A NEW NORTHAM PARK: City of Upper Arlington officials have big, expensive plans to renovate a popular park
Central Ohio voters who approved a recent tax hike for “vital repairs” to local infrastructure are furious with officials pushing an expensive park project.
Several members of the City Council in Upper Arlington, a wealthy suburb of Columbus, will face recall elections this winter if activists from a group calling itself Save Northam Park succeed in an ongoing petition drive.
Proposed Northam Park renovations — cutting down more than 100 mature trees and relocating baseball diamonds and tennis courts to make room for a promenade, indoor recreation center and outdoor event space — would cost at least $14 million.
Save Northam Park spokeswoman Caroline Lahrmann told Ohio Watchdog the project is not what Upper Arlington voters had in mind in 2014, when they passed Issue 23, a 0.5 percent income tax increase to pay for infrastructure repairs.
“Residents are concerned that so much of the Issue 23 tax increase that the city promised would go to streets, curbs, water and sewer lines is now going to a park for more than just normal repairs,” Lahrmann said.
Northam Park is home to Tremont Pool, which would be replaced as part of the renovations, but Lahrmann noted Upper Arlington “has at least 20 parks” and the Northam Park plan could consume the city’s parks budget for the next decade.
The city — in its annual report, media interviews and at public forums — says Issue 23 would fund a Capital Improvement Program, including projects such as the Northam Park renovation, community affairs director Emma Speight said in an email to Ohio Watchdog.
“There are many instances where park improvements are included in the city’s outreach in the lead up Issue 23,” Speight said.
But at least one City mailer assured voters 100 percent of revenue generated from Issue 23 “will be dedicated to improving our roads, curbs and gutters, bridges and underground water and sewer lines.”
Campaign fliers from Citizens for UA’s Future, the political action committee in favor of Issue 23, were equally misleading.
The logo used by the Issue 23 tax hike campaign
“Issue 23 will be dedicated to repairing our streets, curbs, and water and sewer lines,” multiple Citizens for UA’s Future mailers asserted. The campaign emphasized the need for “vital repairs” to “100-year-old infrastructure,” and didn’t mention park upgrades.
Lahrmann said Save Northam Park is concerned the city plans to move ahead with the Northam Park project, despite strong indications the public is against it.
Due largely to his support for the Northam Park renovation, Upper Arlington City Council president Don Leach was voted out of office in November.
As many as 700 residents of the city of 34,000 attended a town hall meeting on the Northam Park project in August. Roughly 70 percent voiced opposition to the city’s plans, Lahrmann said; six of seven council members voted to proceed, anyway.
“Our goal is to have a special election so the public has an opportunity to vote on this controversial issue before the city starts demolishing the park and cutting down trees,” Lahrmann said. “We are seeking to recall Debbie Johnson, Dave DeCapua, Kip Greenhill and John Adams.”
Mike Schadek, the only member of Upper Arlington City Council to vote against the Northam Park project, was re-elected by the largest number of votes any council candidate received this year.
“For me, the most important thing is to really take the time and follow the will of the residents,” Schadek told Ohio Watchdog.
“Everybody says they want the swimming pool rebuilt, they want to fix the drainage, they want to improve the park,” Schadek said. “But do they want to spend between $15-20 million? Maybe not so much now.”
Schadek said he understands the concerns of taxpayers who feel misled by the ad campaign pushing Issue 23 as necessary for repairs to Upper Arlington’s streets, curbs, water lines and sewer lines.
“We have such pressing needs with infrastructure, with our roads, sewers, sidewalks, curbs, the list goes on,” Schadek said. “For us to spend $15-20 million on basically a want rather than a need… we don’t need to spend $15-20 million on one park.”
Based on his conversations with other City Council members, Schadek expects Northam Park construction plans will be on hold until the project can be revisited by new council members in January.