At its regular session on March 17, the Town Council approved a professional services agreement with GreenPlay, LLC for the development of a master plan for the Community Services Department.

The approved agreement is at a cost of $65,549 with $40,549 coming from Parks and Recreation Development Fees and $25,000 from the General Fund. The project is budgeted in the current fiscal year.

In her report to the council, Community Services Director Rachael Goodwin said the system-wide master plan will include an evaluation of the town’s existing services and standards for parks and recreation, develop benchmarking systems and metric comparisons for town amenities including parks, trails and the Community Center operations. There will also be a review of the organizational structure to evaluate effectiveness and provide considerations for alternate funding and cost recovery for future park improvements.

The planning effort is to include a major public outreach and engagement effort. Focus groups, public meetings, stakeholder interviews as well as a statistically valid community survey will be part of the effort to better understand the priorities of residents.

“This feedback will be critical as the department looks to develop new programs, features and amenities,” Goodwin said.

When complete, the master plan will support planning and programming in five key areas.

*Evaluating the existing park system with benchmarks for regional and national standards and potential service level improvements.

*Incorporating the vision, goals and tasks outlined in the recently adopted Community Services Strategic Plan.

*Documenting priorities, trends and demands of the current population and charting a long-range plan for accommodating anticipated population growth.

*Developing an implementation program that outlines projects, anticipated costs, potential funding sources and operation and maintenance implications.

*Providing a record for citizen engagement, issues discussed and resulting recommendations.

GreenPlay was selected by an evaluation following a request for proposals. The company has nationwide experience and in Arizona has worked with the Town of Florence, City of Glendale and Coconino County.

Goodwin said, due to the current health emergency, progress of the work will be fluid, but the current plan is to have the master plan ready for a final presentation to the council in December this year.