David Bell, director of Parks, Recreation and Open Space, told council the city’s parks system is under strain as usage rose after COVID and the city’s staffing and maintenance budget has not kept pace. Bell said Longmont has about 45 parks and natural areas and thousands of discrete amenities (irrigation, playgrounds, flower beds, signs) that require periodic maintenance and repair.

Bell described steps staff have taken to improve efficiency: boosting volunteer coordination (the department logged roughly 2,600 volunteer hours valued at approximately $92,000 in the year presented), using robotic mowers at some sites, streamlining park design to reduce long‑term maintenance burdens, and increasing contracted maintenance where appropriate. Despite those steps, he warned that without additional park technicians the city will face a “dilution” of service — fewer hours per park and slower response to vandalism, graffiti and irrigation problems — and that the department is now catching up on deferred work at older parks.

Bell said staff have been careful not to build new park features that they cannot maintain, noting a policy to consider maintenance capacity during design. He proposed using a “Total Park Health” metric to prioritize maintenance and to guide choices if the council orders service reductions. Councilors and staff discussed which park classes (community, neighborhood, DDA, natural area) the city would prioritize under reduced resources.

Why it matters: Parks and open spaces are visible, highly used public assets whose maintenance level affects resident satisfaction, public safety perceptions and downtown economic vitality.

Next steps: Parks staff will refine the Total Park Health approach and return maintenance priorities and potential staffing requests as part of the budget process.