the council to think about alternative ways to obtain funding for building so property taxes are not affected, especially for those who may not vote in favor of the center on the ballot when it's put out to the public.
He argued that it is unethical to tax your neighbors for something YOU wanted but that they voted against. The council is looking into bonds for funding the project as well.
Some community members in attendance reasoned that the recreation center is not the most pressing priority for the city. They wondered about funding for sewer and roads.
Mayor Adams said jokingly, “The things we are supposed to be doing like sewer and water aren’t that sexy.”
Another main concern is that inflation will continue to climb, increasing the end cost of building the rec center on schedule. By November 2, Pros Consulting will present the projected cost for the current concept plan.
Mayor Merrill encourages the public to actively participate in these recreation center planning meetings and communicate concerns and ideas to the city council at meetings, over the phone, or through the website.
“We’re open to input anytime. They don’t need to be shy about telling us what they would like to see included or not included,” Mayor Merrill said.
