Priorities similar

Priorities for those who use Portland’s parks are much the same now as they were five years ago.

Portland Park Board member Brian Ison presented data from the nearly 500 completed parks survey Wednesday during a relatively quiet public hearing on the city’s five-year parks plan.

The survey data — 496 had been filled out prior to Wednesday’s meeting, with the survey (bit.ly/parksurvey21) remaining open until Aug. 27 — shows Portland’s parks are most frequently visited for the purpose of using playgrounds (67.8% of respondents) and walking/bicycling on trails (66.2%). (Those options were also at the top of the list in the 2016 parks survey.) No other choice cleared the 50% barrier, with the next highest attending the water park (45.8%) and picnicking/using pavilions (44.9%).

Hudson Family Park, which was completed in 2011, continues to be the most utilized, with 94.5% of respondents saying they visit that facility. Haynes Park (57.9%) and Portland Water Park (54.2%) were next highest, with Milton Miller Park lowest at 12.6%.

In terms of what park users would like to see added to facilities, trails and paths topped the list at 55.4%.

Additional bleachers and shelters, which was the top choice in the 2016 survey, was next at 39.1%, with more routes among parks and community facilities (schools, Arts Place, Jay Community Center, Jay County Public Library) at 38.1% and more accessible play equipment at 33.9%.

Among comments offered by park users, the most frequent were concerns about safety and vandalism. Suggestions including added trails/paths, adding sidewalks to replace stone paths and parking lots, installing a splash pad and pickleball courts, increasing adult programming, updating playground equipment, increasing use of the amphitheatre at Hudson Family Park, improving landscaping and adding more shelters, picnic areas and trash bins.

In addition to the surveys, Ison and rural Portland resident John Moore, who is assisting with developing the plan, sought input from various groups that use the parks. Those include Portland Junior League, Jay County Pee Wee Football, Arts Place, Jay Community Center, adult recreational leagues, the Portland Rockets, Jay County Swim Club, Jay County Trails Club, Jay County Chamber of Commerce and Jay School Corporation.

Ison noted some of the improvements and changes that have been made to the park system during the current five-year plan — 2017 through 2021. Those include adding a disc golf course at Hudson Family Park, adding sidewalks at Weiler-Wilson, Portland Memorial and Haynes parks, removing the tennis courts at Milton Miller Park, installing a new scoreboard at Runkle-Miller Field and building a new concession stand and restroom facility in the softball diamond area at Portland Memorial Park. (Portland Water Park opened in 2016.)

Among goals listed for the 2022-27 plan are promoting parks-based programs and knowledge of park facilities, encouraging an active lifestyle, coordinating with groups that provide programming at parks and identifying priorities for future park management.

Park board member Glen Bryant, Ison and Moore heard only a handful of comments from those in attendance. Randy Miller, manager of the Portland Rockets, and Randy Fisher advocated for improvements to the Runkle-Miller Field facilities.

Steve Craig, an advocate for pickleball, suggested that in addition to setting targets for the park system as a whole, the board should also create individual goals for each of its parks. He also suggested pavilions, including a three-season shelter house, for Hudson Family Park.

Park board’s next regular meeting is 7 p.m. Sept. 7, with complete survey results and a draft of the five-year plan to be presented. The board will then seek comments on the proposed plan, with a full draft document to be presented in November. Board members hope to approve the plan in December and submit it to Indiana Department of Natural Resource for approval in January.