City commissioners on Aug. 8 agreed in workshop discussion to defer a proposed citywide parks and recreation master plan until the following budget year, while keeping funding on hold should the commission later choose to proceed.

Tom (staff member) and recreation staff reviewed the value of a comprehensive master plan — identifying underused facilities, programming needs, priority sites, and long‑term staffing and capital needs — but several commissioners said a near‑term strategic decision about the Curtwright Center and a possible ninth‑grade center deal made it premature to plan citywide now.

Tom noted the city previously completed a Carver Park master plan and that a Carver‑specific document remains near completion but has not been presented because related real‑estate and site decisions are still pending. He said a citywide master plan would include programming and inventory and would typically cost on the order of tens of thousands of dollars; a figure cited in discussion for a prior estimate was about $80,000.

Commissioners weighed tradeoffs. Commissioner Mike urged caution and proposed pushing the plan one year so the commission would have more clarity about developing sites and partnerships. Commissioner Emily and others agreed, while at least one commissioner said parks and recreation space needs are growing and a master plan is important. The majority favored shelving the work for 12 months to avoid an outdated plan and to prevent planning expense from skewing next year’s CIP.

Outcome: staff will keep the master plan idea in the five‑year planning materials but shift the planned start date back one year. Staff offered to hold funding in reserve and return with a clearer recommendation once site and partnership decisions (including the school‑site negotiations) are settled.

Ending: commissioners asked staff to preserve the inventory work done to date and to resume the master plan process once the timeline for nearby facility decisions is clearer.