02/24/2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Regular Council Meeting February 24, 2014 Page 4 15. Presentation from Dr. Swint about Lake Crook Park. Mayor Hashmi said the Swints made a generous donation to the city and that Dr. Swint wanted to make a presentation about some of his ideals. Dr. Swint referenced the parks, open space and recreation plan that was adopted in December 2013. He said there was a public hearing and no one spoke at the public hearing. He said the plan references 3,000 acres of land but that the City only owned 1,500 acres and the information was not correct. Dr. Swint said Lake Crook was the largest lake in the State owned by a city. He also said all of the land should be used as a public park for things such as a petting zoo, floral gardens, cabins and crepe myrtle trails. He further said the Council should rescind the ordinance approved in December and consider a vote. 16. Presentation and discussion of a report from a council committee for development of Cox Field Airport. Council Member Lancaster presented a report on Cox Field and depicted photographs of the history of the airport. She said the airport was built by the army during the war in 1942 and that it was built for training and protective use. She said at one time Central Airlines flew out of Cox Field. Council Member Lancaster said the committee discussed extending the runways, adding hangars, building access roads and referenced the airport master plan dated 2011. She said it was important to market this wonderful asset in order to develop the airport to its fullest potential. Council Member Drake said she wanted to move forward with development of the airport. Council Member Frierson confirmed that members of the Airport Advisory Board, the PEDC Board and a couple of council members served on the committee. Council Member Grossnickle said it was an excellent presentation and suggested they look at ways to fund construction of additional hangars. Council Member Jenkins said the presentation was very interesting. Council Member Wright said he was happy that the committee was pursuing all avenues and that he would like for them to continue with national exposure. Mayor Hashmi said the Airport and Lake Crook were city properties and were not being given away. He said any development would go through due process. In addition, Mayor Hashmi said the U.S. Military had previously used the airport and letters had been written to the U.S. Military inquiring if they had an interest in doing so again. He said good responses had been received, but it was too early to know if this was going to take place. 17. Discuss and act on incentives to encourage and assist downtown property owners and tenants to improve their facilities. A Motion to remove this item from the table was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Mayor Hashmi referenced the U.S. Conference of Mayors best practices website and encouraged everyone to explore the site. He said there was a lot of information with regard to what other cities were undertaking and specifically referred to sections on vacant and abandoned properties, grants, and public and private partnerships.