Riverbank parks staff preview trail feasibility, lighting retrofit, playground surfacing and contract updates

At the orientation, Parks and Recreation staff reviewed several multi-year projects and potential revenue options.

Staff described a proposed 1.25-mile non-motorized trail at Jacob Myers Park that would connect to Army Corps property on the parks northwest side. Because the trail is near a levee and contains protected plant species, staff said it will require significant environmental review and that the city will work with an engineering firm and pursue grant funding for construction once review is complete.

On energy upgrades, staff described a small PG&E financing program to convert public-space lighting to LEDs; the program finances the retrofit and is repaid from future energy savings over a term up to 10 years at no interest, staff said, and the city plans a pilot at a tennis court to evaluate results before a wider rollout.

Staff said a company has proposed a small cell attachment to a sports-complex light pole at Castleburg Park; negotiations are preliminary and any installation would require city council approval and an easement for maintenance. Staff presented the cell attachment as a potential revenue source (monthly rent paid to the city) but emphasized the proposal is not finalized.

The department said many facility-use contracts date back decades and need review; staff proposed moving to one-year contracts for most users to allow easier termination of underperforming arrangements and to require reciprocal services from some nonprofit users (for example, site maintenance performed by volunteer groups in exchange for free facility use).

Playground surfacing standards are shifting from wood chips to poured-in-place rubber or turf for accessibility and lower long-term maintenance; staff cited a quote of roughly $200,000 for rubber surfacing at one park and stated the department spends approximately $1,213,000 annually replacing wood chips, underscoring the capital cost/long-term maintenance tradeoff.

Staff said the department received 240 hours of design support from the National Park Service to assist with master planning for Jacob Myers and other parks and plans community outreach and surveys to guide priorities.

Staff emphasized that most of these projects will require outside funding and council approval; committee members asked questions about timeline, environmental reviews and contract inventories, and staff said they would circulate existing contracts and return with focused presentations on high-priority projects.