The remaining $2.5 million needed to complete the construction of Mill City Park at Franklin Falls, a whitewater park in Franklin, N.H., could be funded by federal tax dollars, according to City Manager Judy Milner.
One third of the park is complete and features an underwater structure that creates a perpetual wave where paddlers can practice their skills, along with an amphitheater for spectators.
Milner told the Laconia Daily Sun in late August that New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen reached out to her regarding the park's funding and said, "'Judy, can you give me something that I can put in the federal budget this year for a congressional delegation spend?' [They were] called earmarks in the old days.
"We talked about it as a group and read the rules which said absolutely no town offices, so we couldn't put in [the Franklin Opera House, which houses city hall], so we went with the whitewater park, and it did make it through committee level and is on the federal budget to be passed," Milner added.
That is by no means a guarantee, but she did express hopeful optimism, saying the committee level tends to be the more difficult arena for such earmarks to survive.
The funding for completion of the whitewater park is lacking in part because the city did not earn several grants, and a proposal that the needed funds be included in a $20 million bond under discussion by the Franklin City Council angered a vocal portion of the public.
The Daily Sun reported that the whitewater facility at Mill City Park, on the Winnipesaukee River, has been the subject of high enthusiasm and, in some cases, bitter debate about the economic future of the former mill town. The park is the first of its kind in New England, and has attracted new business and development, while simultaneously increasing property values and taxes.
Milner, along with four other members of Franklin's economic development team, proposed the city would need an approximately $20 million bond for repairs and projects, including the Franklin Opera House, its historic trestle bridge and Mill City Park.
The Franklin Fire Department recently shut down the opera house to performances and public gatherings due to safety issues.
Milner reiterated to the Laconia newspaper that there currently is no bond, and that it has not been brought before the city council. That has not stopped residents from voicing their concerns.
"What we heard from the public were two things," she said. "One, that they did not want to do a $20 million bond all at once but do each project on its own; and secondly, because we know that we're going after grants, what we need is that demonstrated match, and the community to say, 'We'll bond it, that's our match.' So, the hard part is that we don't have that demonstrated match."
Milner added she initially wanted to do a single bond for the economy of scale, due to the costs associated with initiating individual bonds.
Though Unfinished, Whitewater Park a Big Hit
Members of Franklin's city leadership and projects proponents say the whitewater project will draw much-needed tourism dollars to the area.
Already, according to Joe Tammaro, with Outdoor New England and a volunteer at Mill City Park, thousands of paddlers have descended on Franklin from across both the United States and the globe just in the past year.
"If we're talking about people passing through the park, I would say tens of thousands," he told the Daily Sun. "As far as private boaters go, we have seen people from Maine, Vermont, New York, West Virginia, Montana and Georgia. We also have many who come up from Boston too. For the commercial side of things, we've hosted people from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Poland, Denmark, Colombia and New Zealand."
Milner Promises Return Investment On Mill City Park
Detractors have criticized the project on social media with worries that city tax dollars would have to carry the rest of the burden, pointing to previous statements that Mill City Park would be funded via donations and grants.
Others have criticized Franklin officials for failing to secure a $1.9 million Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant. The rejection of the grant also prevented the city from gaining an additional grant through the Community Development Finance Authority, which was contingent on EDA funding.
"That [EDA] grant wasn't received because we had already started the project, so it didn't fit their mold," Milner explained. "They like to start from the beginning, and we had already finished one of the three features of the park. However, our application did score number one in the region."
Responding to critics and skeptics of the park as an investment, she pointed out that of all the items included in the proposed $20 million bond, Mill City Park was the only one with a return investment, but she did empathize with taxpayer concerns.
Milner said the city will probably hear if Shaheen's earmark passed by this winter, perhaps December at the earliest. If it fails to come through, Franklin will have to look elsewhere for the park's funding.
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