City Council members reviewed the Parks and Recreation Department's proposed 2026 budget Tuesday, focusing on staff pay, golf-course investments and larger park improvements. Jan, a parks department staff member, presented the department's request, including a not-yet-guaranteed 3% salary step in the draft budget and several capital items for the golf course and parks.
The council's finance discussion centered on three priorities: personnel costs, operational changes related to new golf simulators and internet contracts, and longer-term irrigation and park redevelopment planning. The parks staff told the council they had included a 3% pay projection for all employees but could not confirm the money was guaranteed; council members asked for written guides and formal job-hour descriptions to reduce ambiguity about timekeeping and overtime eligibility.
Dean, who manages the golf course operations, explained equipment and project requests that appear in the draft. Those included: completion of driving-range irrigation work already installed; a proposed increase in irrigation supplies spending for repairs and replacement parts; new simulator equipment and associated monthly internet service to support them; and maintenance or replacement of turf equipment (mowers, verti-cut reels and a sprayer purchased in 2024). Dean said the driving-range irrigation is installed and that a full irrigation-system replacement would likely be a much larger project and could cost into seven figures if new piping and a pump station were required. He recommended an outside evaluation before major capital work.
Jan described a multi-part pay adjustment for the clubhouse manager, Kyle (clubhouse manager; staff member), that would add a $1,500 year-end bonus and move his starting salary next year closer to the top of the pay range, with an additional step to top pay if approved in midyear. Council members asked that any salary-or-pay-scale changes follow the salary ordinance process and be reflected in the formal pay schedule.
Staff noted recurring operational cost changes: the golf clubhouse moved to a higher-capacity internet service to support the simulators and now carries a new monthly contract cost; the pool and clubhouse telephony and internet costs also rose as systems migrated. Staff said the golf course had purchased a sprayer in 2024 that materially improved turf outcomes and argued for keeping capital allocations for equipment and continued maintenance investments.
Council members pressed staff for clearer lists of quotes and formal cost estimates for large purchases (mowers, backhoe, Ventrac multipurpose tractor, stump grinder) and for CIP placement of irrigation or park master-plan design work. Jan said some projects are slated for infrastructure or geo-bond funds rather than the parks operating budget and asked that council prioritize which projects to include in advertised budget totals.
Looking ahead, parks staff asked the council to consider funding for Riverside Park improvements and a $250,000 playground allocation or, alternatively, for professional design work that would make the project competitive for grants. Jan also described planned upgrades such as shade structures at the New Housing Park and picnic-table replacements using heavy-duty recycled-plastic boards to reduce future maintenance.
Ending: Councilors directed staff to return cost estimates, a clearer pay and hours summary for salaried and temporary workers, and formal written guidance on the 50/50 sidewalk program and specific street paving schedules that intersect with parks projects. No formal appropriation or vote took place during the budget review; councilors deferred final decisions to the budget-advertising and ordinance stages.