Rosa Parks Square compromise fails, but issue isn’t dead

A compromise over a proposed alcohol ban in a downtown park failed to get through a Macon-Bibb County Commission committee Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, commissioners moved forward with a letter of intent for baseball returning to Macon and passed a tentative $149 million-plus budget.

An ordinance from Mayor Robert Reichert called for creating a new park next to Rosa Parks Square, which he said could appease supporters and detractors of an original measure that called for banning alcohol inside the park, named for the civil rights icon.

But a plea from Reichert and others was not enough for some commissioners to get on board.

A new green space, located in the median of Poplar between First Street and Second Street, would become a place where events with alcohol could be held. Alcoholic beverages would not be allowed in Rosa Parks Square, Reichert said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Facilities and Engineering Committee.

Alcohol is only allowed in county parks if a special permit is obtained. The proposed ban drew a large crowd during a public hearing last week.

Reichert’s ordinance drew support from Commissioner Elaine Lucas and members of the Friends of Rosa Parks Square organization, including former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis and community activist George Fadil Muhammad.

“I need your help,” Reichert said to commissioners Tuesday. “I need your support. The committee amendment specifies that, yes, (Rosa Parks Square is) alcohol free, … but other activities, community concerts, dance classes, movie nights, other community-related activities would be allowed.”

But Commissioners Gary Bechtel and Mallory Jones, who serve on the committee, said they were against prohibiting alcohol at any park. The unknown about the cost of building a new park — likely funded through the special sales tax — prompted hesitation from the two commissioners.

“I think it’s a bad precedent to limit what we can do in our parks when they’re permitted and licensed and appropriate,” Jones said.

Despite the measure not coming to a vote Tuesday because of a lack of motion, Lucas pledged to bring it up again at a future meeting. She has introduced two measures banning alcohol at the Rosa Parks Square and designating the park as a memorial.

“This issue means a lot to a majority of the citizens in this community,” she said. “I’m afraid what some folks have shown today where they really (stand) as far as their feelings about citizens in this community.”

Batter up

Macon-Bibb took a significant step Tuesday to bringing a baseball franchise to town.

The commission’s Committee of the Whole voted 7-1 in favor of a letter of intent agreement with the owners of a summer collegiate baseball team. The measure will now be on the agenda for next week’s County Commission meeting.

The Coastal Plain League team would call Central City Park’s Luther Williams Field home. Another commission committee also moved ahead an ordinance authorizing spending up to $2.5 million in special sales tax proceeds for improvements to the historic stadium.

The tentative timeline is for renovations to start in October and be finished in April 2018. A couple months later, in June, the inaugural season would start, said Steve DeLay, who would co-own the franchise.

Commissioner Bert Bivins voted against the letter of intent. Commissioner Larry Schlesinger did not attend Tuesday’s committee meetings.

“The idea of baseball has been in the air for several years and there was a thought of building a new stadium downtown,” Bechtel said. “I think this offers an opportunity to sew up all the work we’re doing in Central City.”

As part of the agreement, the stadium would get upgrades to the press box, locker rooms, dugout, concessions, field and more. SRO Partners would pay $50,000-$55,000 annually to lease the stadium over a 10-year period. Another $3,000 would be paid when the lease is signed.

Coastal Plain League, established in 1997, has 15 franchises across the Southeast.

Budget talks

The County Commission will likely vote on a new budget next week, but a last-minute effort will be made to take away money for indigent care.

Jones said he plans to introduce an amendment next week to transfer $450,000 now budgeted to Navicent Health for people unable to pay for medical services and instead use the money to hire new county employees.

The nearly $150 million general fund budget was approved Tuesday by the commission’s Operations and Finance Committee. The budget, which includes a proposed 3-mill tax increase, will be voted on by the full commission on June 20.

A Navicent official has said the amount requested from Macon-Bibb accounts for about 3 percent of the $15 million in indigent care provided in the last year. Last week, several Navicent doctors spoke at budget public hearing about the importance of the types of care the company offers to its patients.

Jones said that with Navicent’s high net profit, it can afford to pay for what Macon-Bibb usually provides for indigent care.

“This is not knocking Navicent Health,” Jones said. “They’re a great asset to the community, a wonderful hospital, but they don’t need the money.”

Lucas said Tuesday that she opposes taking away the funding from the hospital Commissioners should visit Navicent’s emergency room to see the people it serves, she said.

“Let’s not get the reputation of being heartless and insensitive,” Lucas said.

New sports complex

A west Macon neighborhood could get a new sports complex in its backyard.

The Committee of the Whole unanimously supported using $750,000 of sales tax revenue for a new complex that would be built at Hartley Elementary School. If the funding is approved next week, the Cal Ripken Sr., Foundation will contribute the same amount to the project.

The new recreation ball fields would be used by a local little league and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, or RBI program, and the Bibb County school district.

Downtown lofts

Widner & Associates unveiled plans for a mixed-used development that would be located behind the Terminal Station.

The development would include 30 loft apartments, a new 1.5 acre park, and updated streetscape improvements. The project would require closing Terminal Avenue.

The street closure and encroachment would have to be approved by the County Commission.

In other business Tuesday, commission committees also approved:

▪  A $2.23 million construction agreement with Warren Associates, Inc. to build a new senior citizens center in Central City Park. The funding will come from SPLOST and the sale of the current senior center property.

“Hopefully we can have a groundbreaking in the next 30 days,” Parks and Recreation Director Reggie Moore said. “It’s a 270-day project, so by the next summer you should have a new senior center.”

▪  A $25,000 settlement in a civil lawsuit over the 2012 death of an inmate.

This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Rosa Parks Square compromise fails, but issue isn’t dead."