Town recreation master plan advances; staff will seek community input on financing options

Mr. Bassford, a recreation department staff member, briefed the Board of Trustees on the town’s recreation‑outdoors master plan during the work session, saying the effort is in its midpoint and staff will soon distribute a mid‑process survey to dig into what the community wants in a facility. He said the town has already held an open house and other listening sessions and will advertise the new survey on town social channels and to town staff.

“Right now we’re about in the middle of it,” Mr. Bassford said, noting the packet describes a kickoff workshop, listening sessions and an open house held in January. Early engagement indicates “75‑ish percent” of respondents support a recreation facility, and roughly the low‑70s percent said they would consider paying for a recreation district in principle; staff emphasized the survey is designed to clarify what residents mean by “facility.”

The staff presentation laid out likely financing options—recreation district (the survey’s example), mill levies, sales tax and bonds—and explained that forming a recreation district is an independent, multi‑year process (the packet calls it roughly 11 steps) that cannot be initiated by town staff. Mr. Bassford also warned the town’s population base and water availability constrain how large a stand‑alone town facility could be: “You’d pretty much need the kind of 10,000‑person population of the school district,” he said.

Staff told trustees they plan a draft plan review and public event around July 9 and expect to finalize the plan for board consideration in August or September; subsequent board action would be required before any formal funding decisions. Trustees pressed on likely operational costs, impacts to existing town recreation programming, and long‑term maintenance needs. Mr. Bassford also described short‑term staffing gaps in recreation, recent resignations and open recruitments for multiple full‑time positions.