Englewood staff propose ecological tracker to guide bond park designs

City staff briefed the Sustainability Commission on a proposed Parks Bond ecological tracker intended to document and guide environmental features for bond-funded park projects.

The tracker groups performance into three categories: water use and green infrastructure (rain gardens, bioswales, water-efficient irrigation), biodiversity and habitat connectivity (pollinator plantings, number of drought-tolerant plant types, tree canopy targets) and native-friendly maintenance and education (crew training, signage, nature-play design). Staff said the tracker is meant to set a baseline, provide design guidance to contracted design teams and inform community members about what features are planned or present at each park.

Staff said the tracker is not intended to create a competitive ranking between parks. Instead the tool is described as a flexible "tracker" that records presence/absence and different levels of implementation; some park items carry mandatory minimums set by council (for example, a 10% minimum for conversion of nonfunctional turf to native vegetation was described as a council-determined target for bond parks).

Parks staff said Colton, the sustainability intern, researched practices from Colorado and other jurisdictions and refined the proposed indicators. Commissioners suggested clarifying measurement approaches (for example, how to count drought-tolerant species or measure partial eradication of noxious weeds) and recommended making the tool usable by residents for advocacy. Staff said they will finalize the tracker and share it with design teams and oversight committees so it can be included in early planning.

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Staff told commissioners the tracker will be finalized and passed to design teams once design contracts are active; commissioners and residents will have opportunities to review concept drawings during the public-design phase.