Charles City Parks & Rec Board considers park master plan options

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Would it be better to spend $20,000 or even $40,000 to hire a company to help the Charles City Parks and Recreation Department develop a city parks “master plan,” or to do that planning internally and use the money toward some of the goals the plan comes up with?

Members of the city Parks & Rec Board pondered that question at their regular monthly meeting Wednesday evening after hearing a presentation from a company that would like to help develop a master plan.

The board made no decision and took no action on the topic at the meeting.

Jim Holz, a certified planner with MSA Professional Services Inc., said a plan created with a company that has expertise in that area provides information that the board and the community can look to, and provides accountability to see if the needs and goals identified are being met.

“It provides a continuum for when members of the board change, when staff changes, when the council changes,” said Holz.

A professional plan can also pay for itself in several ways, he said, by making funding sources available that might not be otherwise, and by guiding decisions and providing expertise that saves money when projects are done, such as through appropriate site selection.

Holz is the client service manager/market lead for projects with county and local government and the private market at MSA. The company has 17 offices throughout the United States, including four in Iowa, in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and the Quad Cities.

Holz started with a presentation on the master planning process. It would have several phases, the first being a meeting with department staff and Parks & Rec Board members and going through existing plans and conditions.

The second phase would be a comprehensive mapping of existing parks, trails and amenities, along with a study of who is served by them and which areas of the city are underserved by the city park system.

After a couple more phases, including ones with public surveys and engagement, a draft plan would be developed that includes a description of Charles City’s park system, goals and strategies; analysis of park needs and demands; and recommendations and advice on implementation.

Much of the discussion at the meeting dealt with the scope of the master plan if MSA would be hired.

Holz said he had been told that there was $20,000 in the Parks & Rec Department budget for developing a parks master plan, a figure he said was about half of what it would cost to use all the tools MSA would usually bring to bear on this kind of project.

Scaling down would mean some of more labor-intensive aspects of developing the plan would need to be changed, such as using online surveys instead of MSA people coming into the community to do onsite opinion surveying.

Parks & Rec Board member Diane Meyer asked what the master plan would be able to recommend about a new community swimming pool, which she said she and “a majority of us” on the board considered the highest priority.

Holz said the survey questions would include gathering information about the community’s thoughts on a pool, but would not go in-depth.

“We were going to do a deep dive on the pool, but the budget won’t allow that,” he said.

Board President Jeff Otto asked, “You wouldn’t make a recommendation on a pool?”

“Not in this study,” Holz said, but the surveys might narrow down the community’s consensus on where a new pool should be located or what amenities it should have.

Board member Sarah Barrett wondered about the value of a study that would leave out the most important issue the board is facing.

Mayor Dean Andrews said that pool design and construction companies can help the community through much of that process, but several of the board members said they feared that a company in the business of designing and building pools might try to push the biggest, most expensive project it could, rather than one that really suits the needs of the community.

Holz said MSA has a sub-consultant group that concentrates exclusively on aquatic centers.

“They are very good at right-sizing,” he said.

Barrett said it made more sense to her to spend the money focusing on the pool question and letting the board work on other park issues internally.

City Administrator Steve Diers said there was an additional $20,000 in the Park & Rec budget earmarked for a swimming pool study, so it could be possible to do the full study MSA initially suggested.

Creating a parks master plan is a high priority of the City Council, Diers said, and was identified as a high priority in a previous community survey.

The master plan can still say that the pool is the Park & Rec Board’s No. 1 concern, “but we can’t forget these other things you’ve talked about,” Diers said, such as a splash pad, trail expansion and improvements and a new skating park.

Barrett asked why the master plan couldn’t be created in-house.

Diers said the expertise and the experience that companies like MSA have from going through this process with other communities increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.

Holz said the main reason is isn’t done in-house is because existing city staff wouldn’t be able to do it in the time the board wants, and probably doesn’t have the expertise.

“The main thing is time,” Diers agreed.

Board member Cory Mutch said he liked the idea that a master plan would impose some accountability, so the board might start working on some of its goals instead of only talking about them.

Holz said the company continues to work with communities after the master plan is developed, and follows up to help make sure projects are successful, “or else why would any other community use us?”

Also at the meeting, the Parks and Recreation board:

• Discussed budget priorities for the next fiscal year, which will begin July 1, 2022. Parks & Rec Director Tyler Mitchell said the City Council needs the board’s budget requests in December.

Much of the board’s funding for discretionary spending comes from its share of the city’s hotel and motel tax, which Mitchell said has been down recently because COVID reduced travel.

Mitchell said a master park plan would really be helpful in budgeting by helping show where spending should be focused.

He said needs in the next fiscal year will include several lifeguard chairs at the swimming pool, limestone rock replacement at Riverside Park, various playground equipment needs throughout the city, and a new lawnmower at some point.

• Continued discussing the potential for a skating rink this winter, either at the former skating park at Lion’s Field, or on the basketball courts at Sportsmen’s Park.

Mitchell said it would be difficult getting water to the location at Lion’s Field, but board members suggested he contact the Charles City Fire Department for help flooding the court as needed.

• Discussed a recent proposal to add a “Mini-Pitch System” to one of the city’s parks, putting the brakes on a proposal for a Des Moines-based non-profit group called Kick It Forward to do fund-raising in the city to purchase the approximately $100,000 system from Musco Lighting.

• Board member Dana Sullivan said she had talked with Diane Crookham-Johnson, a Charles City High School alumnus who is one of the daughters of the Crookham family that owns Musco Sports Lighting in Oskaloosa, and working with the company they had lowered the price to $85,000 if the community does its own fundraising.

Otto said he had talked with some people and there was a possibility that four large Charles City-based companies would come up with the entire amount if their names could be included on signage as sponsors of the mini soccer and potential multi-use facility.

The board agreed to hold off on working with the Kick It Forward group until members had a chance to find out more information about a local option.

The systems are self-contained small soccer pitches that were initially designed by Musco Lighting and the U.S. Soccer Foundation as a way to make soccer accessible to more kids, but the court can also be used for other sports.