Coldbrook residents to chip in $20 for parks, rec

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

Coldbrook residents will be kicking in an extra $20 on their household taxes.

The Coldbrook Community Association held a meeting January 16 to approve an area rate to support its 2008 budget of $26,000 covering parks and recreation programs. Fourteen people attended the meeting from roughly 900 properties included in the area.

The area rate will cover the Coldbrook growth area, South Bishop Road, Lovett Park, the Red Pine Subdivision and the Twin Oaks Subdivision to the western end of Loretta Avenue.

“We’ve been riding on the back of the county for a long time,” said area rate presenter Robin Marshall. “We have six parks to maintain.”

The association has the care and responsibility for a number of subdivision parks, along with the Coldbrook Heritage Hall on Lovett Road. That includes covering insurance costs, budgeted through 2008 at $3,300.

Jim Mailman asked for details on the heritage hall’s operation before the vote.

“It’s my understanding there are no proper sets of records for that operation,” he said. “If there is going to be a $20 fee for the residents of Coldbrook, you should have free reign of the books.”

Marshall defined what notes on the budget meant that explained heritage hall management is conducted by “agents” for the association.

“I’ve asked about the numbers - I don’t think they are very big. It’s been running that way for five years and we don’t want to upset people who have been looking after that. We’ve been talking about change for six months or so.”

The heritage hall is apparently run by two people: one looks after paying bills, such as oil costs; the other looks after rentals and any revenues. The community association doesn’t see those numbers, but it has allotted $4,000 of its new budget for hall roof repairs.

Richard Ward agreed with mailman.

“The minute we start collecting a tax rate on the community, we have to have accountability of it all.”

The association proposes to establish a committee of its own representatives and people from each of the six park communities to manage the recreation fund, prioritizing projects and planning for future work. That hasn’t been established yet.