Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Redmond parks budget funds planning for Elkhorn Park, Dry Canyon management and ice‑rink allocation
Summary
Parks staff proposed $4 million in park funding, including early spending for a 22‑acre Elkhorn Park concept design, a Dry Canyon management plan, irrigation upgrades and $1 million toward a downtown ice rink under the urban renewal discussion.
Parks and public‑works staff told the Budget Committee they intend to move forward with planning and initial work on several park projects during the FY 26-27 budget year while relying primarily on general fund and development charges.
"Elkhorn Park...it's about 22 acres and due to its size, it's been conceptualized to provide amenities for organized recreation," Jessica McClanahan, director of public works and city engineer, said. Staff proposed an initial $500,000 next-year allocation to support UGB work and concept designs and noted the larger design and construction work will occur in later years (2028–2030 timeframe).
The parks fund presentation highlighted other capital items: an allocation of $1,000,000 from parks fund toward a downtown ice rink (an item tied to the urban renewal agenda), irrigation upgrades for the dog park to replace hand-watering with a more efficient system, and continued smart-irrigation controller replacements to reduce overall water use. McClanahan also described a Dry Canyon management plan to balance recreation, native-habitat restoration and public messaging; staff said undeveloped canyon acreage is not counted in the city's "developed parkland" metric.
Funding and efficiencies: Staff said parks is mostly funded by the general fund (over 90%), supplemented by cemetery sales and system development charges (SDCs) that provide roughly $2 million a year for capital improvements. McClanahan said the parks committee and partnerships (Redmond Parks & Rec District, school district and the fairgrounds) inform facility choices and that staff aim to coordinate field supply and tournament capacity across stakeholders.
Next steps: The committee asked several clarifying questions about infrastructure maintenance line reductions and the park acreage accounting; staff responded that some maintenance costs were reclassified to capital or moved to SDC funds and that the Dry Canyon plan will include considerations such as fire mitigation.
