The council decided the concrete, site work, and the shell of the building placed on top of the stage will be included in the first phase of construction for the Barker Park Amphitheater. This includes concrete for the stage, footings and foundations along with the concrete for the chairs. “The shell of the building [will] be completed. There will be doors on the building but there will not be any offices inside,”said Mayor Brent Taylor. The amphitheater stage will be covered and it will cost $1.8 million. Taylor said it will be a fully usable stage . The seats and interior finishes of the building will be added in the next phase.
They had the option to not include the shell of the building in the first phase which would have reduced the cost by $600 thousand. When they were still deliberating as to what course of action to take, councilwoman Cheryl Stoker said “It would help our options better if we had a building up that the arts grant so they could see there is something really there. We could take this to foundations to donors to seek further funding.” Stoker and Councilman Lynn Satterthwaite are a part of the committee for the development of the amphitheater. Satterthwaite said, “Getting people around the table who have real life experience with theaters…we came to realize the value of what’s put into this design here.” He continued, “Putting the building into the state it will be with [the option they chose] is what we need in order to get the RAMP people coming along and to provide a viable picture and rendering for potential donors to recognize what this can be.”
Councilman Jim Urry said he wants to go to the residential home developers in the city and ask them how many homes they project will be completed each year. This will give them an estimate of how much funding will be available for the amphitheater through the park impact fees. After bringing up the conversations he had with other cities who have amphitheater’s he said, “We shouldn’t expect this to be a moneymaker.” Mayor Brent Taylor said “Our football and soccer… Truthfully they do not pay for themselves, they all require government subsidization. That’s the truth for almost every art and culture facility in modern America.” Taylor said “We will have the full architectural drawing for the building even though we are not doing it all now.”
The contract starts Nov. 20 and phase one will be completed by May 18. Groundbreaking began on Nov. 16.
North Ogden hires a staff engineer with Pleasant View City
The council approved an interlocal agreement with pleasant view city for a staff engineer after making a few changes. At this point they have decided to share an engineer with Pleasant View city instead of having a contract engineer or hiring their own full time employee. Taylor said they posted a part time engineer position but no one applied. Taylor said they will “get significant cost savings without jumping into a full time employee.” The council discussed that sharing an engineer with Pleasant View likely won’t be a long term setup. The council amended the agreement to split the cost of the vehicle maintenance and insurance with Pleasant View City.
Asset tracking for roads and pipes
Satterthwaite said he wants the city to implement asset tracking for pipes and roads. He said he wants the city to stay up to date on new technologies and new products that will increase the lifespan and decrease the cost of their assets.