School Board keeps stadium options open

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the July 30 School Board of Alachua County meeting, the Board approved a purchase agreement for the Citizens Field property so a design consultant could estimate the cost of building a stadium there; while that work is going on, staff will be estimating the cost of building stadiums at other sites owned by the School Board, and the Board can terminate the purchase agreement if they decide to build at a different site.

Environmental site assessment of Citizens Field

An engineering consultant performed Phase 1 and Phase 2 assessments and specifically looked at whether a fuel oil tank buried on the Citizens Field property had any environmental impact, but the consultant said no soil or groundwater consequence “of any importance” was found, and the tank has now been removed. 

The consultant said some additional investigation is needed to address “relatively low level” environmental impacts that may be related to a previous landfill and some “scattered debris” buried in the area. He said this is not a “huge environmental concern” but something that needs to be managed during construction.

Information about other sites will be presented at a future meeting

Executive Director of Facilities Planning, Construction, and Maintenance Suzanne Wynn said a presentation about the possibility of building stadiums at other sites (including Diamond Sports Park, Loften, Buchholz, Eastside, and GHS) would come before the Board at a future meeting.

Purchase agreement can be terminated “for any reason or no reason”

After hearing a presentation from a consultant that designs stadiums, Superintendent Kamela Patton recommended that the School Board approve a purchase agreement for the Citizens Field property; the contract provides for three 90-day due diligence periods, and the School Board can terminate the purchase contract at any time during this period “for any reason or no reason.” The School Board cannot hire a consultant to evaluate the site and produce potential designs unless the contract is approved.

Motion

Member Tina Certain made a motion to approve the contract, and Member Sarah Rockwell seconded the motion.

Certain said she hoped her motion would be approved and described it as “an opportunity for us to have nice things.” She concluded by saying she hoped the Board “would not throw dirt in the eyes of our students, as well as the residents of East Gainesville.”

Member Leanetta McNealy asked Interim City Manager Andrew Persons whether the City could pay for the environmental evaluation recommended by the engineering consultant: “Since you own the property, can you pay for the evaluation? That’s what I need to know. You have plenty of money. Can you do that?” Persons said, “If it makes a difference with this vote, I can tell you, yes, we will pay for the evaluation.”

Attorney David Delaney said the vote was “not a commitment to build the stadium or to purchase the stadium. Ultimately, this is just the necessary next step… to allow staff to do its due diligence of the property.”

Chair Thomas Vu said he still had “a lot of misgivings about the contract itself and the interlocal agreement.” He said he would like the City to commit to a certain number of parking spaces and added, “There really isn’t much on what happens if the City breaches, and that remains unchanged for me. I don’t think, again, enough has really come from the City, in terms of coming more toward our position, for me to change my vote on this.”

Chair Thomas Vu: “I also hear some of these arguments about fiscal responsibility, but to me, that’s short-term thinking… I’m thinking to myself, what would be best for us, 50 years down the road?… I’m okay with paying more for three because I’m thinking about what happens in the long-term.”

Vu added, “I also hear some of these arguments about fiscal responsibility, but to me, that’s short-term thinking… I’m thinking to myself, what would be best for us, 50 years down the road?” He said he believed it would be best for every school to have its own stadium: “I’m okay with paying more for three because I’m thinking about what happens in the long-term.”

Certain said her fellow Board Members were “not dealing in good faith. It’s okay to be against something, but stop acting as if the City is trying to cheat us… It’s unfair and it’s not productive for us… to insinuate that [our partners up the street] would do something to hurt us financially or not deal faithfully. We’re in a public meeting, come on, don’t do that.”

Vu said, “I did not, Ms. Certain.” He said he just wanted to make sure that any conditions were in the contract before them.

Amended motion

Certain amended her motion to add the condition that the City will pay the cost of the environmental evaluation, up to $15,000, and Rockwell agreed. 

Certain made a motion to call the question, which was seconded by Rockwell. That motion passed 4-1.

The amended motion passed 4-1, with Vu in dissent.

Certificates of Participation (COPS)

Later in the meeting, the Board voted 3-2 (with McNealy and Member Janine Plavac in dissent) to issue $143 million Certificates of Participation for the purpose of financing the cost of renovations and expansions to the Lincoln-Williams K-8 School and the Mebane 3-8 School. The Oak View K-8 School was removed from the resolution because Rockwell said the portables are “Rolls Royce portables” and wanted to “wait a few years to see how enrollment patterns finalize between our school and the Newberry Community School.”