Recreation, Parks & Tourism presents upgrades, access plans and asks board to revisit food-truck/concession policy

Kelly Beavers, director of Recreation, Parks & Tourism, and department leads reported departmental highlights and capital progress during the May 19 briefing. Beavers summarized recent investments in marketing, new turf fields and master planning, and said the department runs 45—0 major maintenance projects annually. Juwan (Juwan) Jones (chief of recreation) and Sam Drury (deputy director) outlined growth in therapeutic recreation programs (serving more than 850 camp participants since 2023 and 4,000 Comm Cove visitors since opening) and described ADA-accessibility improvements across multiple parks.

Beavers and staff discussed recent projects including the reopening of the Crain Memorial Welcome Center (restroom upgrades, lighting, digital kiosks), re-paving at White Plains Golf Course and work at Bensville Park. Staff noted they are pursuing a potential $5 million NOAA grant for Mallows Bay improvements but are in the NEPA assessment phase and cannot yet finalize the scope of work. The department also launched OpenGov asset-management to inventory park assets and improve life-cycle replacement planning.

Commissioners pressed staff on concession-stand operations and food-truck scheduling. Staff said concession stands previously operated at a net loss and that food trucks are scheduled with health and liability coordination; they agreed to return with data on concession finances and proposed approaches for increasing vendor availability at busier parks such as Waldorf Park and Bensville. Staff also explained a new roster requirement prioritizing Charles County resident participation for athletic-field allocations (51% resident threshold).