Jammie Garrett
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Aug 15, 2023, 3:30 PM
to Rusty, me, Greg, kevin.stafford@neel-schaffer.com, Keith
Good Afternoon Ms. Sorrells,
Please forgive me for not acknowledging your Public Information Request, we are in the heart of Budget and I’m trying to do a so much at once. However, I still should have made time to acknowledge that I received your request. When I received an email on Friday, that was the first I knew of your request and I responded back to you promptly. You asked for the application of the MLB Grant and I sent you the Information Form/Application which I initially sent MLB. Your second request came at a time I was working on the Agenda but I did calendar out seven days to respond to you and as you stated I still have time to answer. I initially sent in the Information Form/Application on December 28, 2022. I got an email back only days later that the application was missing information. I realized I didn’t attach the Letter of Inquiry and Budget Template to the Information Form/Application. The City Engineer offered to help as he does often but I had everything, I just attached the wrong document. I resent it and got a call a few days later that it would not be reviewed because although I had the correct documents attached we did not have secured funding for 50% of much of what was Field and Lighting. I hate I do not have the young lady’s name, I am sure if I search my office I will find that I wrote it on something. What I sent included the costs from the masterplan project. I told her about our request to the legislature to extend the 2% Tax for ten years and she said that although they did not require a match, the City had to have 50% of the funding secured for field and lighting capital projects. At that time we did not so there was no rush to get it submitted as it is a revolving grant opportunity with no deadline. If my memory serves me correctly, the City learned in April that it was granted the 10 year extension on the 2% Tax. Greg Lewis and I resumed collecting information and working on the budget proposal after hours as I did not have time to meet with him during the normal work day. In meetings on Propst Park, Mayor Gaskin and Councilman Greene expressed caution for taking out a Bond and asked about the status of the Grant and I told them we needed more information because the Budget Template had changed from what we were initially working on and it was my schedule that was the problem. Mayor Gaskin even asked if I thought we should give it over to someone else and I said no because by that point we had done a good amount of the work. Recently, Greg Lewis and I agreed we needed new renderings, which I have requested, to condense the plan down to what the City Council actually approved. The initial masterplan was $27,131,500.00 and featured a five field wheel. The only funding the City will have for the improvements will be $4,400,000 and the new plan requires converting youth softball fields to youth baseball fields and converting youth baseball to youth softball. There is also a question whether Turf Fields are needed. In fact, there is now a question about adult softball which was not in the plan submitted to the City Council but seems to be something many from the community want. Every time I think we are done, there is more information needed and I would hate to diminish our chances, which I think are really promising, just to say I am done. As of today, we are missing salaries and stipends for the future work done on the project. I scheduled a meeting yesterday for the Mayor, CFO, City Attorney, Councilman Jones, Councilman Beard, City Engineer and Parks & Rec Director on Monday at 2:30pm. This will be our second meeting since the Petition failed where we discuss the procurement process and scope of work. At that meeting, I hope to get a clear consensus on bidding time frames because this Grant requires actual estimates obtained by vendors/suppliers and I know the City Engineer and Parks & Rec Director have only just started writing up the scope of work. I need to know how to gage what percentage of work will the current Parks & Recreation Staff provide for this improvement project. Specifically, Parks & Rec has a licensed contractor on staff but I am not sure what percentage of his time will go to this project, if any. I am also concerned that because the Feasibility Study has not begun that I will not have a true reflection of maintenance expenses to add to the projected expenses. Not to mention, we have not had a sit down with Columbus Light & Water yet. The Mayor suggested that we meet weekly or bi-weekly on the Propst Park Improvements, and I agree it’s needed. Yesterday in the Mayor’s Cabinet meeting I updated the group on the status of the MLB Grant, that I received a records request from you and that answering you was on my list of priorities for the week. Thank you for your journalistic integrity in giving me an opportunity to respond. I feel it is important to take this time out and explain this because you mentioned Councilman Greene and I know how passionate he is about wanting to see Propst Park flourish. I would never want him to think I disregarded a request from him. I respect him and the work and concern he has for his constituents too much for that. In fact, I dread telling him every time he asks, which he does often, that I need more information but the reality is I do. So to make things abundantly clear, there is no Grant Application being reviewed by MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation because we do not have all of the information needed to submit it successfully for review. As mentioned earlier, we are in the Budget Process right now and you will be happy to learn that the City hopes to budget for a grant writer/coordinator so the city will not suffer from my inadequacies in grant writing as it will have someone who has the time devote to it. In fact, I attended a meeting on Friday with a reputable grant writer with significant connections to the community and those in the legislature. I am attaching what was sent, and what we have prepared to include when we have everything needed. I am also attaching the excel spreadsheets of the first template and the new one because they are pretty hard to see in print. Have a great day.
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