Parks Master Plan to Get Update

City Council unanimously approved hiring a consultant to conduct a master plan for City Parks.  The process took less than two minutes.
 

Award of RFP PK-01-19 Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master and Strategic Plan to Dunaway Associates (Midland, TX) for professional services in the amount of $70,000 budgeted for purchase, fiscal year 2019, and authorizing the City Manager to execute any related documents (Carl White)

The last master plan happened in 2012.  Council did not hear how much had been accomplished in the 2012 plan before approving the creation of a new master plan.

The vision of the Parks & Recreation Department is to be the premier provider of parks and recreation to make San Angelo the West Texas standard for opportunity, prosperity and quality of life. Our mission is to acquire, develop, operate and maintain a parks and recreation system that enriches the quality of life for residents and visitors alike, and preserves it for future generations.

Council also did not ask about the city maintained park at Twin Buttes Reservoir, which required a separate plan in 2013.  There was no council discussion of the expected demands on Twin Buttes from a recreation standpoint now that it has water galore.

Parks is responsible for the maintenance of City parks. This includes the repair, upkeep and replacement of playground equipment, restrooms and other amenities, watering and mowing of parklands and playing fields, maintenance of trees and emptying trash.

City Public Information Officer Anthony Wilson put together a ten minute video on this item which highlighted the opportunity for citizen input and how an updated plan's qualifies the city for state grant funding for park improvements.

They mentioned funding for the grant came from two sources, a Texas Healthy Communities grant and operational savings from operating the Parks Department without full staff.  Unfortunately, citizens have seen how operating on the cheap for decades destroyed city streets and turned Twin Buttes into a "no man's land."  That's a quote from Parks Director Carl White..

Park service holes mentioned were the Bluffs, Southland and Lakeview.  They did mention the 2012 plan but did not present how prior citizen desires had been addressed.  They did not talk about the City maintained park at Twin Buttes, which has been a several decade long service hole.

The 2019 plan should be completed in ten months to a year which will make it a 2020 plan.