Approve Chapter 3 of the Park System Plan—Recreation Programming & Partnerships

Purpose:

A significant subset of the Park System Plan (under development) are the recreational programming components within; Chapter 3, Recreation Programming & Partnerships—which will also further define the policy and theory for recreational programming for Ramsey.  This policy development corresponds to City Council's adopted Strategic Plan Strategy to "Connect the community both physically and socially to destinations, services, and activities." and more specifically, the Action item "Update the Recreation Programming Work Plan—Deliver a diversity of programs that finds a balance of revenue and access."


Background:

This case is the completion of the Commission's work in providing feedback on this chapter.  Note: The updated Chapter content will be added to this case during the 4 O'clock hour on Monday (finalizing and formatting over the weekend).  Pending this addition, the earlier iteration may be found as part of the most recent activity by the Commission, available as an attachment to the March 2020 case in 'Agendas' on the city's website.

 

Recreation Specialist Abby Proulx will provide an overview of the earlier aspects reviewed by the Commission (November 2019 and January and February 2020), and present an outline of the entire Recreation and Partnerships Chapter at the meeting.   The Recreation and Programming & Partnerships Chapter when approved and completed by the Commission, would advance for Council consideration thereafter, as soon as the Spring/Summer of 2021.

To place Chapter 3 (the subject of this case) into context, the following is an overview of the content of the larger Park System Plan:

This Park System Plan—Ramsey’s first comprehensive planning document dedicated to parks, trails and related open space will attempt to be aspirational and visionary, yet realistic.  It will catalog where we are and what we have, while describing where we are going and what we can achieve.

Chapter 1, Introduction & Where We Are highlights very briefly where we’ve come from, and sets up the context for this plan, However, greater detail will be revealed in the chapter that explores ‘Recreation Districts’ at the larger neighborhood scale—as well as painting a picture of what can be.

Chapter 2,  Vision & Essential Elements will describe basic or foundational elements of the park and trail system and their value and interrelationships.

Chapter 3,  Recreation Programming & Partnerships  is a key portion of the Park System Plan, exploring recreation programming theory, its value to the community and most importantly, the partnerships that allow these government services to be efficient, effective, and yielding a continued return on investments.

Chapter 4,  Recreation Districts & Neighborhoods as signaled, comprises much of this plan—describing the existing infrastructure and recommended future improvements at a both a neighborhood level and also how these neighborhoods interact to bring a community of recreational opportunities together without redundancy—but with connectivity.

Chapter 5,  Implementation & the Future explores how we move towards capitalizing on the vision and prospects, and how we pay for it, while taking care of existing investments.


 

This topic does not require specific funding. Staff time for the endeavor is accommodated as part of the 2021 General Fund budget.
 

Staff requests comment on any and all of Chapter #3 of the PSP as well as any other input Commissioners may have.  If the Commission is comfortable that earlier feedback is captured and Chapter #3 is 'solid', the motion below would be appropriate.

Motion to approve Chapter #3, of the Park System Plan.