Parks advisory committee approves amended Parks Master Plan working draft and forwards it to City Council

The White Sulphur Springs Parks Advisory Committee voted unanimously June 5 to accept the May 28, 2025 Parks Master Plan working draft as amended and to submit it to the City Council for review at the council’s June 17 meeting.

Committee members identified a series of factual and formatting corrections they want incorporated before the Council sees the draft. Key edits include changing “Meagher Chamber Meetings” to “Meagher County Chamber of Commerce,” correcting a highway reference from Highway 350 to Highway 360, noting the Little Belts lie to the north in the project description, removing stray callout/comment icons in the printed file, and changing language about lighting work at the Rotary Shelter to read that lighting will be installed in 2025.

The Committee also asked for map and layout fixes: simplifying or removing amenity-count callouts in map legends, retitling the legend to “Park Travel Times,” cropping illegible legend art, extending hatch marks on the crash-and-safety map to Chilton Street, and correcting a possible property-line encroachment shown on the Joanna’s Park map (the Committee suggested either adjusting the line or adding a disclaimer that map boundaries are not survey‑grade). Bair Park’s entry should note renovation in summer 2025 and correct picnic‑table placement; the Committee requested the top photo on the Spike’s Happy Trails page be removed because it is not Spike’s property.

On policy language, the Committee agreed on recommended steps for a cash‑in‑lieu procedure for subdivisions: a subdivider would submit a proposal for parkland or cash in lieu supported by a fair‑market appraisal; the Parks Advisory Committee would review and forward a recommendation to the City Council; the City Council would make a final determination and set any cash value. Committee members asked the consulting team (Great West) whether the Council must state the intended use of cash at the time of acceptance and suggested removing the clause “and its intended use” if that is not required.

After discussion, Committee member Jen Fraze moved and Vice Chair Jordan Kibbee seconded a motion to accept the working draft as amended and forward it to the Council; the motion passed unanimously. Liaison Pattie Berg will send the Committee’s requested changes to Kevin Angland and ask that the document be updated and returned to the City by noon on Thursday, June 12.

The City Council is scheduled to consider the revised draft at its June 17 meeting. The Committee’s requested corrections focus on factual accuracy and document readability rather than policy changes; the Council will receive the amended working draft and the Committee’s written list of edits.