Parks and Trails

• Develop a Parks Master Plan

• Develop a transition plan to a sustainable funding source for our Parks and Trails

Develop a Parks Master Plan

Our Parks, Recreation and Trails Commission want more guidance. We have several dedicated, talented individuals on this Commission that want to do more for our community, but they have not been given direction or been empowered by our City Council to do so. A way to better utilize their talents is to task the group with helping to develop a Parks Master Plan. A Parks Master Plan defines the goals for the park into the future, usually out to 10-20 years. There are several cities that develop these. Some relevant, nearby examples include New Brighton and Little Canada. A Parks Master Plan involves robust community input and will require City Council review and approval. Our community deeply values our Parks. We should invest in a plan to maintain their value to our community in the decades to come.

Develop a transition plan to a sustainable funding source for our Parks and Trails

Our parks are currently funded using a Park Dedication Fund that only developers contribute to. When a development occurs in our city, the developer can either dedicate land in the development for public use, or the developer can add funds to the City’s Park Dedication Fund. The City then can allocate these funds for specific Park uses. This park funding model works great for cities that are growing and expect new developments to contribute to this fund. However, our city is nearly built out. There are finite funds from new development to add. Therefore, although our park expenses will sustain or grow over time, our Park Dedication Fund will not. We need a transition plan to a sustainable funding source. Our parks are valuable for this community, so we need to address this to keep our parks great.