Staff presents draft 2026 parks and recreation five‑year update after large community survey

Andy, the city’s public works director, presented a draft five‑year update to the 2026 Parks and Recreation systemwide master plan at the Public Works Committee meeting. He said staff had worked on the document for six to seven months, producing a roughly 100‑page draft and a short synopsis for committee review, and asked the committee to recommend adoption so the city can remain eligible for certain grant programs.

“What you have in your packet is a 100‑page document … what’s on the screen here is kind of a cliffnotes version,” Andy said, adding the update reflects input from parks board meetings, community surveys and staff. He reported that “we had over 1,500 people take the survey,” which he described as strong community engagement informing priorities and project lists.

Andy said the update frames priorities across several areas — facilities, programming and benchmarking — and cautioned that not every requested amenity can be built immediately. “There are things that we’ll do from this master plan. There are things we probably won’t do,” he said, citing limited suitable sites, staffing needs and funding constraints for features such as splash pads and additional courts.

On programming, Andy summarized staff findings that 71% of the city’s programs are growing year‑over‑year. He offered examples to show changing demand: flag football participation rose “from 300 kids to 750 over a three‑year time period,” while some adult recreational offerings have remained steady or returned after gaps. He also noted a decline in Friday night kickball participation.

The presentation included benchmarking against National Recreation and Park Association peer cities in the 50,000–99,999 population range. Andy said those comparisons help contextualize funding and acreage questions but cautioned against treating the peer group as a strict target. “You can’t really say that while we are a 65,000 resident city, our numbers of participation and visits to our parks are that of a higher resident city,” he said, noting that participation figures for youth and adult leagues remain high.

Next steps: Andy asked the committee to recommend the update to the city’s governing body for consideration and formal adoption; the transcript records the presentation and discussion but does not show a committee vote on the resolution during this meeting.