‘Yes’ to sales tax; Jamestown voters approve means to fund TRAC

Jamestown voters approved a 1 percent sales tax to construct the Two Rivers Activity Center Tuesday. Unofficially, yes votes were tallied at 1,771 with 1,178 no votes, a difference of 593 votes.
“The city of Jamestown has spoken big time,” said Mark Ukestad, a member of the TRAC Board and a commissioner on the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission. “I have the same feeling I had when the school passed (election to approve Jamestown High School project and remodeling of Jamestown Middle School) in 2001. Thanks to all the people who worked so hard.”
Rob Lech, superintendent for Jamestown Public Schools and a member of the TRAC Board, said the vote indicates Jamestown residents are looking forward.
“This says a lot about Jamestown,” he said. “It is indicative of where our community wants to go.”
Voter turnout was described as steady throughout the day at the Jamestown Civic Center polling place, according to Casey Bradley, Stutsman County auditor/chief operating officer. At 7 p.m., there was no line as the last voter, Jerry Van Erem, cast his ballot.
“I voted for it,” he said. “I thought the library thing should have passed, too.”
A quarter-percent sales tax to expand Alfred Dickey Library failed in the November election.
Van Erem was one of 2,064 voters who cast their ballots at the polls Tuesday.
In addition to those who went to the polls Tuesday, approximately 900 people voted early at the Stutsman County Courthouse or through absentee voting, Bradley said.
Bradley said two people were turned away Tuesday because they didn’t have the proper identification necessary to vote.
According to its website, TRAC has been in the planning stages since 2007 when a group started exploring ways to improve the availability of recreational facilities in Jamestown.
“We sent out 20 or 25 letters back in 2007,” said Bob Toso, former superintendent of Jamestown Public Schools. “So many different groups have been involved over the years. It is an incredible feeling.”
Rachel Liechty, president of the TRAC Board of Directors, said the vote is important to Jamestown’s future.
“We believe it was a must for Jamestown,” she said.
The ballot measure did not specify when the sales tax would start. The earliest it could begin is Oct. 1. The measure does specify the tax will be in place until 2035 or until the project’s debt is retired, whichever comes first. The new tax will be in addition to the 5 percent state sales tax and an existing 1 percent city sales tax used for infrastructure and economic development, for a total of a 7 percent sales tax collected.
The sales tax and project drew support from people looking for recreational activities.
“People need a place to work out indoors, especially in the winter,” said Ray Mering. “It can be hard to go running in the middle of winter.”
Some of the opposition felt the sales tax required for the project was too high.
“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Dave Olson.
Olson said he doesn’t like the idea of paying for TRAC with a sales tax. He said he didn’t like that people keep coming back with sales tax requests to fund different projects, like the James River Library System’s quarter-percent sales tax request last fall.
“They keep trying to force everything on us,” he said.
TRAC will be located on land near Jamestown High School. Half of the property, 7.5 acres, needed for the project will be donated by Jamestown Public School in exchange for use of the facility in Jamestown school activities. Jamestown Public Schools will trade an additional 7.5 acres to TRAC for a nearby parcel that Parks and Recreation plans to purchase from Jamestown Regional Medical Center.
The planned 172,000-square-foot facility includes an aquatic center featuring a water slide, lazy river and exercise pool, a childcare facility, three basketball courts, a walking and jogging track, weight training area and an indoor turf field under a dome.
The cost of phase 1 of the project is estimated at $28.6 million.
Phase 2 of the project will be funded by donations and include an enlarged court area and an outdoor water park. The combined costs of phase 1 and phase 2 are about $40 million.
The next steps for the project include the completion of the design by the architects. This will include additional input from the public regarding the details of the interior space.
Once the design is complete, the project could go for bids later this summer, Frank Conlon, TRAC Board member, said during an interview on May 22. The TRAC Board hopes to begin construction this year with completion in about a year.
The TRAC project now becomes an operation of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Department. The TRAC Board will revise its bylaws and become an advisory board to Parks and Recreation on the operations of TRAC.
The 2,994 votes cast in Tuesday’s special election exceeded those cast in the most recent single-issue special election in the city.
On May 5, 2009, 2,306 residents voted on a proposed quiet zone to silence train horns.
The approved quiet zone put safety gates and gear in place at railroad crossings in Jamestown which allowed trains to pass through town without sounding any horns.
Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at 701-952-8452 or by email at knorman@jamestownsun.com