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Orono City Parks Commission aligns 2026 priorities with council goals; assigns leads for trails, golf and Hackberry plan
Summary
The commission agreed Feb. 2 to use City Council goals to shape its 2026 work plan, carrying forward trails, golf-course planning and the Hackberry Park revitalization; commissioners and staff will refine standards and return a draft work plan at the April meeting.
The Orono City Parks Commission on Feb. 2, 2026 agreed to align its 2026 priorities with the City Council's goals, carrying forward work on trails, golf-course planning and the Hackberry Park revitalization while using subcommittees and a structured agenda to track progress.
Chair Kim said the commission will adopt a more structured meeting agenda that ties updates to specific goals and keeps the group focused. "I envision that being a predetermined agenda, reminding that we're an advisory to the city council," Kim said, framing the commission's role as advisory and the agenda as the vehicle for accountability.
Commissioners spent the meeting reviewing the council's goal template and discussing how to convert those directives into actionable commission tasks. Michael, a commissioner, urged the group to use a work session to develop and assign goals, saying, "I think developing goals and objectives and assigning them to commission people is probably better done in a work session." The commission agreed to carry trails forward as a park-type priority and to keep golf-course planning and the Hackberry master plan on the list of 2026 priorities.
Jacob Janney, who will continue on the Hackberry subcommittee, flagged regional trail connections as a near-term focus: "An important trail is a Loose Line Dakota Trail connection," he said, urging commissioners to watch county and neighboring-city efforts that could affect Orono projects. Staff noted the city already handles some trail-related work, adding that park staff currently manage snow plowing for the Dakota Trail.
On adopt-a-park and volunteer programming, commissioners asked Molly to draft a higher-level goal that could fold volunteer events, pollinator habitat work and the mayor's monarch pledge into a single community-involvement objective for 2026. Commissioners also debated park categorization and standards, including a proposal to reclassify Livingston Tower Park to a neighborhood park and to align any changes with the city's comprehensive plan before submitting recommendations to council.
Staff reported the Oldenmink report had been delivered and noted that some implementation will depend on the Hackberry timeline. Commissioners confirmed they will assign commissioner leads for individual parks and park types and will return in April, when a new commissioner is expected, with more detailed standards and prioritized goals for council consideration.
The meeting closed after commissioners approved minutes from the Nov. 4 meeting and formally adjourned; the commission plans to continue work-session style planning and to present prioritized goals to the council for final alignment.
