Lake County to survey residents, hold focus groups as part of recreation program review

Lake County officials unveiled a timetable June 10 for a review and reorganization of the county’s recreation and parks programming, including a mailed survey to all households, follow-up focus groups and a work session in mid-July, Deputy County Manager Lauren Snyder said.

Snyder told the Board of County Commissioners the county has shifted its internal schedule “about 6 weeks” to allow more stakeholder input. The county plans to mail a translated survey the week of the 23rd, hold focus groups over the next month, convene a detailed work session on July 18 to identify potential program growth and operational efficiencies, and aim to set staffing and budget needs by Aug. 8 so departments can meet the county finance office’s 2026 budget timeline.

The review will combine five years of participation data, earlier feedback and new survey results to guide possible program expansion, consolidation or rebranding, Snyder said. “Our time frame has changed a little bit based from when we had it had this discussion. We moved it back about 6 weeks, about a month and a half, to make sure that we had enough time to be thoughtful and to get, enough stakeholder input,” she said.

Snyder presented participation figures and examples from the county’s programs as part of the briefing. She reported more than 1,100 participant days over recent years for a Spanish-language program series, 23 program days for that series, and said the county’s out-of-school programming accounted for about 3,000 program participant days serving roughly 130 families and 181 children. Snyder said the youth “Pathways” leadership program employed 12 youth in 2024 and logged more than 324 professional development hours. She also noted an “open gym” program recorded about 3,100 participant days and curling programming had about 602 participant days across the reporting period.

Commissioners and staff discussed items that residents have often raised in public comment, including aquatics and ice-rink uses. Commissioner Lee asked whether the county has data on how many residents travel outside Lake County for swimming programs; Snyder said the survey includes questions that will let respondents rank the county’s priorities, including aquatics, and also includes open-response fields for other suggestions. “We did check into that when, like, as soon as we had to close down...Can we have, like, 1 whole swim lesson just for our kids? Whatever,” a staff member said, describing earlier outreach to neighboring pools.

Staff described existing and pilot offerings: a community gear library that staff said is being used as a model by other Colorado communities, youth mentorship and employment through outdoor recreation partnerships, drop-in adult programs and new open climbing offered in partnership with Colorado Mountain College. Snyder and other staff also said they have started standardized coach trainings for volunteer coaches and captains for adult leagues to streamline season rules and safety training.

Discussion touched on facility ideas raised informally by participants and commissioners — including seasonal roller-skating, dome or cover options for the ice surface, and longer-term capital upgrades — but Snyder and staff emphasized that the review’s next steps are data collection and internal operational planning before recommending capital projects. Grant writing and some operational support for gear and program supplies have been added to recent grant submissions, staff said.

The county will present synthesized survey and focus-group feedback at the July 18 work session and return with draft operational and budget implications in early August, Snyder said. Focus groups and the mailed survey are the immediate next steps.

The county concluded its recreation presentation and moved to the second agenda item at the end of the session.