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The top of the Ulysses City Council agenda February 12 included discussion about Frazier Park and the January town hall meeting which addressed the city’s plan for the park and what the community wanted for the area. And in a scene reminiscent of last year’s chicken talk, the council chamber was filled nearly to capacity as community members wanted to know what was next.
Mayor Tim McCauley made it clear to the gathered masses that the agenda item was for council discussion, and only very limited public discussion would be allowed because of time considerations and other business the council needed to conduct.
“This is mainly for discussion for the council, tonight,” McCauley said. “To discuss what we kind of learned and saw at the town hall meeting, so we’re going to kind of keep it short, we’re going to keep it up here at the council for now.”
City Administrator Luke Grimes said he put the item on the agenda so the council could discuss what they learned at the town hall, but mainly to set a date and time for a second town hall meeting on the issue. A follow up town hall was always part of the original plan, Grimes added, to “Bring some of our more concrete decisions and ideas for discussion for the community.”
“So, if that’s your intention I think we should set that date tonight and I welcome any discussion, open discussion you want to have,” Grimes added.
The council ultimately set a date for the next town hall – 6 p.m. March 24 – at a location to be determined.
McCauley said he thought the January 13 town hall at Bear Creek Coffee went well and the council learned a lot to put it on the right track and gave the community some input on what they’d like to see.
“We had a lot of opinions shared by you all, by the community,” Grimes said. “At some point we have to get nailed down on the direction we want to go. The big one that comes up is the bandstand that was pretty extensively worked on and planned for (and) budgeted for before my time, but still open for discussion.”
The item was brought up by former city administrator Alan Olson before Covid and the council, at that time, gave permission to go out for bids, but Grimes presumed bids were never requested. The item wasn’t discussed again until recently.
Councilman Terry Maas said the city did received bids, but Grimes has no record of it. Grimes said there are engineering plans for it and $11,000 has been spent on the project so far.
“It comes down to does the council want to get back to pursuing that or keep that on hold or nix it entirely,” Grimes said. “It was voted to budget money for it.”
Councilman Mark Diaz asked if the money previously budgeted was only for the band shell or could it be used for something else. Grimes said it could be used for anything; there’s no legal stipulations.
“I think it’s a worthwhile project, in my eyes,” Maas said. “I know everybody doesn’t feel that way, but we’ve spent money on it. “I think it will get utilized, I think it will be good for not only the churches, but the school, and just the general public. I think it’ll add to our park.”
Diaz asked if the council wanted to discuss it at this time or wait until the town hall, and Grimes said this council meeting was a good time because the council needs to be firm on what it wants to do by the next town hall.
Diaz said his opinion was the bandstand is not needed because there is one already on Main Street that was funded by the city and Pioneer Communications. Diaz shifted the conversation from Frazier Park to Main Street.
“At the end of the day we’re probably looking at $225,000 of money that could be spent on Main Street of Ulysses for other things,” Diaz said. “For it to be used three or four times a year, I don’t believe that it’s a benefit for our community and I think that we need to make sure that we spend our money on things worthwhile.”
Diaz said discussions the past few weeks have shown when potential new employees are shown around town, they are shown other amenities like the civic center and golf course, while Main Street is avoided.
“I think we need to look about what we can do for Main Street and make that the positive and the plus and I would like to see that we spend some money there,” Diaz said. “I don’t think for four times a year to spend $225,000 of our taxpayers’ dollars it’s going to add into more.”
Diaz said the money could be spent on the golf course because it brings tax revenue into the community, or Main Street or other parks. He also said there could be some building maintenance done – specifically the clubhouse – that would be completed before the council spends taxpayer dollars on other things.
“I’m not saying we can’t improve things (at Frazier Park) but I don’t think spending a million dollars or a half-a-million dollars on something we’re going to try to maintain when we’re not taking care of what we’ve got,” Diaz said.
Grimes asked Diaz if his position was to abandon the Frazier Park improvement project, “Is there nothing you want to see going out there?” Grimes asked.
“I would like to bring some things to the table,” Diaz said. “I would like to see the bandstand nixed because I don’t think doing that, by the time you have roadways, cement, that it’s a plus for the community.”
Diaz said there are other venues such as the Ulysses High School football stadium where bands could come to town and play, noting the, what he said was a, million-dollar concession stand out there. The school could benefit from that.
“I think Frazier Park’s a great park, I think it’s a wonderful place and I think we need to maintain it and I think there’s some small things we can add to it and continue for it to grow,” he said. “We own the property to the south and I know there’s some things we could still do out there, but I think we need to be real careful and have our feet on the ground and understand what we’re giving to the community instead of adding more things out there and taking away their tax dollars when I feel, personally, that (the city and) economic development, we’ve neglected Main Street.”
Diaz asked what could be done to bring more businesses to Ulysses.
“We’re not going to bring the big businesses to town, it’s not there, we don’t have the railroad for it, we’re not Hugoton, we don’t have that kind of railroad,” Diaz continued. “But you know what? We can take care of what we have and the only way we’re going to take care of what we have is we step forward; we see the plus of what the people have right here.”
Diaz believes the people are more interested in new businesses to fill up Main Street.
“If Economic Development is not going to step forward for us then what we need to do is stop funding them,” Diaz added. “Take $40,000 and let’s fund the Chamber, let’s give them the money and let them find the businesses because we’re not getting that interest for people to come in so we need to search out whether it’s through Luke because of his strong desire for the community to grow and go through Luke and find out what we can do to even bring the small businesses.”
Diaz continued, asking what the 2 percent tax that was voted on is being used for and what was it allocated for.
“So, let’s take that 2 percent tax and figure out if it’s – I understand it’s in the general fund – it’s not part of what we had planned on doing off of our taxes so even if we have that money, what are we gonna use it for? Let’s figure what we can do to use that money even, because in another five years or six years, we’re gonna lose that 2 percent and everybody’s going to be fighting for that 2 percent tax, whether it’s the county to put in a jail, whether it’s economic development wanting to buy more property and not do anything with it, work against our small business people. I think that’s where us as a council, we need to find out where we’re going to allocate that money, where it’s been allocated, and know we want the best for this community and for the people.”
Grimes said the 2 percent tax was for “Quality of Life Improvements” like Frazier Park.
“Now we have to decide what are those improvements gonna be, bandstand or something else,” Grimes said.
Maas brought the discussion back to Frazier Park, saying he appreciated everything Diaz said.
“But our first topic of discussion was Frazier Park,” Maas said. “We went into a whole realm of things, and that’s fine, because everything ties kind of together. There’s always going to be a sewer system that needs upgrading, there’s always gonna be a fire hydrant that needs replaced, there’s all those infrastructure deals that is our responsibility to take care of.
“But it’s also our responsibility to take something that we have that’s really beautiful and add to it, maybe take some things away – I don’t know – but I think we’re getting way off track.”
Maas said the purpose of the meeting was Frazier Park and what would make it better, and he thought the bandshell was a good add and said the city could work deals on some of the construction supplies. He doesn’t want it to be “wiped out” because the city has already spent $11,000 on the engineering of it.
“We’re never gonna make everybody happy, I understand that,” Maas added. “We do our best, I mean, that’s all I can tell you. We want to make something that we have – Frazier Park – golf course included, walking trails included, we want to make it better,” Maas added. “We don’t want to pit people against each other, that wasn’t the intention of our meeting. We want your input; we value your input. I value what you have to say, Mark, I do, but I’d like to hear from some other members of the council on what we can do to Frazier Park since Frazier Park is the discussion.”
Terry Dimmitt said the golf course is the centerpiece of Frazier Park and asked about the golf clubhouse.
“Do we repair it, remodel it a little bit, or tear it down and start over?” Dimmitt asked. “I think we need to decide whether that’s a remodel, repair or restructure.”
Councilman John Duran said he has nothing against the bandshell, saying it can be another attraction for the park. More camping spots and better roads are also needed, Duran said, adding the city needs to disperse the money around, including Main Street and other parks.
“We’re gaining on things, it’s taking time,” Duran said. “And it’s not going to be done tomorrow.”
Councilman Caleb Woods said there’s no reason why the city can’t work on all the parks in town, as well as Main Street.
“I don’t think there’s no reason why we can’t work on both,” Woods said. “To me, it’s investments in our community, it’s not just giving money away.”
McCauley envisions a clubhouse/Frazier Park Community Center.
“I think there’s people down there who would love to go in and get a drink, get something to eat,” McCauley said. “They hear clubhouse they think you’ve got to be a golfer to do it. I think we need to nix that right off the bat. Maybe build something different, maybe, I don’t know where at, but I think that needs to be upgraded.
“That’s what I see down there is more of a community gathering spot for everybody to enjoy.”
Grimes said he would get with each council member individually to gauge their favorability on each item.
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