Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

In a 4–3 vote, the Grand Junction City Council approved a $231,000 design and engineering contract for the long-debated Whitman Park revitalization. The decision, made during the final meeting for several outgoing members, underscored divisions over process, priorities and the city’s approach to homelessness.

The vote passed with support from Mayor Abe Herman and Mayor Pro Tem Randall Reitz, both of whom are leaving the council, along with Councilmembers Anna Stout and Jason Nguyen, who remain.

Had the decision been delayed until the newly elected council took office, the outcome may have looked different.

Grand Junction City Manager Mike Bennett explained the city had budgeted funds for Whitman Park’s design with approximately $500,000 allocated for this year. Bennett clarified the funds are for design only, not for construction, which is not yet budgeted. 

He acknowledged that proceeding with the design was a valid concern, given current budget constraints. He said the city’s approach includes a “design-bid-construct” process, allowing flexibility and a phased process in the event that full development funds are not available.

Councilmember Anna Stout asked where the redesign funding was coming from. The contract was awarded to DTJ Design of Boulder. According to City Finance Director Jodi Welch, the $500,000 allocation comes from the city’s Parks and Recreation Impact Fee Fund.

According to the city’s recently completed impact-fee study, “Impact fees may only be used for capital improvements or debt service for growth-related infrastructure. They may not be used for operations, maintenance, replacement of infrastructure, or correcting existing deficiencies.”

Councilmember Dennis Simpson, one of the outgoing members, raised concerns about spending public money on a plan he argued had never been formally adopted by the council.

“We’ve received presentations on what this might change into, but we’ve never actually adopted anything that says the drawings and presentations meet with our approval,” Simpson said. “Rather than let the camel’s nose get under the tent by hiring engineers for something we haven’t bought into yet, we ought to table this item.”

Simpson also referenced the park’s controversial history, noting it had been fenced off under former City Manager Greg Caton to deter unhoused individuals from using the space, and there was no clear redevelopment plan or funding in place.

“We fenced off Whitman Park to deal with homelessness, but we still haven’t found solutions,” Simpson said. “Before spending $200,000 to study its elimination, we should consider whether it can still be part of the solution.”

Councilmember Cody Kennedy, who also opposed the measure, raised concerns about the city’s financial outlook.

“We’ve already spent $71,000 on planning. If we move ahead tonight, we would authorize the expenditure of $231,000 for the full design. This is a $5 million plan.”

Councilmember Scott Beilfuss echoed those concerns, saying: “We may be revisiting it again in a few years and paying for a new plan. I say save the money and wait until we’re ready. The budget will be tight for a while. Let’s take care of what we have first.”

Outgoing Mayor Abe Herman defended the decision, emphasizing the project had gone through public and budget processes, and staff was simply following council direction.

“To come in at this point and say it hasn’t been discussed or should take a different direction feels out of place,” Herman said. “We’ve gone through the public process. We’ve gone through the budget process. Staff is following our direction. When staff goes through the whole RFP process and brings it to us, and we undermine their work at the last step, that’s not how we should operate.”

Stout, who supported moving forward with the contract, called for an end to the debate.

“This is why we are a consensus government,” she said. “This is how we move decisions forward. So, at this point I don’t know that there’s much productivity in continuing to have back and forths, and I’m prepared to make a motion when you are ready, Mayor.”