Rocky Mount staff present Stith-Talbert Park master plan and targeting of grant funding

Parks and recreation staff told the Rocky Mount City Council Committee of the Whole that they have completed a master plan for Stith-Talbert Park and plan to ask the council to adopt that plan at the next regular meeting. Staff outlined public-input results, project priorities and a grant-targeting strategy that aims to assemble roughly $1 million to $1.2 million in outside funding.

Joel, the parks and recreation director, said the master plan consolidates prior planning and public input for the combined Stith and Talbert park properties and that staff will bring an adoption item to the April 28 council meeting. "We're here today to just give you an update on, the Stuttgart Park, master plan, that we're asking you to adopt, here at the next meeting," Joel said during the workshop. Staff described three recent public-input meetings that drew more than 50 participants and listed high-priority amenities such as basketball courts, improved restrooms, an upgraded playground, canoe/kayak launch improvements, and potential tennis/pickleball courts.

Staff recalled recent grant successes for Battle Park (about $1.2 million in grant funding) and Sunset Park (about $1.1 million) as context for pursuing funding for Stith-Talbert. The presentation identified target grant sources including the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (up to $500,000 per project), the Land and Water Conservation Fund, state trails grants, the Department of Environmental Quality, and private grantors such as the Foundation for the Carolinas. Joel and the consultant from Griffin Grant Works said the parks team believes the project can score well in competitive grant rounds; staff mentioned the PARTF application deadline in May and an August hearing where awards are typically announced.

Staff emphasized the park's location within the flood plain and said renovation choices must account for periodic flooding. Joel explained some amenities (for example, playground relocation and pier repairs) are being scoped to be sustainable despite flood exposure. The workshop materials described a project-cost breakdown separating new items and renovations; staff told council that adoption of the master plan does not bind city capital funds immediately. "When we ask you to adopt this park plan, it doesn't tie any city funds to it," Joel said. "So if we get funded from the grants, great. If we don't, we're not able to do it to CIP plan."

Council members asked about programming, off-street parking and land acquisition. Staff said gym and community-center renovations planned nearby are expected to support more active programming at the park and that land acquisition typically uses different funding sources; staff agreed to explore adding property-acquisition considerations to future planning. No formal vote took place at the workshop; the plan will appear on the council's consent agenda for adoption at the next regular meeting and staff indicated they will submit one or more grant applications as early as May.