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Warren County moves forward on Parks & Recreation reorganization; awarded $2M toward $4M Rockland Park athletic fields project
Summary
Parks & Recreation director Tiffany Walker and staff described a reorganization that adds a program coordinator and office manager and uses FY25 budget savings to absorb one new FTE's salary with benefits estimated at $17–18k. The county was awarded $2M of a $4M federal grant for Rockland Park fields (50/50 match) and must accept the award by Oct. 21.
At the Oct. 8 Warren County work session, administration introduced Tiffany Walker as the county’s new Parks and Recreation director and presented a departmental reorganization designed to expand programming and manage facility rentals.
Speaker 10 said the previous structure concentrated too much responsibility in a single role and proposed splitting the vacated position into two: a recreation/program coordinator focused on events and programming, and an office manager to handle facility rentals and day-to-day office duties. "We're going back to the somewhat the same structure, in that we'd have the director...we want to have the coordinator that would focus on programs and events, and then we would have our office manager who would help to basically oversee and coordinate our facility rentals," she said. Staff explained some recreation attendant positions would be downgraded from pay grade 3 to pay grade 2; the only county cost increase would come from benefits for one added full‑time equivalent, with benefits roughly estimated at $12,000 for medical and about $5,000 for retirement (about $17–18k total annually).
Walker and staff outlined program duties for the new coordinator—league and field rentals, concessions oversight and aquatics coordination—and said some seasonal responsibilities would be shifted so more programs can be run in-house rather than outsourced.
On parks capital, Speaker 10 announced the county was awarded $2,000,000 of federal funding toward a $4,000,000 project to develop and expand athletic fields at Rockland Park. The award covers a subset of improvements (two baseball fields, two softball fields, three multipurpose fields, lighting, paved parking, a new concession/restroom building, ADA access and stormwater work). The grant is a 50/50 match and subject to federal Buy American rules, which contributed to project cost increases. "We were told that we were awarded dollars $2,000,000 of a $4,000,000 project," Speaker 10 said.
Board members discussed cash-flow and reimbursement timing, the need for a phased implementation plan, and options to use tourism revenues to help meet local matching requirements. Administration said the grant requires acceptance by Oct. 21 or the funds will be awarded to another locality; reimbursements typically arrive quarterly and can take 30–60 days if the county keeps timely paperwork.
What’s next: the Rockland Park grant will be placed on next week’s agenda for formal acceptance; administration will provide a phased implementation plan and year-by-year cost estimates for board review.
