Clay County Commission approves contract with CHM Government Services for parks master plan

Clay County commissioners voted to award a contract to CHM Government Services to prepare an updated parks master and strategic plan, approving agenda item 2025-187 (RFP 30-20) by a 4-1 roll call.

The plan will replace a 2003 master plan, assess capital and operational needs across the county's park system, and recommend financing and implementation steps. The commission set aside about $250,000 in this year's budget for the work, and commissioners said they expect active involvement and regular progress reports from county staff.

The vote followed a presentation by John Davis, Clay County parks director, and Jeff Bakey, managing director of CHM Government Services, who described a team approach combining CHM with design and planning subconsultants RDG, Pros Consulting and ETC. Bakey said the consultant team will perform a facilities inventory, a statistically valid community survey, cost-recovery and programming analyses, and produce a prioritized capital-improvement and implementation plan. "We will be looking at operations and staffing and revenue enhancement opportunities," Bakey…