Parks director reports capital work, volunteer expansion and $1.5 million in operating cuts

Angie Fesser, Edmonds’ Parks and Recreation & Human Services director, presented the department’s third- and fourth-quarter accomplishments and a summary of requested budget cuts at the Planning Board meeting on Jan. 8.

Fesser told the board staff had been asked to identify roughly $1,500,000 in operating reductions for 2025–26 and described program and staffing changes to absorb that reduction. She said the department also faces a proposed additional round of cuts if certain revenue items proceed, and she cited exact staff remarks: "another round of cuts coming... about $1,700,000 for this upcoming year from April through December and then another $2,000,000 the next year. That's provided the RFA passes and the lehi live lift passes in the fall. If neither of those do, we have other issues to deal with." The board and staff discussed the fiscal strain and contingency planning.

Highlights of accomplishments and changes Fesser described: - Capital projects: Mathe Ballinger Park improvements are underway with new restrooms, an asphalt path, drainage and parking-lot work; curbing and paving milestones were reported. - Land acquisition: The city’s recent land-acquisition grant application was awarded, staff said, enabling future park work. - Maintenance and stewardship: Significant hazard-tree removal occurred at Yost Park; Puget Sound Energy cleared power-line corridors and staff sought to retain removed logs on site for habitat restoration. The department accepted maintenance responsibility for the Highway 99 median (about two miles) and has ordered equipment to support that work. - Recreation programming: The department reported a shift toward contracted program models (instructors paid from program revenue) rather than city-run programs; this change has improved revenue recovery and reduced net operating costs for recreation programs. Some historically city-run offerings (for example, gymnastics and certain preschool programs) were reduced or moved to contracted providers. - Facilities and operations: Programming at the Waterfront Center was suspended due to operating costs; the department shifted programs to the Anderson Center and reorganized staff workspace to free classroom capacity. - Volunteers and stewardship: The department expanded volunteer coordination (Edmond Stewards, Sound Salmon Solutions partnership) and is refocusing the role of the environmental education coordinator (Jen Leach) to half time to support volunteer coordination and stewardship work. The department also used volunteers to meet grant conditions on smaller projects. - Human-services office: The neighborhood office on State Route 99 that provided social-service access closed Jan. 1; staff said they are pursuing alternative sites for outreach closer to 99.

Fesser described program-management changes meant to reduce city operating exposure: major community events and large festivals are increasingly charged for staff time and services rather than being absorbed by the city’s base budget. She reported that sponsorships and contracted models are being used to reduce the city’s net costs for special events and recreation programs.

Board members asked follow-up questions about volunteer scope (weeding vs. specialized maintenance), utility costs across parks (staff are auditing meters and decommissioning unused meters), and vehicle leasing (the department has reduced leased vehicles to cut costs and is citywide-surplusing underused vehicles). Fesser said the department has identified water-meter consolidation and potential changes in internal billing rates as one approach to reduce operating costs.

No formal board action was taken on the budget items at the Jan. 8 meeting; board members received the briefing and requested that staff provide materials and signage/notice language for other items presented during the meeting (for example, the garden renaming public-notice wording).