The city of Moscow is moving forward with plans to pay an architect about $9,500 to design a 12-court competitive horseshoe pit facility at Mountain View Park that it does not have the money to build.
Members of the Moscow City Council debated the merits of the plan Monday evening at city hall and ended up approving it 5-1.
Councilor Walter Steed, the lone dissenting voice, requested the horseshoe pit facility item be considered separately from the council’s consent agenda, where it might have otherwise passed without discussion.
Parks and Recreation Director Dwight Curtis said architect design services would cost up to $9,500, based on what was billed for a similar facility in the Boise area.
That $9,500 comes from Parks and Recreation’s approximately $37,000 annual park design and planning budget line item.
He said the total cost of the completed horseshoe pit facility would be $80,000 to $110,000, depending on amenities. The entire facility, when completed, would be paid for with a combination of city funds, private donations and, potentially, grant money.
He said the location of the facility makes sense and that the pits would require little ongoing maintenance.
“All the infrastructure is already there,” he said. “The ground is relatively level. It just needs some basic earthwork done to get it stabilized — just those normal things.”
Councilor Sue Scott, voicing her support for the facility, described it as “low-hanging fruit” because the park already has infrastructure, like a paved road and parking lot.
But Steed cautioned that by approving a $9,500 design phase, the council would effectively be committing itself to spending up to another $150,000 in future years to complete the facility.
“I’m sorry, I can’t reach $100,000 of low-hanging fruit,” he said. “... You wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars designing a media room in your house, or a shop or a rec room, without having some idea of how you’re going to build it.”
He said he supports the idea of the horseshoe pit facility but can’t support spending so much city money on it. He challenged horseshoe enthusiasts to raise more than the $5,000 already pledged.
Curtis defended the facility and said in addition to competitive and general public use, local schools could use it for their physical education classes.
“There is no reason why, just because this is horseshoes and isn’t a glamor sport of some sort, that this can’t be a first-class facility,” he said. “... What is wrong with Moscow having a nice facility? If it costs us more money, OK, it costs us more money, but there was never anything in this plan that said we’ll build it this year.”
Councilor Dan Carscallen said, “If you build it, they will come.”
“If we can get a design, then there’s a target for the fundraising,” he said.
Scott concurred and said horseshoe technology won’t change anytime soon.
“If it takes five years, six years, seven years to raise the money, the plan will still be good,” she said. “It’s not like we’ll have to start over.”
Council President Wayne Krauss said horseshoes don’t cost anything, and it’s good to have the recreation option available “as times get tough and families are not able to go as far away on vacation.”
In other business:
- Councilors voted unanimously to accept a $420,734 COPS Hiring Program Grant award that will restore three years’ of funding for two police officer positions eliminated because of budget cuts. The positions to be restored are a school resource officer and a traffic officer.
- Councilors heard a report about the city’s draft Comprehensive Water System Plan, which is now in a public comment phase. Members of the public can view and comment on the plan at city hall through Nov. 7.
- Debbie Bell’s second-grade class at McDonald Elementary School presented a “thank you” banner to the council for keeping the city safe. “We have been studying community service and what we can do to help, what’s special about our community and what makes it so fantastic here in Moscow,” Bell said. Mayor Nancy Chaney thanked the children for their good work and said the banner will be displayed in city hall for the next couple of weeks.
Holly Bowen can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by email to hbowen@dnews.com. Follow her on Twitter: @DailyNewsHolly
