Amador County – Amador County Supervisors at their early May meeting voted 4-0 to direct staff to look at costs involved with owning Pioneer Park, on which the county already operates one of its two community centers.

General Services Director John Hopkins said Pioneer Veterans Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road is one of two community halls the county runs. He said “we lose money and you have to subsidize it to run it,” including maintenance, repairs, utilities and insurance. He said if Supervisors are aware of the total cost for owning Pioneer Park, they can make a better decision. Supervisors approved Hopkins working on the total costs with Amador County Recreation Agency director Tracey Towner to consider a purchase of the 27-acre park through the Bureau of Land Management’s Recreation and Public Purpose Lease program.

The county has a lease on the park through 2020 with BLM and Towner said it would be better to own the land, so they do not have to “go through BLM to move a tree or put in a septic system.” She said “in fact, we already own the park,” and do not pay rent. “This is just formalizing it.”

Towner said parks are places where people go in economic times like these, and they have seen increased use at Mollie Joyce Park and Pioneer Park. Towner said people take ownership of public places.

Supervisor John Plasse said in times like these, we’ve got to make decisions from a fiscally prudent position, and we can’t make decisions based on emotion. Hopkins said before you embark on the due diligence, you should take a look at the total cost.

Supervisors Brian Oneto noted the proximity of Mollie Joyce Park and Pioneer Park, and wondered if the county needs “two parks that close together.” Towner said they are two vastly different parks, and Mollie Joyce ball fields are too small for adults.

Supervisor Ted Novelli said “we own about $2 million in assets up there,” and the cost to build another ballpark would be half a million dollars. County Counsel Greg Gillott said recreation “impact fees should be used in the relative vicinity of where the impact occurs.”

Novelli asked to look at costs in both good and bad years. He said the county has done a great job on Pioneer Park and if they want to buy property that may be the one they want to buy. He said the “wrong elements” have been out there, but ACRA and the County should get together, do their homework and bring some of these financial figures, to see if they both can afford it.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.