Goshen to consolidate buildings, grounds, forestry and parks under new structure; parks director to lead

GOSHEN — City leaders described a planned reorganization of facilities and grounds functions at the Sept. 12 work session, proposing to bring buildings and grounds, forestry, parks maintenance and parts maintenance into a single unit led by Tanya, who the administration identified as director of parks, buildings and grounds.

The administration said the consolidation is intended to reduce redundant equipment and facilities, improve cross-training and provide coverage where single-person roles now create gaps. "We started looking across the city and who would be involved in that," the mayor said, explaining that workers now dispersed across departments would be co-located in the parks maintenance area to gain efficiency. The mayor added an organizational chart will be provided to clarify reporting lines.

Under the plan, city staff described several supervisory roles that would remain: a director of environmental resilience/forestry, a director of cemeteries, a manager for groundskeeping and a manager for facilities; those positions would report to Tanya. The administration said it expects some physical moves of personnel and facilities but not a reduction in core services. Officials also cautioned that hiring decisions remain subject to budget availability and one current vacancy may not be filled if revenue constraints persist.

The cemetery department raised a creative operational idea: city staff jokingly proposed using sheep for mowing in some cemetery areas as a potential cost-saving measure. "The idea of raising sheep at the cemetery," said Bert (staff member), describing a concept the cemetery team has discussed informally. The mayor described it as an innovative suggestion among a range of ideas to reduce costs.

Separately, the administration discussed tree-planting and maintenance cost-share proposals. Aaron (staff member) explained the city’s tree program charges a planting package that includes two years of watering and cyclical pruning: "That includes the cost of watering for 2 years ... plus that 4 cycles of pruning," a figure the administration listed in preliminary materials as $73.50 for certain tree packages.

Ending — Officials said the reorganization aims to preserve essential maintenance services while reducing redundancy, and they will return to the council with an organizational chart and budget impact analysis as part of the detailed budget packet.