The Converse Parks and Recreation Commission on March 29 compiled prioritized improvement lists for four parks and for a planned new park, using a dot‑voting exercise to inform a five‑year parks strategic plan.

Commission members held a workshop at City Council Chambers to review candidate projects and program categories, place adhesive “dot” votes and record the top priorities to include in the city’s planning materials and grant outreach. Assistant City Manager Nina Nixon Mendez said the exercise was intended to inform the city’s five‑year parks strategy. "so this looks out 5 years from now what would we like to see in our parks?" Nixon Mendez told the commission.

The dot exercise produced distinct top‑ranked items by park. At Anton Schuman Park, members reported that road signage, a new playscape, a trail extension and benches/picnic tables each received five top votes and will be placed on the final planning list. In North Park, road repair and a large parking lot with restriping led with seven votes; picnic shade structures, pavilion and cosmetic painting/repairs and emergency call boxes each received five votes. City Park’s top items with five votes were parking lot repair/road repair, tennis/pickleball courts and emergency call boxes; a skate park received four votes. For the planned East Park the commission listed disc golf, trails, picnic tables, benches, a playscape, park access/trailheads, tennis/pickleball courts and restrooms as vision items to include in the plan.

Commission member Terry Borland described the group’s shortlisting approach before the dot exercise: "my thought was to get us out of here at a short time, somewhat short, is to have a brief discussion regarding the number of items that I think right away we can eliminate some of them because city council is not gonna consider 8 items or 7." The commission used that approach and the dot exercise results as the basis for the final lists staff will include in planning documents.

Members debated several recurring tradeoffs during the workshop. Commissioners discussed whether to add dog parks and community pantries to North Park; one member proposed removing a monument sign, community pantry, dog park, lighting and emergency call boxes from that park’s list early in the meeting, although emergency call boxes later received votes in the dot exercise. Commissioners raised liability and maintenance concerns about dog parks and skate parks; one commissioner noted a skate park would be “an extremely big budget item.” Public Works Superintendent Keith Taylor said the North Park zip line has recurring problems and a safety concern: "That thing is kind of a pain. We have to we're currently now trying to get it fixed again. Seems like it breaks every 3 to 6 months."

Restrooms drew specific attention at Anton Schuman Park. Commissioners discussed continued use of portable toilets versus constructing permanent restrooms; during that exchange a commissioner said porta‑potty rental cost was "less than $20 a month for the porta pot," a figure raised in the meeting as stated. Commissioners also discussed reusing existing park structures (referred to as the garage/"buggy house") and the relative cost and plumbing implications of building permanent restrooms.

Sports courts were a recurring theme. Commissioners and members proposed tennis and pickleball courts for City Park, Anton Schuman Park and East Park; commissioners noted the cost and surface requirements for courts, and the difficulty of fitting courts under existing pavilions without conflicting with rentals. The commission also discussed programming such as swim lessons, athletics, arts and community events as categories staff should plan for alongside capital projects.

Assistant City Manager Nixon Mendez confirmed the dot results will be used "in our park plan, too. Absolutely. In terms of a strategic 5 year plan, these are the items we would like to see implemented, on behalf of the Commission," and staff indicated the lists will be carried forward to planning and potential grant applications (for example, Texas Parks and Wildlife grant programs were referenced as possible funding sources). Commissioners also noted Lars (identified in the meeting as a community sponsor) is covering movie licensing fees for summer events, which reduces pressure on the commission’s limited discretionary budget; the meeting record shows a budget line described as $2,800 available on the commission’s sheet.

The commission also added program‑level categories for inclusion in the plan — athletics, creative arts, health and wellness, community events, aquatics, structured senior/teen activities and outdoor recreation — but chose to treat those program categories as a separate list rather than dot‑voting them.

Next steps recorded at the workshop were to post the prioritized lists on the planning materials and submit them as commission input for the city’s five‑year parks strategic plan and grant searches. The commission closed the workshop after summarizing results; the chair reminded members the commission’s next scheduled events include an Easter egg hunt and movie program the following week. The meeting started at 10:05 a.m. and was adjourned at 11:13 a.m.

(Quotes and attributions are drawn from the March 29, 2025 Converse Parks and Recreation Commission workshop transcript.)