Town continues on master plan for its park
Jay's Fiscal Year 2018-19 total budget of $1,196,144 was approved at the Monday, Oct. 1, but this year's total is almost a million dollars less than last year's budget of $2,197,982.
The reason for such a large difference, according to Jay Project Manager Eric Seib, is because the town included an anticipated $650,000 grant in its budget last year, but did not this year.
“We did not include the grant this year in the budget,” said Seib. “We anticipated receiving it last year so we included it, but not in this year's budget.”
The $650,000 USDA grant will help the town replace much of its cast iron water pipes with PVC and improve other parts of the water distribution system.
The changes in total appropriated expenditures and reserves are for the following: the General Fund went from $660,629 to $510,144; the Water and Sewer Fund went from $1,328,253 to $502,000; and the Natural Gas Fund went from $209,100 to $184,000.
Totals for ad valorem tax went from $82,582 last year to $104,114 following an increased millage rate from 2 to 2.5 and total estimated revenues went from $2,197,982 to $1,186,114.
“Anytime you have grant revenue, you have to include that,” said Jay Mayor Shon Owens. “It's money in and money out. That's why we made the decision to keep it more of a meat and potatoes budget. You have to think of it as what it takes to run the town as though you were not getting any grant money at all.”
Owens said the town strives to get what grants it can, but at the same time people need to understand what it takes to run a town.
“That's why we've had the rate increases, to find ways to deal with the difficulty of maintaining sewer plants and water system and so on,” he said.
New bleachers
Jay residents who attend games and events will see a new set of mobile bleachers by year's end, following Commissioner Don Salter's request for $40,121 to carry forward unspent funds for one set of 40 foot by 19.5 foot bleachers from recreation funds as approved at the June 14 Santa Rosa County Commissioner's meeting.
“They expect delivery in November,” said Seib. “Well be able to move them around, so we can use them for parades, to support any festivities that we have, any events where we need seating and do not have it.”
Seib said the bleachers have wheels, allowing them to be hooked up to a vehicle and driven, and do not require being loaded or unloaded to be put to use.
“You just drive them to where they need to be, set them up, then tear them down when you are done,” said Seib.
He said the mobility makes the bleachers such an asset for recreation in Jay.
Owens says he is pushing to bring sporting and other events to Jay but is aware the town has needs that have to be addressed in order to make that happen.
“We have found being in a rural community, there are other areas where seating is needed,” said Owens. “With events like the rodeo and the T-Ball World Series, we didn't have enough seating. By them being portable, we will be able to take them to other parts of the community.”
In other business, the town of Jay is considering applying for a Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program (FRDAP), a recreation-based grant that will benefit the master plan to redesign Bray-Hendricks Park for better accessibility and easier flow.
A meeting to discuss how to utilize the funds was scheduled for Wednesday (yesterday) at 3 p.m., weather permitting. Plans on how the funds will be utilized must be in place before the application process can begin.
Owens said the funds may be used for a new playground, if moving it to another location as part of the master plan would make it more feasible. He noted that the funds would be used to upgrade the existing playground if it stays in the same location.
“Since were working on new master plan for the park, we need to make some decisions about
where the playground will be,” he said. “We're trying to make the fields be more geographically located to concessions, so you don't have to walk so far, and make it an easier flow. We may have to move the playground.”
Owens said the master plan is about 80 percent complete and work on the remaining 20 percent is on-going.
“It's one of my passions, to work hard and get a new park for the community,” said Owens. “Its very important to me.”
