Park System Master Plan
At a glance
Based on auto-generated captions; names and numbers may be misheard.
- What: A citywide parks master plan, now near its recommendation stage, giving a 10-year road map for investment, maintenance and funding.
- Where it stands: Staff previewed the process; no board vote.
- Next: A city council workshop on October 27 will present initial recommendations and take feedback from the council and this board; finalizing by year end, with council action probably in January.
Discussion
- The plan drew on community engagement, maintenance and funding sources, and comparisons with similar Midwest cities (captioned Peoria, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and Tulsa).
- Staff explained that some parkland is deeded to the Board of Park Commissioners and must stay in recreational use or be offset by property of equal value or size; other land is deeded to the city and follows a different path. About 120 maintained parks and roughly 140 undeveloped park properties will be reviewed, including whether some could be traded to fund improvements elsewhere.
- A commissioner noted past land acquisitions left the system with parcels that do not suit park use and hoped the plan would answer how to use them (see Emery Park Evergy Transmission Easement for a live example).
Discussion time
About 4 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).
| Meeting | Minutes |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-12 - Board of Park Commissioners | 4 |
Log
- 2026-10-12 - Board of Park Commissioners - Staff outlined the process and timeline, including the October 27 council workshop.
From the video (2026-10-27)
2026-10-27 - City Council Workshop: Consultants presented benchmarking and recommendations; draft online in about a month, council and board consideration in January.
Sources
- Watch the video (roughly 44:15 to 48:23)