New plan presented for Portland parks

The first draft of a new five-year plan was presented at Portland Park Board Tuesday evening.
Park Board members discussed future plans, heard results and insights on the five-year plan survey and learned more about the current state of Portland’s parks.
Members of the committee that developed the draft of the five-year plan identified a series of needs for Portland’s park system. John Moore, one of those who worked to develop the plan, presented a list of improvements identified by the committee and survey respondents as goals for the next five years. Moore said that uniformity among programs’ standards, including ethics, child safety and scheduling, could improve coordination between the 17 different programs offered at the parks. Some of the parks’ different programs include a youth baseball league, summer day camps, and pickleball leagues.
“A little more of a common approach might be helpful going forward,” Moore said.
The committee also suggested the creation of a “Friends of” Portland parks group that would plan and execute volunteer events to spruce up the parks and beautify them.
Improved walking and biking routes at the parks, near schools and for other activities was also mentioned as a need to be addressed in the new plan.
Moore also said survey respondents had mentioned the desire for more paved parking.
There were 360 respondents to the survey, significantly more than the 83 who responded to the survey five years ago. The respondents identified a series of impediments to park use, including: wet and muddy conditions at Haynes Park, smoking near playground areas, public drug use, locked bathrooms, limited parking at sporting events, no disc golf, baseball diamond schedules not coordinated and poor special needs access to activities like fishing.
The survey also showed that 95 percent of survey respondents had gone to Hudson Family Park. Sixty-six percent of the respondents said they are not volunteers, but might be willing to volunteer if asked.
Donald Gillespie, a former park board member who also worked on the plan, presented a baseline summary of Portland’s parks. The city has six parks, which account for a total of 97 acres. Gillespie estimated the operating budget of all the parks at $250,000 each year and explained that 17 major seasonal programs and activities occur at the different parks. He said most of the major programs are run by third parties, meaning the city doesn’t have to cover their operating costs.
“Most programs right now that are currently being run in your parks are at no cost to the city, other than the maintenance, park facilities are no cost for the programming,” Gillespie said. “Other communities are struggling with this same development, and we’re very unique in this situation.
Board members Rod Ashman, Chris Compton and Kristi Betts, absent Shauna Runkle, also heard a short parks update from street and parks superintendent Ryan Myers. Myers said the water park had been winterized, and explained that he is still working with R.L. Turner to level the floor of the bathrooms. A new contractor will be sought to resurface the floor after R.L. Turner levels it out.