Parks director recommends outsourcing mowing, requests full‑time arborist position

Parks & Recreation Director Rhett told the council Draper now operates 45 parks and roughly 128 miles of trails and is straining to maintain service levels with current staffing. He proposed contracting out routine mowing (estimated ~$165,000 annually) to return the equivalent of several full‑time positions and seasonal workers to frontline maintenance and tree care tasks.

Rhett also asked the council to fund a full‑time arborist (estimated starting salary ~$55,000 plus benefits), arguing the city has about 10,000 trees in need of attention and seasonal staff cannot provide the specialized care required to preserve canopy health. He highlighted the maintenance trade‑off between adding full‑time staff vs. contracting and said a volunteer coordinator could better leverage service groups and reduce recurring costs. Council indicated support for pursuing outsourcing options and asked staff to prepare bid and cost comparisons.