Charles City Parks & Rec Board continues discussion on planning, priorities

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Members of the Charles City Parks & Recreation Board are backing away from a proposal to hire a company to create a city parks “master plan,” instead leaning toward spending money to get more information on their current top priority — options for the municipal swimming pool.

The cost of either option — the master plan or the pool study — would be about $20,000, and there is $40,000 allocated in the board’s current fiscal year 2021-22 budget to do both.

But a majority of the members at the board’s regular meeting held Tuesday evening said they would rather do the pool study and hold the other $20,000 in reserve for other needed expenses.

The board heard a proposal at its previous monthly meeting in November from MSC Professional Services, offering to create a parks master plan that would examine current park services, determine whether they are effectively meeting their goals and serving city neighborhoods, and come up with a blueprint that could guide the board and the city Parks & Rec Department as it makes decisions now and in the future.

The price tag for that plan was about $20,000, said Jim Holz, a certified planner with MSC. The plan could help pay for itself by guiding the board on more efficient uses of its resources and by making the department eligible for additional sources of outside funding such as grants, he said.

But board members balked when Holz said that price would not include a comprehensive look at the swimming pool, which has been showing its age and costing increasing amounts each year for maintenance and repairs.

The board members agreed to think about the presentation and come back to the December meeting ready to discuss the options.

Board President Jeff Otto said he wasn’t sure about the immediate value of a master park plan, since the board has little money to work with.

“I do feel that if we were to do a pool study that would be money well spent,” he said.

Board member Chris Eldridge said, “In theory, I think it’s good to have a big plan.” But when she learned that the master park development proposal presented at the November meeting didn’t include the pool, her reaction was, “That’s why I want the plan. To me that’s our most important thing is to figure out how to get a pool.”

Board members Diane Meyer and Cory Mutch initially said they could see the value of a master park plan.

“I don’t know siccum about planning a park. Long range, 10 years, I have no idea, “ Meyer said.

Mutch said, “At the meeting last time I was really surprised by the things he offered up. There was a lot of information there that I would not have ever thought of whatsoever. I think the idea that we can better utilize some of our parks, better utilize maintenance to them, the whole idea behind it is great, and I think it is a very much needed thing.”

But he said, the priority now was the swimming pool, and also decisions on the clubhouse at Wildwood Golf Course, which is also in need of repairs or replacement.

“I’d rather see us maybe push this master park plan off a year or two, three, four, five, whatever it takes, and do a pool and clubhouse study. Get that going, done and then dive into the park plan later if the money’s still there,” he said.

Much of the city Parks and Recreation Department budget is part of the city general fund, which pays for employee wages, equipment, parks and pool maintenance, etc., department Director Tyler Mitchell said.

But another amount of funds goes to the Parks & Rec Board each year as a share of the city’s hotel/motel tax collection. The board has more leeway on how that money is spent, but it needs to fall under the general category of capital improvements.

In the current fiscal year, $50,000 in that fund was allocated to the master plan ($20,000), the pool study ($20,000) and part of the board’s five-year commitment to help pay for the new Charley Western Recreational Trail bridge ($10,000 per year).

Mayor Dean Andrews, who is not a member of the Parks & Rec Board, but usually attends the meetings, suggested the board needs to devote one meeting just to strategic planning.

“You guys have your monthly meetings and … you kind of just go over what’s happened this month, but I think you guys could have your own park plan. Just have a meeting set aside for strategic planning. The Chamber does that. The Main Street program does that. The City Council does that. That’s just set aside for strategic planning,” he said.

“You could do a lot of that on your own, and then maybe at some point move on to the professional version,” Andrews said, “I think you guys have a lot of things that you just need to prioritize.”

Andrews said that it also isn’t a given that the community needs a pool.

“I remember someone said maybe we don’t need a pool. Maybe what we just need is a slide, a really cool splash pad and maybe one other water feature, and not have a pool,” he said. “Because the person who said it was, “Why would you spend $8 million dollars for eight weeks a year?’ Which is what we do. You basically have an eight-week swim season.”

Eldridge and Meyer reacted strongly to that, both saying it’s important for the city to have a pool.

Andrews said, “But again, that’s something to talk about at a strategic planning session.”

The board took no formal action on the master plan proposal, but Mitchell said he would contact some companies including pool construction companies for information on help performing a pool study.

Holz said last month that MSC also does pool studies, and has a department devoted entirely to aquatic center planning.

Also as part of discussions on priorities, the board decided it needed more information before committing to a “mini pitch” court from Musco Lighting, including ongoing costs, and said it still hadn’t really decided on a possible location.

Also regarding location, the board continued discussions of a possible new skate park.

Otto said he had been approached by a group that was willing to come up with about $30,000 toward a skate park, but they need to have a location selected and they need to have a plan.

He declined to identify the group at this point in the discussion.