Woodland council approves engineering design funding to pursue grants for Horseshoe Lake Park upgrades

The Woodland City Council voted June 2 to contract with HHPR for engineering design work aimed at improving Park Road and amenities at Horseshoe Lake Park, a step designed to make the city eligible for state Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) grants.

City staff and the mayor told council that Park Road currently functions as an ingress/egress drive to the park rather than a formal road and that engineering is needed to design parking, formalized vehicle circulation, ADA-compliant restrooms and vendor utility hookups. “This would give us the engineering to then go after those RCO opportunities,” Riley Brunel said during the public hearing on Resolution 803 and during the related action item; the city identified restroom and vendor infrastructure as priorities to reduce annual porta-potty costs and create revenue from vendor activity.

City staff estimated the RCO program caps awards at $1 million per application and described three possible grant applications that together could provide up to $3 million for parking, a permanent restroom and an expanded park trail. The design contract covers work to about 30% design so the city can submit competitive grant applications when the RCO window opens.

Council members framed the investments as safety, accessibility and economic improvements. Public works and the police chief emphasized safety concerns for children crossing the current informal drive and said permanent restrooms and ADA improvements would score better in grant rounds. The mayor added that vendor stalls served by utilities could provide ongoing revenue by collecting a percentage of vendor sales.

The council approved the HHPR contract by voice vote and directed staff to proceed with the engineering scope; the item passed on a majority voice vote with no recorded opposition. The engineering work will inform future grant applications and construction funding decisions.