City Council Hears from Blue Ribbon Committee

A 45-minute presentation from Grove's Blue Ribbon Committee highlighted this week's City Council meeting, with all five councilmen in attendance. About 100 citizens attended the meeting Tuesday night, set up in the large room at the community center, which is itself a walking advertisement for the need for new facilities.

Highlights of the presentation:

--Sell the present Civic Center (currently a negative cash flow of $190,000 per year)
--Buy the Cornerstone Church with proceeds and a bank loan.
--Remodel church facilities and add a 50,000 square foot convention/trade center, for use 7 days a week for meetings, banquets, conferences, entertainment, wedding receptions, dog shows, boat shows, graduation ceremonies, fundraising events.
--Remodel the children's sanctuary into a banquet room for 300 persons.
--Include a therapeutic indoor pool in the new center, for swim lessons, therapy, exercise.
--Build an outdoor "no frills" pool adjacent to the new Community Center with zero beach entry, water slide, six swim lanes, diving boards, and party pavilion/shade structures. Cost estimated at $3 million, paid for with a 40-year loan from the Department of Agriculture at 4.1% interest repaid at $152,704 per year. The city would need to come up with $94,241 for operations.

By purchasing the Cornerstone Church the city would have an immediately available facility for use with a 750-seat auditorium that could be expanded to 1,000 seats, plus 22,000 square feet of meeting rooms and offices. The 50,000 square foot addition would be built of tip-up concrete with no pillars, a cement floor with a versatile synthetic cover for basketball and volleyball courts, a walking/running track, two racquetball courts, dressing rooms and showers. A commercial kitchen would also be added to the existing church building. Asking price for the church is $3.9 million.

Architectural renderings of what the facilities would look like were prepared by local architect Dennis Brown. Craig Payne, a Tulsa developer, outlined possibilities for new businesses to be built on the present Center site, including a new Reasor's and other businesses. After the presentations Council had no questions regarding the issues.

City Council must now consider what to do with the study.

In the April election contest, three councilors running for office made the following statements regarding the Civic Center/Pool issue: (Note: Candidate statements on the GrovePAC website have recently been removed after they were published several weeks ago in The Observer, on the issue of support for the Police Department) The GrovePAC website previously stated that money from the Simmons gas payment "will be used for some sort of perk like a new Civic Center or Water Park." But then Troy Kyman, chairman of GrovePAC, later stated that "everybody in Grove is in favor of a new swimming pool."

Larry Parham: "I would like to see a multi-purpose facility if it is financially possible, to house events such as the Home Show, meeting facilities, indoor musical presentations and also include a walking area. The method of payment cannot be a tax in any form to the citizens of Grove and the questions should be brought to a vote by the public to allow the citizens to make the choice." (Source: Grove Chamber of Commerce Questionnaire)

Gary Trippensee: "I currently support selling the existing Center only if a new center is available for occupancy. A new center should be capable of housing all of the events that are currently supported. In addition, it should have better acoustics for musical events; be able to be partitioned for multiple simultaneous uses; have several breakout rooms; updated kitchen and larger eating area, better showers, better outside RV hookups, and emergency power capability. If funds are available an indoor pool would be nice. Easy access with large parking facilities would also be required." (Source, Grove Chamber of Commerce Questionnaire.)

Mike Davenport: "I would support the sale of the current Civic Center if a new facility could be built affordably and was approved by the voters. I recognize that the current location of the Civic Center could bring in increased sales taxes and the possibility exists to have a facility with a better location, parking and designed for multiple uses. I will work to bring the community together to achieve this goal. The design and uses of a new Civic Center should be prepared with the help of a quality architecture firm that captures the spirit of Grove. This can only be accomplished with the input of the Blue Ribbon Committee supported by a strong community involvement." (Source: Grove Chamber of Commerce Questionnaire.)

In other action:

--Debbie Mavity, assistant city manager, was surprised with a certificate for Employee of the Month, for her service as acting city manager the past four months.

--council tabled action on an amendment to Zoning Ordinance 527 regarding exterior construction and design requirements.

--Approved a proposal from Blackshare Enviornmental Solutions for a $3,000 stormwater pollution prevention plan at the Grove airport.

--Renewed a lease agreement with DocServices Program, which provides meals for homebound citizens and at the Senior Center, last year estimated at 42,000 meals.

--Approved a resolution authorizing a REAP Grant Application to Grand Gateway for an irrigation project for Lendonwood Gardens, which would still be subject to approval from GRDA and the Corps of Engineers. This would provide for a water line from the lake up the hill to Lendonwood.

--Authorized advertisement for letters of interest to fill the vacant seat on the GIDA board.

--approved amendments to the city manager's employment contract regarding designations as General Manager of the authorities.

--announced a joint meeting with Planning & Zoning for Aug. 6 regarding exterior construction requirements.

--terminated the services of Camiros LTD as zoning consultants.