Gainesville City Commission tells School Board to bring back a specific proposal for Citizens Field

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During the evening session of the May 1 Gainesville City Commission meeting, the Commission told School Board representatives to bring back a specific proposal for the stadium they would build at Citizens Field if the City transfers the property to the school district; however, Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut wanted to postpone the discussion until the City Commission hears from its consultants in June.

City Manager Curry: Discussions are paused to allow “conversations” to calm down

City Manager Cynthia Curry said she’s had two meetings with School Superintendent Kamela Patton, and “those meetings really have not resulted, at this point, in anything that can really be shared with the board.” She said that some conversations involving “maybe members of the School Board, members of the [City] Commission” had led her and Patton to “pause” to “allow that maybe to calm itself down.” Curry said she would like the School Board to bring a concrete proposal so the City would have “something to react to.”

Mayor Harvey Ward said they were “in sort of a limbo here,” and he also said he would like “the folks who use the field primarily [to] come and tell us, more concretely, what you need from us… It makes sense for us to kind of let it settle.”

Patton: “We cannot spend capital funds on any facility that’s not ours.”

Patton said the “one thing that we need from you all is just simply – are you able to transfer the field to us? Because, short of that, we cannot spend capital funds on any facility that’s not ours.” She said the school district has a $20 million deficit in the General Fund for next year, so their only option is to use capital funds, which would require ownership of the property. She said, “It sounds so simple and short, but it is simple and short… If your vote is to transfer the field, then we can bring back ‘Here’s what we’d love to do with that.’ But short of that, if the answer is no, then there’s nothing we can do because we can’t use general funds on the stadium.”

School Board Member Tina Certain said she thought it best for all three Gainesville high schools to continue to play at Citizens Field, “for the benefit of east Gainesville and the revitalization that we’ve all been calling for, for so many years… But we can do nothing if we don’t own that property.”

School district would add a track to the stadium

Patton added that if the stadium property is transferred to the school district, they would want to “take that extra step and build a track. Why would you not? It opens it up for more sports.” She also said the school district would look at doing a “design build” to construct the stadium more quickly than a traditional process: “We don’t want to drag things out forever; we have schools that need to be able to play… We’d love to move forward and do a lot of things there and everything else, but it stops with you all to see if you’d be interested in [transferring the property]… I think it was made very clear to us that you’re looking for partners, so here [we] stand, two people representing people that would love to be a partner.”

Curry said she was looking for “a baseline proposal from the School Board” so the City can start working on the “stipulations” involved in any agreement to transfer, or convey, the property. She told Patton that the School Board should submit a proposal that would lay out the school district’s responsibilities in renovating or building a new stadium, and Patton said they would “get that back to you ASAP.”

Eastman: “I feel very comfortable with [conveying the property to the School Board]”

Commissioner Bryan Eastman said the City and school district have “overlapping interests in all of this,” and a conveyance of the property to the School Board would be the way to move forward with it: “I feel very comfortable with that.” He said, however, that given the prominence of the property, located in a City park that is used by many groups and individuals, he wanted to see the stipulations, including whether the stadium would be renovated or rebuilt and when that would happen. 

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut asked Certain where the funds would come from for the stadium, and Certain said the district has its local capital millage, the 1.5 mill property tax that is used for capital improvements and maintenance; Certain said all school districts in Florida are allowed to assess that tax without a vote of residents, and it brings in about $25 million a year in Alachua County. Patton added that selling the Old Terwilliger property could generate “up to $12 million.” 

Chestnut: “We have promised the people on the east side of town that we are going to deliver for them a stadium that they can be proud of.”

Chestnut said she thought “the east side neighbors” would require that the plans be “spelled out point by point” before they would have confidence “that they’re going to get a brand new stadium, a state-of-the-art stadium… We have promised the people on the east side of town that we are going to deliver for them a stadium that they can be proud of.”

Certain said, “You have my commitment… that our students have to have some place to play” and noted that the school renovations that have been completed recently on the east side “have been top-notch, first-class facilities.” She said that if the school district can’t have Citizens Field, they will need to build stadiums at Buchholz and Eastside High Schools, which would still leave GHS without a stadium, so “I think the money would be better invested into renovating Citizens Field to get more bang for our buck for our district, as well as for our community.”

Chestnut: “[The citizens] do not have the confidence that you’re going to follow through… It would upset the public now, to get something from the School Board when the City doesn’t even know whether your consultant is going to propose something that costs $10 or $20 million or $30 million.”

Chestnut responded, “I think the citizens have to have that confidence… They do not have the confidence that you’re going to follow through… So your conveyance can’t be global; it must be very, very detailed.” She said it was “precipitous” to even discuss conveying the property to the school district “because we do not have a proposal from our consultants. We don’t know what we’re trying to convey. We don’t know if it’s something that we can afford to do ourselves.” She said the City might entertain a proposal after June, but “to upset the public right now – and this is what it would do, it would upset the public now – to get something from the School Board when the City doesn’t even know whether your consultant is going to propose something that costs $10 or $20 million or $30 million.”

Willits: The City will need a partner “who brings some dollars to the table”

Commissioner Casey Willits said the City would need a partner “who brings some dollars to the table,… [and] there’s already a partner we need, on-site… I don’t know if I want to wait until June.”

Willits asked whether the City’s questions about the School Board’s intentions had been answered, and Patton said she needs to know whether the City is willing to convey the property before scheduling a School Board discussion. Willits said, “It sounds like we need a joint meeting.”

Ward said, “I think we need the School Board to be able to say, ‘We would like to continue to use that facility…. The best avenue for the School Board would be for the property, or some of the property, to be conveyed to the School Board, and if that happens, these are the list of things that the School Board would like to use it for and the conditions under which the School Board would be broadly comfortable – not as a final document, but broadly comfortable.’ And then bring that document to us,… [and] we can then speak more intelligently to our Attorney’s office to start drawing up documents… And then we can… go to the people and say, ‘This is where we are in this process. Are you comfortable with that? If not, come talk to us.'” He said the City would continue to work with its consultant in parallel with that process because “this is not just about the field; it’s about the field and parking and the pool and everything else on the site.” He added, “Public intent is the most important thing.”

Ward: “The only thing about all this that gives me any willies at all is the idea that we might end up building a stadium on spec, and you all say, ‘Yeah, we really don’t want that.’ I don’t want that to happen.”

Ward said, “The only thing about all this that gives me any willies at all is the idea that we might end up building a stadium on spec, and you all say, ‘Yeah, we really don’t want that.’ I don’t want that to happen.” Patton said, “Neither would we!”

Chestnut: “I still… think it is precipitous… I don’t want to raise your expectations, and I don’t want to confuse the public.”

Chestnut said that City Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker was absent due to a death in her family, “but she was very, very interested in sports tourism and economic development,.. and Citizens Field would be a part of that, but we’re really looking for economic development for the whole city. So I think that when you come back, she should be here. But personally, I still… think it is precipitous. We will be getting information from our consultants in June. We’re looking at economic development by the City [on] May 8. And so I don’t want to raise your expectations, and I don’t want to confuse the public. So that’s where I am. I believe [Duncan-Walker is] at that same point: we’re interested in economic development, and part of that economic development is Citizens Field.”

No new motion needed

Eastman said the previous direction from the City Commission on March 13, to direct the City Manager to work with the School Superintendent in developing plans for Citizens Field, was “a perfectly reasonable motion.” Ward agreed that they did not need to make a new motion. 

Patton asked whether the majority of the Commission agreed with Chestnut about not wanting a proposal before June, and Chestnut said, “If I may speak for myself – no, I do not want it before June.” She said she didn’t know for sure what Duncan-Walker would say, “but I think it’s quite precipitous, and it’s going to be quite confusing to the public.”

Eastman: “I would prefer to get this back before June because I need to know what scope we’re looking at for Citizens Field.”

Eastman said he had “full confidence in our City Manager to be able to have this conversation… I would prefer to get this back before June because I need to know what scope we’re looking at for Citizens Field.” He said a partnership with the School Board “opens up more opportunities for other portions of this project… This is a key kind of cornerstone.”

Commissioner Ed Book suggested that Patton look at the consultant’s report for the property and the minutes from the meetings held over the past few years to discuss the future of the property, and then that information could be incorporated into the School Board’s proposal. 

Chestnut said she would also like an answer to the question of whether the school district’s football teams would play at the stadium if the property is not conveyed to the School Board but the City builds a stadium. Patton said she would ask the School Board.

Ward: “Without [a statement of intent with details], then we’re just kind of dancing, and it’s time to move on from that phase.”

Ward said he was looking for “just a statement of intent – that has some detail to it, that’s robust – but without that, then we’re just kind of dancing, and it’s time to move on from that phase.”

Certain said the school district would certainly make use of a new stadium if the terms were reasonable – the district currently pays $1 to use the field – but they couldn’t make a commitment without knowing the cost. She said if the school district can’t use capital funds and has to pay any significant amount, they would be “hamstrung” because of their tight budget, “and the way vouchers and things are set up, I don’t see… that pressure on our budget easing up.”

Patton added, “That’s why we’d rather just build it so that we can use it and it’s not a problem.”

Ward thanked Patton and Certain for being there and moved on to the next agenda item.

The School Board is scheduled to discuss Citizens Field at its May 6 meeting at 6 p.m.