City parks staff told the Parks and Recreation Commission on May 20 that work is progressing on several park projects and that the public will have opportunities for input.

Andrew Norgaard, parks operations manager, said the engineering and cultural arts departments will host a community input meeting at Wairo Park on May 29 at 6 p.m. to present updated playground design concepts and gather neighborhood feedback. He described the meeting as informal and said designers will show updated concepts the public can review.

Norgaard also announced a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the substantially complete Scott Valley Park project on May 31 at 11 a.m. He said the fence remains to allow new landscaping to establish and that the project is otherwise substantially complete.

On D Street, Norgaard said a contractor selected a fabricator for bracket replacements; shop drawings are under review and, once approved, fabrication will begin. The contractor will mobilize and then will have 60 working days to complete the bracket replacement work once fabrication is finished.

Commissioners asked about local funding for park maintenance. Norgaard explained that landscape lighting districts (LLDs) in neighborhoods fund maintenance items such as lighting and landscape care but “those fees cover things like maintenance. They don't include creating a capital fund to replace playground equipment,” he said, adding that a recent grant made the playground replacement possible.

Staff said they will send meeting and ribbon-cutting details to commissioners so they can place events on their calendars.