Lennox council hears master park plan presentation; scheduling paused until late summer

The Lennox City Council received a presentation from Stockwell, a landscape architecture firm, on a proposed master park plan intended to guide park improvements and the capital improvement plan over the next five to 10 years.

"This helps really lay, the groundwork and the vision for the park system, the next 5, 10 plus years, down the road," said David, a landscape architect with Stockwell. He described five phases: project kickoff; information collection including three focus-group meetings and a public meeting; a statistically valid survey (planned for the school-district area); findings and visioning; and a final report with budget ranges rather than detailed line-item cost estimates.

David estimated the full work order at about $70,000 and said the process typically takes about six to nine months, with the survey component taking roughly two to three months. He said the firm would provide broad cost ranges (for example, play-surface replacement versus a multi-million-dollar project) rather than detailed cost estimates for each recommendation.

Council members emphasized timing and budget considerations: several members said they preferred to allow the new parks and recreation director time to test programs this summer and to let expected summer activity inform the survey. After discussion the council asked staff to place the item on a future agenda and agreed to revisit the topic at the July 21 council meeting to consider timing and budgetary implications before authorizing the work order.

The council did not vote to approve the work order at this meeting; members asked staff to return with more detailed timing and budget options.