City to buy $277,000 community bus; playground resurfacing bids exceed $200,000 budget

Parks and Recreation staff told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on May 18, 2025 that the City Council approved a $277,000 purchase of a new community bus and that staff expect manufacturing to take several months, with the company estimating a September delivery.

"One of the exciting things that I wanted to talk about that happened at council on Thursday was our request to purchase a new community bus was approved. So we'll be moving forward with that. It's a $277,000 purchase," the parks staff member said. Staff said they will plan conservatively for delivery and are discussing bus wrap designs with vendors.

Staff reported a successful community event season opener: the Bunny Trail/egg-hunt event drew "over a thousand" attendees, and staff are compiling program evaluations collected through the year.

On playground projects, staff said a planned replacement of the safety surface and older equipment at a large playground was funded in the capital budget at $200,000 but responses to a request for proposals came in higher than that amount. "The RFPs came in over a $200,000 amount," the parks staff member said. Staff said they will consider revising the project scope, performing some work in-house or issuing another RFP to local firms.

Staff said the department has approval to hire a permanent part-time employee and that Human Resources had received more than 200 applications; staff said they believe they have a strong candidate and will move forward. The board also heard that work with campground consultants is paused while consultants are busy, and that internal planning continues on the amphitheater project, including bringing a construction manager and architects together to scope the budget.

The board approved the Jan. 13 meeting minutes by voice vote earlier in the session; no other formal board votes were recorded on parks projects at this meeting.