Patterson may turn down a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Redevelopment Funds (RDF) it received in April for a new pocket park in the old downtown area over cost concerns.
The Patterson City Council held a called meeting last Thursday afternoon to discuss the project.
Patterson Mayor Dedi Thomas and Michael Jacobs of the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) updated the council on developments with the project. SGRC helped the city apply for the grant.
The city had received a RDF grant in the amount of $108,392 for the development of the pocket park. Under the terms of the grant, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) would provide 35 percent of the costs. Patterson would be required to provide $197,455 (or 65 percent) of the $305,847 needed for the project.
The CDBG-RDF funds can be used for rehabilitating blighted areas.
Plans called for the pocket park to be located in the brick shell of an old building in the historic business district on Railroad Avenue.
The pocket park will be located at 5652 A and B West Railroad Avenue. It will feature patios with umbrellas, landscaping in planters, lighting on poles and strings, brick-paved walkways, restrooms and storage areas.
A restaurant had been planned for the building next door to the pocket park, though the name of the restaurant or its owners have never been disclosed. Mayor Thomas announced at Thursday’s called meeting the plans for the restaurant have fallen through.
The restrooms and storage area of the project would be separate and would not be part of the CDBG-RDF grant. The City of Patterson would be responsible for building the bathrooms and storage area. Estimated cost of that phase of the project is about $408,000.
Mayor Thomas said he believed both projects could be done for cheaper than the cost estimates.
“I believe we need the bathrooms and storage areas for the pocket park to work like we want it to, but we can’t justify this expense,” he said.
Councilman Brian Herrin agreed.
“It would be nice to have, but I don’t think it will be utilized enough to justify the expense,” he said. “I could be wrong, though.”
Jacobs said he would ask the DCA to consider a 50/50 cost sharing arrangement, but there is no guarantee it will be approved.
The council tabled a final decision on the project until its regular meeting Thursday, Nov. 10.
In other business, the city council:
• heard a request by Mayor Thomas to consider renting out the Patterson City Gym as a storage facility for a local business. “We need to get some return on the building,” he said. “It is not going to be used for basketball, so we need to get some revenue from it. The insurance on it is an ungodly amount of money,” he said. Insurance premiums on the gym run approximately $10,000 per year. The gym dates to the 1930s and was a Works Progress Administration project during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
