Committee previews 2027 parks capital program, flags multi‑year projects

Sarah Gison Johnson, the district’s director of engineering, gave the committee a first look at the parks-and-recreation portion of the 2027 capital plan and stressed the presentation was a high‑level preview to align committee members before the board votes.

"For the 2027 capital plan, we have closeout, construction completion and closeout of the current Westshore Trail Rehabilitation project, segment 1," Johnson said, and added the plan shifts some work to a two‑year cycle to allow planning and design before construction. She listed near‑term work (Lake Forest boat ramp dredging proposed for fall/winter bidding) and noted several projects will remain in the plan as staff continue scoping and pursuing funding.

Johnson told the committee maintenance and planning work will continue on several long‑running projects: Westshore Trail planning for next phases; the Placer County downtown access improvements (relocations and property agreements) where a cost‑sharing agreement with Placer County remains to be developed; Tower (Tahoe) winter sports park conceptual planning and Kilner Park safety and restroom improvements. Several large jobs are multi‑year and staff said they are rolling lower‑priority projects to future years because of capacity constraints.

Committee members asked about how the district will approach grant invites and funding cycles; Johnson said staff will seek to keep shovel‑ready projects available for expected 2027 funding opportunities. She also told the committee that preliminary design for a Truckee River retaining wall is complicated and will be deferred until more capacity exists to complete the work.

The board will receive a fuller packet on the capital plan at the upcoming board meeting, and staff said the parks items will be available for action at that meeting.