City Council to talk skate park, recycling Tuesday

Lynchburg City Council has a busy agenda to dig into when it meets for a work session today at 1 p.m.

Council is scheduled to consider issues ranging from the tax status of the new skate park to the future of the city’s recycling program.

Amazement Square has asked that its new Rotary Centennial Riverfront Skatepark be declared tax-exempt.

The taxable value of the park property situated near the city’s riverfront has risen by more than 1,640 percent since the skate-boarding facility was unveiled last year.

The city — which donated the property to Amazement Square along with making a financial contribution to the project — originally granted the park a $2,000 tax rebate with the understanding further assistance would be applied for once that money ran out.

The park’s tax bill for this fis-cal year is roughly $5,013 — up from about $288 last year.

Amazement Square is seeking formal tax-exempt status for the facility. City staff, in a memo to council, advises that such requests are generally discouraged locally.

Alternate proposals put for-ward are to continue offering Amazement Square a tax rebate or to buy back the property, which would take it off the tax rolls, and lease it to the children’s organization for a nominal sum.

Other issues scheduled for debate during today’s session are:

- A proposal to build an off-leash dog park in the Blackwater Creek Athletic Area off Monticello Avenue. The results of a feasibility study undertaken by a committee of city administrators and citizen volunteers will be presented for council’s consid-eration.

Supporters are suggesting the project be approved with the understanding all capital funds are to come from private donations. The city has been asked to pay half of the future maintenance costs, roughly estimated to be $2,000 a year.

- A staff report concerning the possible implementation of curbside recycling, a service not currently offered in Lynchburg.

Staff is recommending the city move to curbside pickup slowly, if at all. A private curbside ser-vice is expected to begin early next year. Officials are hopeful the new business will provide curbside supporters with the choice they’ve been seeking.

- A report on the local economic outlook and its implications for the city budget. This presentation will also include an examination of the city’s current list of major improvement projects.

City Council will also hold a regular business meeting today at 5 p.m. The agenda for that ses-sion is lighter, but does include two public hearings.

The first hearing concerns several changes suggested for the citizens advisory board assembled to weigh in on the use of Community Development Block Grant and Home Investment Partnerships Program funds.

The city is proposing to increase the number of citizen advisers it employs and beef up the advisory board’s meeting schedule.

The second hearing deals with a request from the Appalachian Power Company, which is seeking a right-of-way over city property to supply power to the new Spring Hill Suites by Marriott under construction near the Lynchburg Regional Airport.

All meetings of council take place at City Hall, 900 Church St.