Charles City Parks & Rec Board begins filling in details on comprehensive plan

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Parks and Recreation Board has a plan – and for the first time that any of the current board members are aware of, a set of specific goals for where they want the board to aim.

The Parks & Rec Board members have been working for a couple of months on coming up with a five-year comprehensive plan, prompted by the urging of the City Council and by some board members’ own feelings that they were more often reacting to things that came up rather than planning for things they want to accomplish.

At the latest special strategy meeting, held Wednesday evening, the board went through a list of issues and actions that Parks & Rec Director Tyler Mitchell had compiled based on a questionnaire that each board member answered and discussions that they had at previous meetings.

The “current year” on the plan includes the remaining three months in this fiscal year and the 2022-23 fiscal year that begins July 1 and runs to June 30, 2023. After listing the projects already set for the current year, the board began filling in items for the following five years.

Big-ticket items on the list include a new skate park, whether to repair or replace the clubhouse at Wildwood Golf Course, and the biggest price tag – renovating or replacing the more-than-30-year-old municipal swimming pool, which the board has recognized for several years is continuing to deteriorate.

The board is almost ready to send a request for proposals (RFP) to companies that design and/or build swimming pools, asking for descriptions of processes and costs for a “Swimming Pool Comprehensive Facility Evaluation and Feasibility Study.”

The report would include analyzing the current pool and providing options for repair, refurbishment or replacement; site analysis; analysis of community needs; potential project marketing and fundraising help; ongoing costs; etc.

Mitchell asked board members to again look through the latest draft of the RFP he had created so they can correct any typos and make any revisions at the next regular board meeting March 16, then send it out.

Sending out the RFP, picking a company and at least beginning the evaluation and feasibility study are part of the current year plan. An action item for when the board would make a decision or begin a project regarding the pool isn’t yet on the five-year plan, and will likely depend on what the study determines.

Wildwood clubhouse “factfinding” is on the current year and Year One timetable. An earlier project to reside the clubhouse was stopped after a contractor found significant problems with the foundation and structure of the building.

Board member Chris Eldridge suggested looking at a way to keep the clubhouse for its historical value even if it couldn’t be used as a clubhouse, but Mayor Dean Andrews said that would only result in twice the regular maintenance expense.

The city for many years had a skate park, located on a slab of cement near the pool in Lion’s Field Park, but the skating structures were made largely of plywood and the park was dismantled out of safety concerns a couple of years ago.

Parks & Rec Board Chair Jeff Otto has said he is aware of a group, which he has not identified, that would make a significant contribution toward a new skate park, but the board needs to decide what it wants to do and where a new park would be located.

The board has $10,000 in its current year budget to begin work on a skate park, and the board decided the best course would be to create a new park in stages, identifying a location then installing some structures with whatever money is available now through the board funds and Otto’s group, then add new features every couple of years as more funding becomes available through grants or other sources.

The skate park is on the current year schedule to make some of those decisions, then again on Year Three – July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 – for “Phase 2 of Skate Park.”

Several items appear repeatedly on the five-year plan. Addressing riverfront maintenance needs appears every year, as does making improvements to the city bike trail.

“Figure out playground situation” is on the current year schedule, then playground priority 1, priority 2 and priority 3 are on the next three years’ schedule after that.

Board members discussed playgrounds and the need for new equipment at Sportsmen’s park and any equipment on the south side of town.

The board also discussed using the baseball diamond at Sportsmen’s Park and the existing softball diamond to create a softball facility with three softball diamonds, improved parking and the potential for concessions sales.

Items listed for the current year include $10,000 for riverfront work, $15,000 for bike trail work, $10,000 for skate park, $6,000 for new chlorine equipment for the pool, $6,000 for new lifeguard chairs at the pool, $7,000 for golf cart shed renovation at Wildwood, $9,000 for a grass top dresser and $5,000 for restroom renovations.

There are also three more years including the current year of the board’s commitment to help pay for the new Charley Western Recreational Trail bridge, at $10,000 per year.

The Parks & Rec Board had earlier considered hiring a company to assess the current state of parks and recreational opportunities in the community and then help the board develop a comprehensive plan, but decided the $20,000 or more cost for that help was money that could be better spent on things they want to do rather than figuring out what those things are.