Kalispell parks director outlines inventory, Woodland Waterpark projects and plans for master‑plan update

Fred Bica, assistant director of Parks and Recreation, presented an overview of the department’s assets, programs and planned master‑plan update during the Feb. 11 meeting.

Bica said the city maintains about 30 parks totaling roughly 540 acres (about 383 turf acres, 72 natural area acres and 85 undeveloped acres), 19 playgrounds and 12 pavilions. The department manages youth sports fields at the Cali South Youth Athletic Complex, which hosts tournaments and requires substantial turf maintenance (Bica cited roughly $250,000 annually to maintain that complex). Urban forestry responsibilities include about 11,000 public trees and a pruning cycle intended to prune trees larger than 5 inches in diameter every seven years and smaller trees on a three‑year cycle.

Bica said Woodland Waterpark has planned capital work: recent slide refurbishments and new boilers funded in part by a Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant, a liner for the lap pool this year and a planned resurfacing of the lazy river. The department added two full‑time staff last year and relies on about 100 seasonal employees for summer operations.

Bica described a major forthcoming project, Ashley Park (the "Bibler" donation), which he said will be a regional amenity with gardens and a range of facilities; the city also expects to use a 60‑acre retention/park area near West Spring Creek for field space and other recreation uses.

The parks department has issued an RFQ for a master‑plan update that Bica said should take about 12 months and will include a needs assessment, partner engagement, maintenance analysis and funding recommendations.

Ending: Commissioners had no follow‑up questions at the meeting; staff said the master‑plan update will return to the commission for input during the planning process.