A discussion between city government and Surry Arts Council officials on a lease affecting a new building planned by the latter focused on both nuts-and-bolts details and a broader view of long-range budget implications.
This occurred during a session held late Monday afternoon attended by four representatives of the arts group and a subcommittee of two members of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners who have voiced concerns with each issue.
The Surry Arts Council is eyeing a new multi-purpose facility on city-owned property between Blackmon Amphitheater and the Mount Airy Public Library, for which a ground-lease agreement with the municipality is considered a key first step. Plans call for it to feature a Siamese Twins museum and a statue of the pair who lived near Mount Airy in the 1800s.
Much of Monday’s discussion was devoted to fine points of the project.
Those include the length of the lease; maps of the exact area involved, which will mean losing existing parking spaces at the library; completion dates for certain aspects of the facility for which $3000,000 in city funds already have been committed; municipal officials’ desire to have its restrooms open to the public; maintenance responsibilities for the new building; and more.
Items worked out Monday by commissioners Ron Niland and Marie Wood must receive approval by the full board when it meets Thursday afternoon.
The maintenance aspect would incorporate the same arrangement now in place with other Surry Arts Council facilities such as the Andy Griffith Playhouse, in which the city takes care of exterior components such as roofs, HVAC fixtures and landscaping.
Meanwhile, the arts organization would be responsible for interior maintenance of the new structure, which is to be largely funded by it and turned over to the city when completed — then leased to the Surry Arts Council for 25 years at a small cost.
But maintenance proved Monday to be more than just a procedural detail, opening the door to larger financial concerns on the part of Niland and Wood.
Niland said a big one on his part involves taking on another maintenance burden when the city is having trouble keeping up with what it has already.
This was reflected in only a token sum being set aside in this year’s municipal budget for capital spending that involves buildings, due to the financial strain posed by COVID-19.
“I just don’t want to get us in a position where we can’t afford to do the things we need to do,” Commissioner Wood agreed. “So we’ve got to look at a way we can take care of some of these repairs and maintenance.”
The two commissioners said they are big fans of the Surry Arts Council, yet the city is facing “a very challenging budget” process in the near future, Niland said, especially under the looming specter of the coronavirus. This could force cuts or new fees for citizens, he added.
Niland pointed out that annual city expenditures for the arts group are now averaging about $222,000, including a regular $87,500 appropriation.
He says Surry Arts Council events are good for the community in terms of tourism. “But we don’t share in all that.”
“We’ve got a lot of tourism, but it costs the city a lot to have tourism,” Wood said of expenses posed to fire, police and public works personnel by various activities.
Niland also mentioned that Mount Airy receives only a small share of sales tax revenues generated, and can’t spend occupancy taxes although it administers that money.
Surry Arts Council Executive Director Tanya Jones bristled Monday at an idea by Niland to add a surtax on ticket sales to help offset maintenance costs, citing the hassles required to collect and process such revenues.
Niland then suggested simply increasing ticket costs by a dollar, for instance, rather than any kind of tax, and checking that off to the cost of doing business.
Something municipal officials and the representatives of the arts organization in attendance Monday seemed to agree on was that better communication is needed between the two.
Niland said the collective group should be transformed into a permanent committee to meet on issues before they morph into problems, an idea also supported by council reps.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com