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Parks commission prioritizes trails, website fixes and community-park planning; water-trails low bid accepted, band shell delayed
Summary
Commissioners prioritized trails and an internal work session on snowmobile connections, asked staff to fix the interactive trail map, and agreed to a future council work session on a community park after a planned citywide survey. Staff also reported the water-trails low bid (Sunram) and said the Stevens Park band shell faces long lead times that likely push installation into fall.
At the March 3 Dayton Parks Commission meeting, commissioners set planning priorities for the year and received updates on two active projects: the water-trails bid award and the Stevens Park band shell timeline.
Marty (Staff member) reported the water-trails contract is moving into negotiation after the city council approved the procurement. "The low bid was from Sunram," Marty said, and staff said available grant dollars will fund work at Gooding Park in partnership with the Three Rivers Park District. Staff projected a pre-construction meeting in the coming weeks with a late-spring or early-summer start and substantial completion by September 2026.
Commissioners spent the bulk of the meeting on goals and work planning. They prioritized an internal working session on trails (including snowmobile-trail options and trail-corridor priorities), a future joint work session with the city council to plan a potential community park after survey results are available, and improvements to the public trail map and mobile app so trail mileage and amenities are visible. Commissioners asked staff for a progress update on the Diamond Lake diamonds and Leathers Park at the next meeting.
On the Stevens Park band shell, staff described supply-chain delays for the pre-fabricated unit. "The unit itself originally was going to be a 4 week. Order it, get it in 12 weeks... Now it's closer to 20 to 24 weeks before you get it," Marty said, and added that installing a prefabricated unit this fall is possible if ordering and engineering are completed soon. Commissioners asked staff to seek alternatives and to return with updated drawings and a feasible schedule.
Commissioners also discussed expanding the giving garden, memorial-bench/paver donation options, and natural-space programming at Gooding Park. Staff said a citywide statistically representative community survey will be conducted in late spring; commissioners asked that survey results inform any fall work session with the council about a community park.
The commission set its next regular meeting for April 7.
