A trail easement needed to formalize, on paper, the connection between the County Club Hills neighborhood and Daniels Run Park became slightly contentious at the Fairfax City Council meeting, Tuesday, July 10.
After several recent meetings lasting late into the night, the City Council adjourned while the sun was still shining. However, a few members did spend some time discussing whether the $20,000 payment to the Country Club Hills Recreation Corporation, or CCHRC, was a fair business plan.
"I don’t think this is a good deal for the citizens of the City of Fairfax," said Councilmember Gary Rasmussen. "To pay more money on an ongoing basis, forever. Yes it costs us more to condemn it, but … I don’t think the recreation association is being a good neighbor."
While the $20,000 is good for 20 years for the easement, the city would have to go back every five years thereafter and pay another $4,000, plus inflation, said Dave Hodgkins, the city’s finance director.
The city already uses the three trails in question and has for about 30 years. But according to the staff report, CCHRC and city representatives negotiated an "apparent agreement that took the legal form of a license granted by the then president of CCHRC." City staff was unable to conclude whether the license had gone through a City Council adoption process. Since then, both the city and CCHRC have followed the license terms, but both city staff and CCHRC desire a more formal agreement to continue using the trails that cover about a 12,000-square-foot portion of the CCHRC’s property.
Councilmember Scott Silverthorne said he reluctantly supported the deal because managers of community pools, such as the CCHRC, need to find "more creative ways to solve their financial difficulties."
"It will help them; it’s a small price to pay," he said. "There’s a larger issue … pools are just not at the same level of popularity as when [Councilmember] Jeff Greenfield and I were kids."
Some councilmembers agreed the money was a small price to pay, but some felt it did not need to be paid in the first place. Councilmember Joan Cross echoed Rasmussen’s thoughts on the deal, pointing out the city’s ongoing service contributions to the CCHRC property over the years. She said the CCHRC does not appear to be grateful for the mowing, trash removal, free water, security lights and the pool’s tax-exempt status, all provided by the city for years.
"I feel we’re not getting a cooperative attitude from the pool folks," said Cross. "Now we’re asking to pay $20,000 for a very small right-of-way."
In the end, council approved the deal, with Cross and Rasmussen voting against it.
IN OTHER Council news:
* Councilmembers approved an ordinance allowing the city to award lease financing for the Eleven Oaks School property, 10515 School St., to the winning bidder. The city already closed on the property, said Hodgkins, but the ordinance was needed to secure the financing, which is not to exceed $4,210,000. The city also approved a resolution to fund the acquisition of the property.
* In a work session discussion, councilmembers heard a staff presentation about a proposed four-story addition to the Fairfax Nursing Center, 10701 Main St. The council approved an almost identical proposal in 1999, but because of funding, the nursing center never built the addition, and the application expired in 2001. Since then, the city’s floodplain was re-mapped and now included a small portion of the property where the proposed building addition would exist. The nursing center will need a special use permit to build in the floodplain. The center will also need a special exception because the city has designated the entire city as a Resource Management Area, pertaining to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation, since the original application. Nick Colonna, a city planner, said the application is essentially identical, minus those two minor changes. City Council will hold a public hearing sometime in September to approve it.