Boise staff outline $250 million in conservation and parks needs; focus on pathways, open space, climate and water resilience

Courtney Washburn, the City of Boise chief of staff, told the council that staff prepared a 5–10 year view of conservation and recreation programs to show where investment needs exceed current budgets and to identify potential funding strategies.

"The conservation programs are key to who we are as a city," Washburn said, introducing presentations on pathways, open space, parks, climate action and water resiliency. Staff told council the city currently counts about 220 miles of trails, an open space inventory of roughly 5,000 acres and a park system with many master-planned sites still needing build-out.

Brie (Bree) Brush of the mayor’s office presented the Pathways Master Plan, which the council adopted in early 2022 and which envisions a 160-mile network that would raise the percentage of residents within a 10-minute walk of a pathway from about 10% today to 76%. Staff said the pathways program’s annual locally controlled budget is $300,000, which is primarily used to match federal funds. Staff listed active projects representing roughly 4.5 miles of new pathway that will serve about 20,000 residents when completed and said the program hopes to complete 17.4 miles in the next decade. Design-and-construction needs for identified pathway projects total about $32,000,000 in today’s dollars; staff said they currently have about $1,500,000 programmed over five years to match federal grants.

Staff also discussed Spaulding Ranch, a roughly 20-acre historic property in West Boise that the city is developing with pathways, a restroom/wash station and community gardens. Lisa DuPlessis, superintendent of open space, said phase 1 pathway work is estimated around $1.5 million and a restroom/wash station about $1 million; staff said funding would come from impact fees, anticipated impact-fee receipts and likely a future levy request.

Sarah Arkel, superintendent of parks resources, summarized park needs: staff reported that about 50% of master-planned park sites are completely developed and estimated $68,000,000 would be required in today’s dollars to build out master-planned parks (not including sites not yet master-planned). Arkel said greening one acre (turf and irrigation) costs about $100,000; a playground roughly $500,000–$600,000; and a restroom $600,000–$800,000. The council also heard that the city has used levy funds and donations to acquire park properties and that staff use GIS and public-interest tools to target priority acquisitions to meet the 10-minute-walk goal.

Steve Hubbell, climate action manager in Public Works, described climate and water priorities and funding needs. He said the climate team operates with an approximate annual budget of $500,000 for planning and small pilot projects and highlighted city partnerships to buy clean electricity (a solar facility serving the city and Micron) and the city’s direct-use geothermal system that heats many downtown and campus buildings. On water, Hubbell said Boise manages nearly 300 water rights, noted that the city’s potable supply is roughly 70% groundwater and 30% surface water through Veolia, and emphasized opportunities to acquire or repurpose supplies, shift “right water for the right use” (using surface/irrigation water where available rather than potable water), and expand water conservation programs.

Across departments staff characterized an approximately $250,000,000 portfolio of unfunded conservation and resiliency needs over a multiyear horizon. Council members asked for additional analysis of funding tools (bonds, levies, enterprise financing), clearer estimates for the minimum number of property acquisitions required to reach the 10-minute park-walk goal, and more detail on barriers to funding and opportunities to involve private partners and philanthropy.

No formal council votes were recorded on these briefing materials during the meeting.