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Commission urges council to consider added parks maintenance staff for riverfront landscaping; names a representative for budget meeting
Summary
St. Helens Parks & Trails Commissioners voted to ask City Council to consider additional parks maintenance staff to maintain newly installed riverfront plantings and landscaping; the commission also designated a representative to speak at the council budget hearing.
The St. Helens Parks & Trails Commission voted to ask City Council to consider whether parks staffing is sufficient to maintain newly installed riverfront plantings and landscaping, warning that inadequate maintenance could undermine the city’s investment.
Commissioner Jerry moved that “the parks and trails make [City] Council aware that parks can't maintain the new plantings on the riverfront with current staffing.” The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Commissioners discussed that the riverfront project has added significant landscape and irrigation work; Jerry said, “everything we add has to be kept up and maintained,” and several commissioners said the parks department lacks the staff to manage the new workload.
Commissioners recommended Council consider staffing needs before approving additional projects and to weigh maintenance costs in future project approvals. The commission asked staff to make the council aware of maintenance implications for riverfront plantings and to factor staffing into project planning.
Following the motion the commission voted to send a representative to the budget committee meeting; commissioners selected Nick (last name not given) to speak on behalf of the Parks & Trails Commission at the budget meeting scheduled for Thursday (commissioners referenced the upcoming budget meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m.). The commission emphasized they intended to put the concern on the record for council consideration; multiple commissioners acknowledged the city faces general-fund pressures and that restoring positions would be difficult but said the commission wanted council to be explicitly aware of maintenance risks and costs.
The commission recorded the motion and asked staff to pass the recommendation to council and to provide any relevant maintenance cost estimates or examples (commissioners gave the Highway 30 landscaping as an example of installations that later suffered from lack of upkeep).
