Parks top the list of priorities for Rogers in 2012

This year may well be the year that Rogers residents remember as being one that helped put the city on the map. And that's just what city officials are aiming for in 2012.

"Rogers, in my opinion, is a leader, not a follower," Rogers City Council member Gary Townzen said.

Townzen said it is the city council's 2012 goal to ensure the voters know they were heard when they voted in favor of a $135 million bond in September. The bond dedicated $102 million to street improvements, $25.8 million to parks and recreation, $4.6 million to the city's fire department and an additional $2 million to the police department.

The vote, Townzen said, "proved what voters wanted."

Some of the city's first steps with the bond were to begin construction on a city aquatic center and a sports park.

The aquatic center's construction is already well underway. It is located on South 26th Street, formerly Doc Wheeler Park. The center should be open in May 2013, Mayor Greg Hines said.

City officials hit a snag in their plan when they began designing the Sports Park on land it already owned near the intersection of Hudson and 24th Street.

Estimates to construct six baseball fields and five soccer fields at that location were well over the $10 million city officials budgeted for the project, Hines said.

The reason: a portion of the property where the soccer fields were to be located would need around $6.5 million in wetlands mitigation work before the fields could be constructed, Hines said.

Constructing the soccer fields at that site is no longer economically feasible because of the cost, Hines said, noting the baseball fields, which should be complete in the spring of 2013 will be located on the property.

Hines' next task will be to find a suitable piece of property to construct city soccer fields, he said.

Hines said he plans to make good on the promise he made to voters when the bond issue was passed to construct the sports and aquatic parks.

When that promise is fulfilled, Hines plans to be the first one down the slides at the aquatic park.

Townzen said he believes the completion of the two parks will ensure the city of Rogers remains a leader and not a follower for the foreseeable future.

Other projects city officials plan to tackle in 2012 include streamlining the city's planning and building inspection process to make it easier for would-be business owners to set up shop in Rogers, Hines said.

Hines and Townzen agreed that as city officials, they need to continue to look for ways to improve the quality of life for their constituents.

"We're doing a good job already, but if you're not trying to get better, you're going to get worse," Hines said.