DMAS grant would reimburse $650K of county spending for two years
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Nov. 17 — Earlier this month, the Page County Board of Supervisors announced that they anticipate receiving a reimbursement grant worth $1.3 million over two years that will be earmarked to help pay for the new Page County Recreation and Wellness Center and support alternative transit services for county residents.
“We thought we were going to get a $400,00 grant, and now it’s a $1 million grant,” said District 1 supervisor Keith Guzy.
County Administrator Amity Moler spoke with Valley Health officials about applying for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) grant that would reimburse the county $650,000 for $500,000 of spending for two years. According to information Guzy presented to the full board on Nov. 17 — $500,000 of those reimbursements would go toward the new Recreation Center project and $150,000 would be directed to support alternative transportation in the county.
Guzy presented several financing options back in October to cover the estimated $5.5 to $6.5 million cost of constructing an estimated 20,000-square-foot, multi-use recreation facility, including:
- About $2 million in the carry-over balance of revenues from the county’s Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT);
- Drawing about $2 million from the county’s fund balance (or reserves, which currently exceed $20 million — at least $8 million must be maintained in reserve);
- Potentially financing another $2 million through bank loans that would require about $200,000 in annual payments.
“If we put in that $500,000 per year, they will reimburse us $650,000 a year, for two years,” Guzy said of the DMAS grant. “So we can take now what we anticipated was $200,000 the first two years to $1 million, $500,000 each year, going toward that Rec Center…so that will make an immediate dent in that Rec Center…not only did we find the money from the TOT, and we found the money in savings, but the small loan we were going to take is now cut in half.”
“[The grant] will additionally chip in another $300,000 — that’s $150,000 a year — for anything else that would fall under these parameters,” Guzy added.
While in discussion about how to utilize the additional funds, Moler showed Guzy plans for a regional transit study that the county has been working with the state on, which drew contributions from localities in the county as well. According to numbers provided by Guzy on Nov. 17, the county could provide a bus and two vehicles for a local cost of less than $140,000 annually.
“For two years, it would be [paid] 100 percent…and it’s a grant, so we would have to say up front, it’s for two years,” Guzy told the board. “At the end of two years, we can see how often it was used, what the study [showed], what the impact was, how it helped our citizens, but it would be nothing burdensome to our taxpayers for two years.”
The board agreed by consensus at its Nov. 17 meeting that once the county receives bids from the RFP (Request for Proposals) being issued for the construction of the Page County Recreation and Wellness Center, that staff will also move forward the alternative transit project as well.
October’s presentation on the Recreation Center included several options for revenue streams that would support the estimated $250,000 in annual operating costs, such as membership fees, hosting various tournaments, hosting various leagues, concessions, and rentals of multiple spaces and equipment within the facility. Similar facilities that were toured and studied showed a trend in which these revenues streams could potentially cover 70 to 80 percent of annual operating expenses.
The proposed location on 6.8 acres adjacent to the Tech Center was chosen in lieu of seeking a site in which the county would have to purchase land.
The proposal included both indoor and outdoor activities at the new Rec Center such as: INDOOR — basketball, volleyball, pickelball, baseball, softball, indoor soccer, futsal (similar to soccer), golf simulator, walking track; and OUTDOOR — multi-use fields, specifically a soccer field. The current plans call for two full-size basketball courts on the left side of the building that will also be lined for volleyball and pickelball. The right side would contain multi-use fields with turf for indoor soccer, baseball, softball and other sports.
For more information about the Page County Recreation Department,
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