Raleigh staff preview Parks Bond spending tracker, report grant awards and steady project progress

Raleigh City Council on Thursday heard a progress update on the city’s 2022 Parks Bond and a preview of a public spending dashboard that staff plan to publish this week.

Parks staff said the bond program is currently in its third year of a four‑year rollout and that, to date, roughly $55 million has been spent from the $275 million bond pool. Including other donations and grants, staff said the total program value is $325 million, with about $91 million spent overall. Staff also reported a funding gap of a little more than $21 million between the original proposed budgets and the final approved bond amounts.

“Most of the projects after community engagement process were brought in front of boards and commissions and city council for review and approval,” said Shawsheen Baker, a Parks Department presenter. Baker said many bond projects have moved into technical design, where community interaction is more limited, and staff continue outreach via project websites and targeted stakeholder groups.

Baker told the council that the city recently received written confirmation of an $8,600,000 grant for Smoky Hollow Park, contingent on U.S. Army Corps permitting; staff are also continuing environmental review on a $1,500,000 HUD grant for the South Park Heritage Walk and have secured a $400,000 state trail planning grant for Marsh Creek. “We have received over $800,000 from City of Raleigh stormwater program for the implementation of green stormwater infrastructure on some of the bond projects,” Baker added.

Kelly Hamm, a member of Parks engineering services, walked council members through the new “2022 Parks Bond spending tracker,” an interactive dashboard that maps projects, displays per‑project phases, budgets and cash‑flow curves, and aggregates spending. Hamm showed a sample project in the tracker with a stated budget of $29,300,000 and about $980,000 spent so far; the tracker displayed a projected completion of "January '9," which staff indicated as the construction completion projection in the demo.

Council members asked several questions about funding risk and timing. Council member Branch asked for a calendar “touch point” that would indicate when lack of supplemental funding might jeopardize projects; Baker said the projects are not currently in jeopardy and described the grants and partnerships as supplemental cushions rather than assumed revenue. “I wouldn't say our projects are in jeopardy, and the grant funding is really to supplement,” Baker said.

Councilor Patton raised a question about an apparent budget gap at Neuse River Park. Baker said staff are pursuing state parks grants and private contributions but only report dollar amounts on slides once funds are secured; she added that the project would be phased to fit within the bond budget if supplemental funds are not obtained.

Several council members praised the dashboard’s interface and urged staff to add stage and percent‑complete indicators so the public can see whether a project is in design, procurement or construction. Baker said the tracker already includes a field showing the project phase and that staff plan to iterate the tool after public rollout and feedback. The team also plans an open‑house community event in spring 2026 to share progress and gather input.

Staff said their goal is to spend down bond funds by December 2029. The work session adjourned and the council was scheduled to reconvene for its regular session at 1 p.m.