City staff brief commission on parks master plan; first workshop drew about 80 residents

Staff briefed the West Covina Community and Senior Services Commission on the city's parks and recreation master plan at its May 13, 2025 meeting, noting the City Council awarded the contract to RJM Design Group on Jan. 21, 2025.

City staff said the agenda included Attachment 1, the staff report presented to the City Council, which shows the evaluation criteria used to rate consultant proposals and the relative scores of respondents. Although the firm selection is complete, staff returned to the commission to explain the process and accept questions because several commission meetings had been canceled previously for lack of quorum.

Staff reported that the first public workshop, held at Cameron Community Center, attracted about 80 attendees and included representatives from youth sports (including Pony Baseball), girls and senior softball, pickleball players and at least one school that brought students to present their ideas (six students presented). Attendees broke into small groups by table; RJM will compile the input and use it to shape the agenda for workshop 2.

Paper surveys are available at community centers and an online survey and project website collect feedback; staff said the survey window for workshop 1 closed the night of the commission meeting so that results could inform workshop 2. Staff encouraged youth sports leagues to participate in the next workshop.

In commission reports, staff also said AARP tax assistance at the senior center helped more than 300 seniors file taxes free this season. Commission members noted outreach and participation from across the city and encouraged continued engagement in upcoming workshops.

No formal vote was required on the parks master plan update; staff invited commissioners to contact project staff with questions and to attend the next workshop.