Mebane’s city council members decided Thursday afternoon they wanted “all of the above,” opting to buy properties for both a northside and southside park, in addition to prioritizing $6 million to start construction on a new fire station (the city’s fourth) on the west side of the city.
The fire station has been a high priority for the city council, and city manager Richard J. White, III had penciled in the $6 million expenditure into his preliminary budget that he outlined to council members Thursday afternoon.
The real dilemma for the council members was whether to take on the additional debt, and annual interest payments, associated with the two new parks. Technically, they would be paid for out of a separate fund, but doing so also exhausts that fund, leaving no leftover money for the fire station. Thus the city would have to borrow the entire $6 million for the fire station.
The council grappled with trying to get a handle on how much more it would cost to buy one or both of the two properties under consideration for new parks. Finance director Daphna Schwartz ultimately prepared comparisons (during a 20-minute break in the council’s Thursday afternoon meeting) showing that taking that approach would result in about $200,000 more per year for the next 20 years to pay in interest, or $3.6 million over that time period.
Southside park on West Ten Road
The mayor, who doesn’t vote except in cases of a tie, was needed to cast the deciding vote on the southside park, along West Ten Road, beyond Gravelly Hill Middle School.
Voting in favor of spending $1.5 million for 50 acres were mayor pro tem Tim Bradley and councilman Jonathan White. Opposed were council members Montrena Hadley and Sean Ewing, who had continued to raise concerns about the wisdom and safety of having both a city park, and Orange County’s proposed new elementary school, in area which is otherwise designated as a largely industrial zone.
Ewing also pointed out that the northside park was actually closer to large southside residential developments, such as Cambridge Park off Jones Road, than the proposed southside park location on West Ten Road beyond Gravelly Hill Middle School.
Council member Katie Burkholder had told her colleagues during Monday’s regular monthly meeting that she would be unable to attend because of a long-planned family vacation.
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With the vote tied 2-2, mayor Ed Hooks cast the deciding vote in favor of purchasing the property. Hooks recalled after the meeting that it was only the third or fourth time he could remember being called on to break a tie during his six years as mayor.
Recreation and parks director Aaron Davis told the council prior to the vote that the 50 acre-parcel would provide for larger soccer fields aimed at over-10 youth. He also said the ability to put the fields close to each other would save money for maintenance and supervision in the future.
[Story continues below graphic of potential layout for the southside park.]
Southside park
Bradley said earlier in the meeting that finding a park on the south side of the city had been “the priority we pushed the staff to find.”
He also said for the long term, it was an important investment. “If we don’t, will we be wishing five years from now that we did.”
Hooks had also noted that “there’s just no land on the southside,” unless the city was prepared to pay the higher prices offered by residential or industrial developers, which it wasn’t.
The purchase is contingent on the owner seeking rezoning for light industrial use, which allows a park, for the 50 acres.
[Editor’s note and correction: an earlier story said that an additional 500 additional acres owned by the same landowner would also be zoned light industrial. That is not a requirement of the city’s purchase, but merely an expectation, based on the city’s discussions with the landowner, Gordon Brown.]
“More bang for your buck” to buy northside park
Less controversial was an earlier vote, 3-1, in favor of spending $1.4 million to buy the 37 acres for the northside park, on land owned by former council member Jill Auditori. Council members expressed optimism about being able to couple that purchase with an additional 20 acres of adjacent property already owned by the city from an “orphaned” portion of the nearby city-owned Cates Farm Park, which was divided by the NC 119 bypass; they also hope to get a .75-acre parcel owned by N.C. DOT.
Bradley, White, and Ewing supported buying that parcel; Hadley was opposed.
Bradley had said the city got more “bang for your buck” because of the ability to join the land with existing city-owned land. Bradley pointed out that, coupled with $43,444 per acre for the Auditori land and the adjacent acres, reduced the effective price of the purchase.
Councilman White said he was “very convinced” that the northside park land was a “good deal” for the city.
Recreation and parks director Davis said the topography of the land would lend itself to smaller ballfields and perhaps disc golf.
[Story continues below graphic of potential park layout.]
Northside park
After the meeting, in an interview with The Alamance News, Hadley elaborated on her reasons for opposing both purchases. She said she is concerned that the purchases would contribute to a likely property tax increase for Mebane residents in the upcoming budget, which she strongly opposes.
Tax increase on the horizon for 2026-2027 budget
In fact, during another portion of the meeting, city manager White his preliminary budget, which already includes a 2-cent property tax increase – raising the rate from 37 to 39 cents per $100 valuation.
White said he had included in his preliminary budget the $6 million needed for the fire station and $1.5 million for the southside park.
He had not included the additional $1.4 million for the additional northside park.
The preliminary budget includes nine new employees funded through the general fund and another two whose pay is provided via the water and sewer fund.
