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Parks and Recreation outlines community priorities and project timelines; FireEMS reports new volunteers and completed academy
Summary
Parks and Recreation presented results of a community needs survey identifying paved pathways, off-leash dog areas and neighborhood parks as top facility priorities and said a playground replacement and splash pad have near-term completion targets. Fire Chief reported 13 new volunteer Fire/EMS members and completion of a Firefighter I academy.
Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Florence updated the board on a recent community needs assessment that ranks paved walking and biking pathways, dog off-leash areas and neighborhood parks within walking distance as the highest facility investment priorities.
For programs, the survey ranked fitness programs first, followed by adult leisure and lifestyle programs and community special events. "These surveys are very helpful in terms of informing us about how to guide our budgeting, our investment, our programming," Florence told the commissioners.
Florence provided project updates: a playground replacement (Mike Yilgill playground) is under construction and, weather permitting, is estimated to be completed around late June. The department will celebrate the recreation center's one-year anniversary with free entry on Friday, May 30, and the splash pad was targeted to open on May 28. Florence also said the parks team is piloting a hybrid inclusion counselor role for camps in partnership with Teton Behavioral Therapy, provided free through that partnership.
Fire Chief Mike Moyer briefed the board on staffing and training: the department brought on 13 new volunteer Fire/EMS members who will enter a one-year probationary period and recently completed a Firefighter I academy with participants from multiple agencies that the county trains. "We're excited to bring those folks on," Moyer said, noting recruitment gains in historically thin areas such as Moran and Hoback.
Commissioners asked follow-up questions about survey detail and program trimming; Florence said staff can provide the lower-ranked items on request for budget prioritization. No formal actions or funding decisions for parks projects were taken at the meeting.
