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Belgrade parks staff outline new projects, $100,000 bike-park grant and staffing changes
Summary
At a Belgrade Regional Parks, Trails and Recreation District meeting, Director Diana Perry described a series of park projects, private donations and a $100,000 Gallatin open-space grant for the Mayfair Meadows Bike Park, and discussed staffing and CIP priorities.
Belgrade Regional Parks, Trails and Recreation District Director Diana Perry told the board the district is moving forward on several park upgrades, partnerships and grants, including a $100,000 grant from the Gallatin open-space levy for the Mayfair Meadows Bike Park and an agreement with Montana Fence Company to replace fencing and backstops at two ballfields.
Perry said the fence work will be completed “between the end of 1 season, before the next tournament, and then between that tournament and another 1,” and credited engineering donated by Morris and Merley and other volunteer contributions for keeping the work within budget. She also outlined staff-led projects including a nine-hole Frisbee golf layout at Ryan Lehi, pollinator gardens, standardizing restroom dispensers across parks and reusing newer playground equipment obtained through a property exchange with the Belgrade School District.
Why it matters: The projects affect everyday park users and the district’s capital plan. Several items use public–private partnerships and donations, and the board discussed where to apply limited CIP dollars as the district finalizes its master plan and fiscal 2026 budget.
Board members and staff discussed specific donations and timelines. Perry said Magnus, the parks foreperson, “was able to find a company to donate a pump that's the right size, that's about $2,500 worth of donation,” a replacement for an undersized pump at the splash park. She said that, combined with other changes, the splash-park work will reduce chemical use and that four additional staff members will complete training before the park opens around Labor Day.
Perry told the board the district had asked county commissioners for funding for the Mayfair Meadows Bike Park and that “the county commissioners approved the request for a hundred thousand dollars.” She said she prepared a letter to the commissioners and asked board members if the letter looked like something they would be willing to sign at the meeting; board members agreed to sign.
On operations and staffing, Perry said park staff have recently joined the Teamsters union following negotiations and that the district expects to be fully staffed on Monday with a new hire and several short-term seasonal workers. She proposed using internal candidates to fill a recreation-manager role to accelerate master-plan implementation rather than waiting for a national search on July 1.
Board members raised operational questions and local programming. One board member asked whether the farmers market at Lewis and Clark Park would resume this summer; Perry said the market team is organizing and the district is working with the library director on logistics and well completion. Board members also asked about litter- and wildlife-management items at Gerry Askin Park and the Lions Park sprinkler activation; Perry said staff are addressing mitigation and will confirm irrigation timing.
The meeting also included brief staff updates about potential developer-presentations on additional open space or trail ideas and about public-safety considerations at a neighborhood pond designed as a kayaking feature.
The board approved the April 3 minutes earlier in the meeting; Perry’s report contained numerous discussion items and staff directions but no formal votes tied to the listed projects.
The board closed with thanks to parks staff for ongoing maintenance work and agreed to add CIP-review tasks and staff recommendations to future agendas.
