Parks and recreation items on the April 25 agenda included a proposed new playground and additional parking at Liberty Field, a multi-year skate park project and a range of smaller park improvements that staff asked the committee to prioritize.

Staff said the Liberty Field playground and associated parking were among the larger single-site items on the parks project list. A proposed skate-park project has a total project estimate of about $455,000; staff said design is under contract and that most construction costs will likely carry into the following fiscal year. Parks staff noted some revenue sources and partnerships could offset portions of the skate-park cost, including contributions from the Jeffrey White Memorial Foundation and potential grant funding.

Committee members requested that the parks project list include clearer descriptions of ‘park improvements’ and asked staff to break out multi-use maintenance items versus capital projects. Staff committed to revising the project list to show priorities and to supply clarifying notes on whether items are capital, carryovers or operating maintenance.