Staff: parks PROS plan needs full update before the city can apply for state park grants
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Summary
Parks staff said the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan is out of date, preventing the city from applying for state grant programs; staff will issue an RFQ for consultants and begin a full rewrite to restore grant eligibility.
Parks staff told the commission the city’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan is largely based on 2007 data and is out of compliance with state requirements for grant eligibility. Speaker 2 said the outdated plan has prevented the department from successfully applying to the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and other state park Land acquisition and development grant programs in recent biennia.
Staff said they are preparing and expected to publish a request for qualifications (RFQ) for consultants in the coming weeks and that the update will include community surveys, public meetings and modernized data. "The PROS plan has been out of state, for 2 years," Speaker 2 said, adding that the document needs a complete rewrite to meet grant program standards.
Why it matters: without an updated PROS plan the department cannot access some state grant funds used for park land acquisition and development; staff said updated planning would also enable more accurate park impact fee calculations and help prioritize capital projects.
Next steps: staff will publish the RFQ for consultants, conduct community engagement, and return to the commission with draft scopes and a timeline for completing the plan and restoring grant eligibility.
