A proposed plan to position Hopkinsville for up to $1.5 million in federal funding and identify top priority recreational projects is ready for a full city council review.

During the Committee of the Whole meeting today, council members will discuss the recommendations from a nine-member Recovery Action Plan committee formed in 2008.

Councilman Charlie Henderson, who chaired the RAP committee, said he is confident the report he is due to make today unveils a plan to transform city parks and recreational facilities.

“People will be amazed at how different Hopkinsville looks once we start implementing this,” Henderson said.

Much of the enthusiasm over the RAP proposal, which calls for major upgrades to all inner-city parks and an ordered approach to new recreational facilities, revolves around the availability of federal funds.

Hopkinsville is entitled to annual grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. On the city’s behalf, Community and Development Services applied to HUD for a loan equal to 20 years worth of grants, about $1.5 million.
 
Henderson said the lump sum would enable the city let bids for all inner-city park upgrades at once. That way, improvements would be done simultaneously and provide a citywide boost. Meanwhile, the yearly HUD grants would pay back the loan.

Henderson is confident the financing strategy will work.

“There’s no reason we wouldn’t get (the money),” Henderson said.
 
Once secured, the loan could be spent on greening, structural repair, connection features between adjacent parks and, in some cases, a complete re-design.   Facilities targeted for these projects include Westside Park, Sudden Service Station, the Boys & Girls Club, Little River Park, Virginia Park, Peace Park and Joe Mumford Park.

Council members will have to take a closer look at high priority projects that don’t qualify for HUD money. The city would likely have to put up a lot of its own funds for these.

In the order recommended by the committee, the plan calls for acquisition of land adjacent to Tie Breaker Park for more athletic fields, for installation of a pool near the Family Aquatic Center, for conversion of the abandoned rail spur into a greenway for hiking and biking, for building a pavilion on higher ground at the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, for adding trails and picnic areas to the floodwater detention area on Pardue Lane, for resurfacing the fairgrounds and for adding a skate park at the North Drive Recreational Complex.

Mayor Dan Kemp said choosing which projects to pursue first should account for more than the project’s ranking. Fundraising potential and popular support should be weighed as well, he said.

Kemp cited the rail trail proposal as an example. Earlier this month, the council voted 11-1 to authorize funding of the design of the trail’s first phase. The consensus was helped by the knowledge that the project was attracting money from the private sector and approval from all over community. A petition circulated before the vote collected nearly 330 signatures in favor of the project. So even though the rail trail ranks number three, there are reasons to do it ahead of the Tie Breaker projects.

“We don’t have people circulating petitions for Tie Breaker,” Kemp said.

Henderson agreed that the council, even if it endorses the RAP recommendations wholesale, is not bound by the rankings. Questions about available funding and evidence of broad support must be considered.

“Each individual project will be won or lost on its own merits,” Henderson said.

Henderson is wary of altering the actual rankings in the RAP report. The list is an accurate reflection of the community, he said.

The RAP committee ranked the projects after taking six months to seek community input. The members heard detailed presentations, visited many of the sites in question, held a public hearing and signed off on their rankings.

Community and Development Services Director Steve Bourne said the ranking was reached through each of the committee members listing 22 possible projects in the order of importance. Points were assigned according to placement. So a first place project received one point, a second place project two points and so on. CDS staff tallied all the points. Projects with the least amount ranked highest.

Bourne said the scoring system was an attempt at prioritizing fairly.

“Our biggest concern is getting these (projects) done and this seemed like a way to do it,” Bourne said.

If the council approves the committee’s recommendations, the plan could make it onto the council’s August agenda. 

For more details on RAP projects, go to www.hoptown.org/agencies/planning-commission/recovery-action-plan-public-awareness-presentation.