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Parks staff proposes clearer mission, new primary/secondary planning-area approach for master plan
Summary
Staff asked the Town of Newburgh Parks Board to review proposed revisions to the parks master plan’s mission and purpose, and proposed treating service boundaries as a primary area and a secondary area to reflect users from neighboring towns.
Staff presented a draft revision of the parks master plan’s mission and purpose and asked board members to review three proposed mission-statement options and the plan purpose before the next meeting. "I put this in my report," the staff member said, noting the goal is to "outline really what that plan is going to do." The staff member said the current purpose language has not changed in several master plans and that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requested a revised purpose paragraph.
The staff member walked the board through past decisions on the planning area, noting that earlier drafts used a 1–2 mile radius and a later draft expanded to about a four-mile radius. She said the current planning-area figure covers "about a 24,000 population" and asked whether the board wanted to include neighboring places such as Chandler and Evansville. Committee member (first reference), who suggested a two-tiered approach, asked: "Is it possible to set it up as almost like a primary and a secondary where maybe we have our primary area is close to something like what we have now, but then our secondary area can reference the fact that we have people from Chandler, from Evansville..." The staff member said she would explore that structure.
The staff member said technical updates will follow: new topography and soil reports, updated socio-economic factors and a park inventory that ties recommendations (such as accessibility improvements or programming changes) to each park. She said public outreach is planned later this year and noted a completion target tied to the master plan cycle (deadline mentioned as November '27). Board members agreed to review the draft mission statements and transmit edits to the staff member ahead of the following meeting.
The staff emphasized alignment with DNR guidance and a standard template for five-year master plans, saying the agency had previously asked the town to change its stated purpose. The board did not take a formal vote on the master plan text at this meeting; staff will return with a refined draft and more technical detail.
