Sunset Hills Mayor Bill Nolan announced last week the city’s parks grew with the purchase of 19.5 acres at 13525 W. Watson Road.

“… As of yesterday afternoon at 2 o’clock, the parks in Sunset Hills grew by 19.5 acres,” Nolan said at the Sept. 10 Board of Aldermen meeting. “I’m happy to say that on behalf of the Board of Aldermen, we have successfully negotiated the purchase of the 19.5 acres adjoining our athletic fields from Dennis Moore and Donald Moore, and closed on it yesterday afternoon at 2 o’clock. So it’s now part of our park network.

“Right now, it’s also a lot of trees. But it will be the home to the Great Rivers Greenways trail as it passes through that area and connects to the Rock Alva portion of the trail …,” the mayor said.

The Board of Aldermen voted 6-0 during a special meeting Aug. 8 to adopt a resolution authorizing Nolan to sign a contract for the property at a cost of $184,000. Ward 1 Aldermen Rich Gau and Dee Baebler were absent.

Nolan told the Call the process to purchase the property started more than a year ago when he approached Alwal “Al” Moore about obtaining an easement for the Gateway Rivers Greenway trail there. At that time, the property in question was held by in a trust and Dennis and Donald Moore were the beneficiaries of the property in that trust, according to Nolan.

“… After back and forth and Al’s involvement in other issues … they finally decided what maybe they should do is sell it to us, but the beneficiaries of the trust were Donald Moore and Dennis Moore,” he said. “… The trust took that asset out of the trust and surrendered it to the beneficiaries, and then we bought the property from Donald Moore and Dennis Moore.”

Nolan added, “We will announce a generous contribution from Dennis and Donald Moore to assist Sunset Hills in developing the park land as a park and hopefully bear the Moore name.”

That contribution, he said, will total $60,000.

“They have transferred funds to us in that amount,” Nolan said.

Funds for the property purchase came from money that had been held in reserve from the issuance of bond-like certificates used to fund the city’s new aquatic center, new community center and stormwater improvements.

In 2009, the Board of Aldermen approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of certificates of participation, or COPs, not to exceed $14.5 million in principal. The COPs are being retired with revenue generated by Prop P, a 20-year, half-cent sales tax to fund parks and stormwater improvements approved by voters in April 2007.

“We have now reached the point where all the work to be done under the COPs will be done by the end of the year,” Nolan said. “When we’re done, in round numbers there will be $2 million left in the COPs we didn’t need … So those funds can be used to make the (COPs) payments. So we have a healthy balance to be able to service the payments as the COPs move forward, understanding, of course, that all of the income coming in off the (Prop) P tax goes into that fund, too

“So the $759,314 that was locked aside could now be used for park or stormwater work. That provided the funds — not out of general revenue, not out of reserves — to purchase the property. And the contribution on the part of the Moores is being put into the P funds so it can’t be used for anything but the park improvements.”