Friends of Red Mountain Park Newsflash July 5th, 2007

Jefferson County Commission Votes to (Partially) Uphold 2005 Funding Pledge

After a long back and forth between the Jefferson County Commission and the Red Mountain Park Commission, a compromise was finally reached and voted through on July 3rd. The County has agreed to pay $4.5 million of its original $7 million pledge to support Red Mountain Park. The money will be paid in one lump sum rather than over a period of 5 years as originally slated. This gives the Park Commission the ability to meet U.S. Steel's land offer extension and formally claim the property set aside for the Park.

Read the Birmingham News article >

The funding had been in doubt since Bettye Fine Collins took over the JeffCo Commission leadership and announced early on that budget woes would prevent the Commissioners from honoring many of its monetary obligations. While it would be easy to fault the County for not following through on their full pledge, it's obvious that their financial pinch is real. Following the sewer saga and the more recent accounting software issues, we should feel lucky to have the majority of our request met, especially coming as it will in one check.

So, what does this mean in real terms for the Park? The immediate benefits are huge:

  • Purchasing the land now from U.S. Steel means we no longer have to go begging for further deadline extensions to their generous offer.
  • With the land soon to be in the hands of the Park Commission, conditional funding from the private and corporate sectors, previously dependent on County funding, can go forward. This is a tremendous step since the Community Foundation estimates current pledges to total around $12 million.
  • A ground breaking date will probably be set soon, and the public will have, for the first time, some access to the property so that all the maps, mockups, and slideshows can exist alongside some real sense of the scope and layout of the property.

One other benefit, and no less tangible, is a confirmation of the effect that an engaged population can have on government policy. There is no doubt that the County's funding compromise was prompted in large part by the enormous outpouring of letters, emails, editorials and well-attended public fundraisers in support of the Red Mountain Park proposal. Thanks to all of you who contributed to that groundswell, and cheers to the Red Mountain Park Commission for not letting the County off the hook.

 
John Cobbs
Friends of Red Mountain Park