Council targets Beavercreek Park for Summit County RAP recreation grant

City staff and council members discussed potential projects to submit for the Summit County Recreation, Arts and Parks (RAP) grant program (application window Sept. 1–30). David briefed the council on priorities and committee scoring criteria.

Council members settled on Beavercreek Park as the primary candidate for a RAP application. The scope discussed included replacing or upgrading the park restrooms, refreshing the pavilion and replacing playground surfacing with rubberized safety surfacing. Council members said those items are high‑use, easy-to-picture projects that score well under the RAP criteria (recreation focus, community benefit, number served, viability and urgency).

David noted the county-level RAP program was oversubscribed last year (roughly $2.9 million in asks for $1.6 million available) and that projects with clear, ready-to-build scopes and high year-round use tend to fare better. He reminded the council that a stronger application typically includes a local match and recommended budgeting at least 20% local match to improve scoring.

Council discussed funding sources for a local match: impact fees may be used only for new facilities, so replacing an existing restroom would not clearly qualify for impact-fee uses. Council members said they would consider a local match of about 20% and use existing estimates for facility replacement costs to prepare an application.

Ending: Staff will develop a scoped estimate for Beavercreek Park restroom, pavilion and playground-surface upgrades and return to council with cost estimates and recommended local-match options before the Sept. 1 application window.