Lauder Hill outlines $65M 'Rise Lauder Hill' bond plan, unveils online dashboard and QR signage for project tracking

City Manager Kenny Hobbs presented the Rise Lauder Hill G.O. bond program to the commission on May 18, describing how the $65 million approved by voters will be allocated by category and how staff will manage transparency and oversight.

Hobbs said the bond plan allocates funds by category with limits and flexibility to move dollars inside categories with commission approval. Among the headline allocations he listed:

- Public safety (total ~ $9.025 million), including police and fire station work and license-plate-reader (LPR) expansion.
- Major parks and recreation projects, including St. George Park (about $8.241 million), the Satin Center / W Park package (about $3.99 million), Sports Park upgrades (about $3.3 million), John Mullen Park (about $1.7 million) and improvements for multiple neighborhood parks.
- Golf course improvements including irrigation, turf and pro-shop upgrades (about $950,000).

Hobbs said roughly $8.9 million of the bond was approved for the FY2026 program (the first-year slate), the items staff will prioritize this fiscal year and move into design and procurement. He stressed that the city intends to start projects on a prioritized list, complete improvements at existing parks before building new parks, and bundle scope items (for example, citywide irrigation or playground equipment) to achieve procurement efficiencies.

Transparency measures: Hobbs unveiled a public dashboard and suggested on-site signage. Each G.O. bond project will have a project page with budget, status, timeline, documents, progress photos and monthly financial reports; field signs with QR codes will link residents directly to the project page. Hobbs described the portal mockup and said it will show real-time expenditures and vendor/contractor details so residents can track progress without needing to request records.

Hobbs also reminded the commission of legal and process constraints: funds may be reallocated only within designated categories without a formal commission action and related ordinance; procurement, project management and inspections will follow standard bond-covenant and city procedures.

Next steps: staff will continue design and procurement work on the FY2026 priority list, publish the dashboard, and provide regular updates to the commission and the public as projects move into construction.