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Parks commission urges engineering survey for McKnight, recommends CIP change
Summary
After reviewing a council workshop that ranked parks lower in priorities and raising concerns about possible use of park funds for non-park purposes, commissioners voted to recommend the 2026 CIP include the Casey Lake open-air shelter and fund up to $300,000 for engineering/design work for McKnight to inform phasing and costs.
The Parks Commission spent the bulk of the meeting on McKnight next steps, budget trade-offs and a pending HUD land-use restriction that staff said may limit the site to public recreation-field uses.
Staff outlined the background: the commission has worked toward an open-space master plan since 2020; recent council workshops on the tax levy and CIP placed streets and infrastructure above parks in priority, and staff reported the parks fund balance at roughly $1.0–1.4 million. Ken, a staff attendee at the council workshop, summarized the council exercise and said the city finance director indicated that maintaining current service levels could require roughly an 8–10% levy increase on the city portion of property taxes.
Commissioners expressed frustration that only three councilmembers attended the workshop and pressed staff on whether park-dedicated funds could be repurposed. The chair said the finance director’s remarks that the city "might need to dip into the parks fund" to support other priorities raised strong concerns among commissioners about preserving dedicated park resources.
The group debated whether to commission engineering/design plans for the entire 21-acre McKnight site or for an initial phase. Staff said a full engineering plan would clarify grading, drainage, stormwater and watershed requirements and estimated that engineering design could cost on the order of a few hundred thousand dollars (commission discussion referenced a rough figure of about $300,000). Commissioners discussed grant opportunities and phasing but noted design work would be necessary to assess feasibility and costs.
To align the 2026 CIP with the commission’s priorities, the commission moved and seconded a recommendation to modify the proposed CIP so that 2026 would include the Casey Lake Open Air Shelter and the addition of an engineering survey for McKnight (up to $300,000). The motion was seconded by Lloyd Grocek and passed by voice vote; there was no recorded opposition.
Staff said they will follow up with HUD on the land-use restriction, supply the commission with relevant HUD/title documents when available, and bring engineered design options and phasing back to the commission in January for further discussion. The staff timeline anticipates detailed design work mainly through 2026, with possible construction in late 2026 or 2027 depending on scope and approvals.
