Consultant presents near‑final 10‑year park master plan; commissioners press whether 2023 survey remains current

A consultant for the city on Wednesday presented a near‑final 10‑year parks master plan that ranks safety, maintenance and multi‑use trails as the community’s top priorities, but several commissioners challenged whether the plan’s resident survey — collected in 2023 — remains an accurate baseline.

Neil Hut, founder and CEO of Next Practice Partners, said the plan is the product of facility inventories, condition ratings and public input collected in person, online and by a statistically valid mailed survey. “We got 419 with a 95% level of confidence and only a 4.8% margin of error,” Hut said, summarizing the consultant team’s outreach and the priorities that emerged.

Why it matters: The plan will guide capital investments and programming for the next decade and will shape which parks get near‑term repairs, safety measures and new amenities. Commissioners worried that administrative pauses and the lifting of an injunction after the survey could have changed community views since 2023.

During questions, several commissioners asked whether the plan is being treated as a static product or as a living document that will incorporate new resident input. Vanessa (Parks and Recreation staff) said the 2023 survey was the baseline but that the plan is intended to be updated: “It’s a live document,” she said, and staff plan ongoing, smaller surveys and targeted outreach as projects move toward design and funding.

Hut told the commission the consultant recommends a 10‑year planning horizon with a 5‑year midpoint update — industry practice that balances cost and relevance. The presentation also included GIS‑based maps showing park access and gaps by amenity type and a recommended priority scoring that rated safety and lighting, walking paths and community parks as high priorities.

Commissioners asked technical questions about methodology and scope. One asked whether school athletic fields were included; Hut and staff said joint‑use school sites were shown where the city has access agreements. Another asked whether adoption timing affects the plan’s 10‑year term; staff said the plan’s horizon is 10 years from the date of adoption.

The consultant recommended that staff follow the master plan with a strategic and business plan to sequence projects, identify funding sources and update operating models for indoor recreation spaces. The commission did not take a formal vote on the plan at the meeting; next steps discussed included council briefing, a public presentation and moving the draft toward adoption and implementation.