WELLINGTON, Colo. — Parks staff provided an update Sept. 10 on the 2026 budget process and asked board members to consider options after learning the town was not awarded a T‑Mobile Hometown grant.

"I learned today that we were not given the T Mobile Oh. Hometown grant," Billy Coates said. Staff asked the board to consider whether the town should include parts of the intended grant project in the next budget cycle, seek a trustee match from discretionary funds, or try again in the next quarterly grant round.

Coates said the department is in the internal budgeting phase and will present initial items at a trustees work session the following week. He explained budget adoption typically occurs in November or December and that staff will circulate more-detailed budget materials after the trustees' initial review. "So right now, it's very much here here's kind of what we're thinking. Still getting in numbers from finance," Coates said.

Staff also described capital and equipment requests they expect to present, including replacement of an aging utility vehicle (UTV) and other operating-line and capital priorities. Coates asked board members to provide priority recommendations at the next meeting when staff will present budget drafts.

Other grant and procurement notes in the meeting: Coates said staff had secured Safe Routes to Parks grant funding to purchase four bike-fix stations (initially three were planned) and that those units should ship soon; concrete pads and coordination with the town's crews will follow. He also said staff are identifying restricted funding buckets (impact fees, open-space taxes) before finalizing capital proposals.

Next steps: Staff will take trustee feedback from the upcoming work session, finalize numbers with finance and circulate a concise packet to the advisory board in advance of the next meeting. The board asked staff to consider whether to request trustee matching funds for projects previously planned as community-funded or grant-funded.