FEBRUARY 4, 2010 ISSUE
Watauga County Explores Opportunity for New Recreation Center
The Watauga County Board of Commissioners this week instructed county staff to look into the feasibility of borrowing up to $12 million in stimulus bond funding—available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—and research possible architects for the creation of a new county recreation center that, if the project receives funding, would be located on a two-acre building pad adjacent to the new Watauga High School.
“No decision has been made. It’s not a done deal by any means, but we’re working with the commissioners with that goal in mind,” explained Watauga County Manager Robert “Rocky” Nelson. “This is just preliminary work.
“After closed session [on February 1] the board discussed the opportunity for some stimulus bond funding and instructed county staff to look into the feasibility of borrowing up to $12 million from the federal government. The purpose of the funding is to build a new county recreation center,” said Nelson. “The board instructed staff to look for architects interested in the project and of the feasibility of borrowing the money. We are doing that at the same time because we understand the [federal stimulus] money is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.”
If awarded stimulus bond funding, Watauga County would only have to pay 55 percent of the interest on the loan, as the federal government would pay 45 percent of the interest, like with other stimulus loans, according to Nelson. “That knocks our interest rate down to about half,” added Nelson.
“The stimulus is focusing on shovel-ready projects, so we are looking into the feasibility of if we can complete the project in a timely fashion to get the money,” said Nelson.
Nelson said the county would host public meetings and public hearings on the project, per protocol, if the project were given the green light by the government.
While constructing the new Watauga High School, Nelson said the county installed a two-acre, rough-graded building pad adjacent to the high school site that could be used as the footprint for the new recreation center.
Two weeks ago, the commissioners received the final draft of the Citizens’ Plan for Watauga, Watauga County’s new comprehensive plan. The plan was created using years of citizen input and a recurring theme identified in the plan is a need for a county recreation center.
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