East Spencer looks to develop Royal Giants Park

By Karissa Minn

kminn@salisburypost.com

EAST SPENCER — Town officials are finally taking steps toward their long-time goal to redevelop Royal Giants Park in East Spencer.

The East Spencer Board of Aldermen, mayor and town manager worked out a strategy for revitalizing the park at the town’s planning retreat Thursday.

LuAnn Bryan, western region recreation consultant at N.C. State University, told aldermen they have until January of 2013 to apply for a Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) grant.

She said her office could advise East Spencer during the application process.

“We’ve done a $1,000 grant up to a $500,000 grant,” Bryan said. “It’s a 50-50 match, and it’s dollar for dollar. ... But you can use other grants to match it.”

The aldermen and mayor decided to survey residents this spring about their wants and needs for recreation in the town.

“That lets us know what the citizens of East Spencer want to see in a park,” said Alderman Tammy Corpening.

The town’s next steps would be to compile the results, figure out the cost of each reasonable idea and prioritize them.

“If we want to get the pool refurbished and up and running, how much does that cost?” asked Mayor Barbara Mallett. “To put in playground equipment... or lights for the baseball field, how much does that cost? Once we find that out, how much do we want to do?”

Based on those priorities, the town would put together a site plan for the park, which could have multiple phases. Phase one would include anything the town can afford with the first grant amount. The next year, it could apply again to fund phase two.

The town plans to hold a required public hearing in the fall as it develops the grant application. Bryan said getting the community to buy into the goal will help East Spencer get the grant and raise the matching funds.

“You’re going to have to educate the public and sell this project to them,” she said.

Money for the local match could come from community organizations, churches, businesses, town fundraisers and separate grants. East Spencer can even ask the county to seek a grant to fund the match.

Bryan said by the time the town applies for a PARTF grant, it must have at least applied for the entire match amount and must have some of the money in hand.

The aldermen, mayor and town manager set a timeline to keep the project on track. They hope to distribute the surveys - through in-person visits and mailed letters - by April 1 and get them back by April 30. Cost estimates should be made and priorities set by July 31, they said, and the site plan should be completed by Aug. 31.

“We can’t spend too much time identifying what we want to do,” Mallett said. “We’ve got to do it.”

• • •

At the beginning of Thursday’s planning retreat, East Spencer aldermen brought up 36 different goals and issues they think the town should focus on.

They then narrowed that list down to these six top priorities for the coming year:

• Redeveloping Royal Giants Park

• Reducing the town’s water bills

• Improving funding and service levels for the town’s police, fire and public works departments

• Encouraging development for commercial businesses

• Encouraging preservation of historic buildings

• Creating a five-year plan for East Spencer

Town officials only had time to talk about the first three items in depth Thursday, but they said the others can be discussed during the board’s monthly workshops.

During their conversation about the water bills, aldermen agreed that they need more information about the possibility of turning East Spencer’s water and sewer system over to the city of Salisbury.

“My understanding is we’re not going to get that much reduction (in rates), which made it very sad for me,” said Alderman Phronice Johnson.

Town Manager Macon Sammons said he’s getting together a cost analysis of the town’s options. He said he also is seeking per-gallon price comparisons from other municipalities in Rowan County.

The Board of Aldermen also heard from James Luster, planner with Centralina Council of Governments, about Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) opportunities available to the town.

Aldermen agreed to pursue the new N.C. Catalyst program, which allows local governments to develop their own projects that meet CDBG criteria.

They also readily agreed to focus on Long Street housing.

“That would improve the overall appearance, give a boost to our city, help draw business and help garner community support to show that we are indeed working in order to improve,” Mallett said.

The state would likely give a low priority to just tearing down or restoring dilapidated homes, Luster said. The town needs to fit that into a larger plan for its grant application.

“How do we do housing renovation and mix it with something else to give it a higher priority?” Sammons said.

Luster recommended that the town partner with a reputable agency that works on housing rehabilitation. He also said it could take a look at building affordable housing once the non-livable properties are cleared.

“If the main focus of the project is addressing these burned out, deteriorated properties in order to turn them into homeownership properties and try to turn the cycle around,” Luster said, “then identifying a nonprofit partner and putting together a strategic plan... is going to be your best approach.”

Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.

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