City outlines phased gravel parking plan at Foundation Park, grant pursuit continuing

Unidentified Speaker (S2) briefed the committee on a proposed gravel parking expansion at Foundation Park intended to address heavy use on soccer days. The plan calls for phased construction to expand parking from the tractor-pull area along the roadway up to John Rees Parkway, using gravel to increase capacity at lower cost and breaking construction into roughly $100,000 segments.

Staff outlined key schedule milestones: consultants will return with ideas on Feb. 23; 50% drawings are expected by April 13 and full design and bid documents by June 1, after which the project will be advertised for bid. The speaker said a pedestrian crossing solution is a priority to allow opening one gate safely on busy days; some robust crosswalk systems are about $25,000, so staff will evaluate lower-cost alternatives.

The committee discussed funding and grants. Staff said previous grant applications were rejected because the city did not own the park, but that the lease was renegotiated to 20 years to improve grant eligibility. Staff said $150,000 is set aside in the budget for the project (about $50,000 for design across phases and $100,000 for construction of the first phase), and that they will continue pursuing reimbursement grants to offset costs.

Committee members asked for follow-up and staff said they will return with more detailed plans and cost estimates as the design progresses.