Omaha council adopts 20-year parks and recreation master plan, flags roughly $5 million annual maintenance gap

The Omaha City Council on Sept. 30, 2025, approved a 20-year Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan that lays out priorities for maintenance, trail connectivity and expanded programming across roughly 200 parks in the city.

Dan Seder of the Parks and Recreation Department told the council the plan is “a vision for the next 20 years for our department,” and said the department will incorporate the plan into the citywide We Make Omaha comprehensive plan update. Teresa Jackson, the project manager from consulting firm Barry Dunn, presented findings from the 14-month planning process and community engagement effort.

The plan, developed by Barry Dunn with local partner Vireo LLC, compiles a park inventory, program assessment and a trail-connectivity study and sets five priority areas: build organizational capacity, secure sustainable funding, expand access to underserved areas, care for existing assets, and expand recreation participation. Jackson said the team’s public engagement included a project website (about 8,000 visits), an unweighted statistical survey with nearly 1,000 respondents, outreach at 15 events, focus groups and stakeholder interviews conducted mostly between July and November 2024.

The report identifies several concrete findings that the council and speakers said matter for near-term decisions: more than 50% of the parks workforce is part time; the city maintains roughly 130 miles of trails but needs about 154 trail segments to complete connectivity; the inventory scored park amenities (shelters, restrooms, playgrounds, splash pads, courts) and flagged wide variation in condition across maintenance districts; and benchmark analysis showed Omaha is roughly $5,000,000 per year below comparable cities for park maintenance funding and about $4.5 million short for annual capital needs.

Residents and nonprofit representatives urged action during public comment. Nancy Garner, president of the Miller Park Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association, said the neighborhood experiences the system’s “highs and lows” and urged the council to find sustainable funding, noting last year’s parks budget did not keep pace with inflation. Mary Mintern of Bemis Park called attention to Walnut Hill Reservoir property that she said could become a park if the Metropolitan Utilities District proceeds with reservoir decommissioning and makes the site available. Tiffany Regan of the Omaha Parks Foundation voiced organizational support and said the foundation stands ready to help with philanthropic partnerships.

Council discussion emphasized the plan’s scale and the need to pursue multiple funding streams. Councilmember Pete Festersen described the shortfall as “a big number for us to work on” but said partnering with private funders and foundations has proven effective on prior projects. Planning staff said the parks master plan will be integrated into the We Make Omaha comprehensive plan update.

Councilmember Festersen moved approval; the motion passed on a 7–0 roll call. The vote makes the master plan an official guiding document for Parks and Recreation and signals council support for pursuing the funding and staffing changes the report recommends.

The plan includes dozens of action items and recommended performance and maintenance standards; implementation will require additional council consideration of funding sources such as bonds, a possible park district assessment, or other revenue mechanisms identified in the report. The Parks and Recreation Department and consultants highlighted that sustaining improvements will also require hiring and retaining more full‑time staff and setting maintenance standards for specialized assets such as trails and sports facilities.

The council’s approval sends the document to the city’s comprehensive plan update process and formalizes the priorities city staff and community groups will use to seek funding and begin phased implementation.