February City Council Message
By: Vice Mayor Ken Suer, Contact this Councilmember
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Regarding the City’s Parks Study
After looking over the recently
issued City of Montgomery
Parks and Recreation Study I
have several thoughts to share
with readers regarding the
report. First of all I think it
was necessary to take an in depth
look at our park system
after the dog park debate raised
numerous questions as to how
our parks are used, what they
currently offer and what they
could potentially offer.
Bringing in a consultant who
has worked with many cities on
their park systems has enabled
us to get a number of fresh perspectives
and has generated a
considerable amount of innovative
thinking.
The consultant gathered a lot of
information while speaking
with residents, representatives
of sports teams and leagues,
city staff, council and other
interested parties. A wide range
of ideas emerged — some are
smaller in scale, others are “big
ticket” items. I am pretty certain
that we can do some“tweaking” of the park system
that will improve what we
already have in place — larger
scale ideas would be harder to
implement due to cost but these
still merit some thought and
discussion.
If certain ideas are judged to be worth pursuing, a first step may be to see if any money can be raised through grants, sponsorships or philanthropic gifts. Other items could possibly be worked into the City’s budget over a number of years.
What were some of the ideas in the study that caught my attention? I think there was quite a bit of interest in upgrading the condition of the ball fields and I would consider that idea as probably doable. Installing some plants, shrubs and/or trees in certain spots for buffering purposes might be a good idea. There has been a lot of interest expressed in heating the pool and in heating park restrooms during the winter and some intriguing solar and geothermal concepts were put forth in that regard. (This could be even more intriguing if we could get some type of environmental grant money.) These are just some of my own personal opinions at this stage.
One thing is very clear to me — our park system is very good as it stands today. Can it be improved? Yes — most things can. Constructive and responsible change can keep our City dynamic and competitive. The Parks and Recreation Commission and City Council will have to scrutinize all of the ideas very closely and with the help of resident input, decide what is affordable, what can be done and what should be done. By continuing to look for ways to improve, Montgomery will remain a premiere city in which to live, work and play.
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