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Regular Council Meeting March 24, 2014 Page 5 property to be between $390,000 up to over $500,000. He said that in 2008, the Aerofit property was on the tax roll for 1.1 million dollars. Mayor Hashmi said the previous owners of Aerofit had the first right of refusal; that if the City purchases the property the hospital has indicated they would be willing to give the City a parking lot; and that if Council wished to pursue this further that additional information would be obtained. Mayor Hashmi also said they could not look at a recreation center as a profitable endeavor, but rather as a service to the citizens. Council Member Drake said this would be good for the youth and would like more details. Council Member Frierson said the concept was good and he would like to see more numbers. Council Member Grossnickle said it was a good idea and was willing to consider if everything worked out. He inquired if there were covenants and City Attorney Kent McIlyar said they were still in place and that would have to be addressed. It was a consensus of the City Council that more information was needed and Mayor Hashmi asked that this item continued to be placed on future agendas. 15. Receive presentation from Mayor Hashmi regarding the Lake Crook Project. Mayor Hashmi said there were a lot of rumors circulating, which is why he wanted to give this presentation. He began his presentation with objectives for the project, one of which was to create higher paying jobs and hopefully result in a growth to the tax base without increasing taxes. Mayor Hashmi said the lake was not going to be sold; that the president of Pakistan was not buying the lake or coming to live in Paris, Texas; that the water was not going to be sold; that there were no money laundering deals going on; and that there was no secret plan being hidden by the Council. Mayor Hashmi said this Council had been most active, transparent and the City Council kept to its word when they promised to conduct the 45 million dollar bond and not raise taxes or water rates. He emphasized this Council's achievements with beginning with a new infrastructure plan, dilapidated houses had been demolished, that tax delinquent properties were sold, and that progress had been made toward general cleanup of the City, curtailed excessive and inappropriate use to taxpayer's monies, and above all brought more transparency to the government. Mayor Hashmi said in order to reach the objective, there needed to be a large development, or a park similar to Disney or Six Flags, or a simpler project primarily to be used by Lamar County and surrounding areas. He said the Council had been looking at creation and allocation of land for trails around the lake for biking and skating; creation of open park spaces; allocation of land around the lake for development of cafes and restaurants; development of a city owned golf course; incorporation of both Archers for Christ and the Gun Club into the project; and boating on the lake and facilities for fishing and other sports. He referenced the possibility of creation of some sort of residential property without encroachment on the lake, where the citizens have complete and total access to the lake for their use and at the same time, the City generates money from property taxes. Mayor Hashmi depicted slides from other resort areas that included planned development sub - zones. He said it was a fact that Lake Crook had been neglected for years. Mayor Hashmi outlined obstacles that would have to be overcome, such as Federal Regulations, Corps of Engineers, EPA, and finances. He also said that the development, sale, lease of any project around US waterways and lakes were controlled by the Army Corp of Engineers and were federally regulated. Mayor Hashmi pointed out that the waters' edge belonged to the Corp. He emphasized that the lake