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Parks staff report summer hires, events and planting logistics; commission discusses murals, fountain and banners
Summary
Kenai Parks & Recreation told the Beautification Commission on May 13 that summer maintenance positions are largely filled, the department staged an Easter egg hunt and is organizing planting days and a kite festival for May 31; commissioners discussed priorities including murals, the Liefe Hanssen Memorial Fountain, and banner upgrades.
May 13, 2025 — Kenai Parks & Recreation staff told the Beautification Commission that temporary summer maintenance positions are mostly filled and year-round staff have been preparing playgrounds and athletic fields for the season.
Director Best (Parks & Recreation) reviewed recent and upcoming events: an Easter egg hunt in April that used about 3,000 eggs and drew roughly 300 participants; a pickup/cleanup day on May 3 with 27 participants; a kite festival and citywide planting days scheduled for May 31; and a volunteer lunch hosted by the Kenai Fire Station after planting.
Staff said a master-plan input meeting for parks was held April 29 and that an online survey remains open through June 1 for residents who could not attend. Parks staff provided practical details to volunteers: the department will accept reservations for groups to plant beds between May 27 and May 30 (staff available 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and central planting-day activities start May 31 at 10 a.m. at City Hall with a volunteer lunch at the fire station from about 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers were advised to bring gloves; staff said supplies may be limited.
Commissioners used the meeting to review proposed 2025 goals and project ideas carried forward from 2024: maintaining the annual parks-and-garden tour (scheduled for August), continuing a winter tour introduced last year, advancing plans to refresh the Liefe Hanssen Memorial Fountain, pursuing citywide murals with local artists, and upgrading banners and static displays if funding is available. On the fountain project, staff reported that design funds existed but that solicitations for quotes produced no bids; the commission discussed pivoting from a full redesign to aesthetic improvements of the existing structure (concrete tinting, acid-wash, or other surface treatments) and said those ideas could inform future similar corner-circle concrete treatments.
Commissioner Easley and other commissioners praised Parks & Recreation for recent event turnout and plant cultivation at the greenhouse. Council Member Daniel noted that the municipal budget process is ongoing and encouraged commissioners and staff to coordinate budget requests in time for the fiscal-year start on July 1.
The commission scheduled a garden-tour work session for Aug. 5, 2025, to preview plantings and inform design choices for projects later in the season.
