HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-29-18 Public Comment - J. Ball - Parks and Recreation Budget Increase SupportJuly 29, 2018
Re: potential increase in Park and Rec Dept budgets
Dear Commissioners,
I will be out of town, so am submitting this in lieu of an opportunity to speak at the beginning of your
weekly deliberations. I appreciate your consideration and the opportunity. Please submit this to the
minutes, and
I have lived in Bozeman, mostly on- a little off- since 1977. I have served on the Park and Rec Advisory
Board, volunteered as a coach for Youth Soccer and Hockey, was on the Bicycle Advisory Board, City -
County Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Board, and served on the Board of Directors of Bozeman Amateur
Hockey Association both at-large and as Youth Director during the period which saw us bring a
temporary refrigeration system to Bogert Park, the split of Hockey Programs when the Valley Ice Garden
was built and eventually closed at Four Corners, to the construction of the City-County joint venture
Haynes Pavilion at the county Fairgrounds. I live next to the Library land, Pete’s hill, linear trail, and
Lindley and Bogert Parks. I know a bit about Parks and Rec, and care about them as a vital, integral, and
important part of our community.
I am conditionally, guardedly supportive of the budgetary increase. The Parks are presently under-
managed and under-supported.
HOWEVER, I feel that the $5 million is a band-aid, and does not get to the root cause, and an optimal
solution. Presently, it seems we have an over-full standing-room-only bus with no driver, low on fuel,
with a queue of folks waiting in line to get on. There may be many options to improve things, and I
suggest that the City of Bend, Oregon has a model that they adopted in the late 1970’s that appears to
be wildly successful. They are realizing their potential, where Bozeman seems to founder.
I was in Bend for a week or so two winters ago, and observed wonderful
-trail systems,
-refrigerated ice facility,
-busy pool, gym, and tennis facility,
-Band shells, specialty parks, multi-use ball filed parks,
-multiple disc golf courses,
-an impressive recreational program system with tons of diverse offerings.
Bend has many analogies to Bozeman:
-nearby reputable alpine and nordic skiing;
-“lifestyle” mountain town with active community members;
-world class fly-fishing on the Metolius and Deschutes rivers;
-No state sales tax in Oregon--- funding and financing challenges. From a distance, it looks like they are
really creating facilities and programs, despit the funding challenges, far beyond what we have been
able to create here.
As to the $5 million, I would suggest adding a very wee bit to specifically cover the creation and
expenses of a Bozeman Park and Recreation Study Commission with a time-sensitive mandate to come
up with a plan for improvements and / or wholesale modification to the present Park and Recreation
system in and around the upper valley ‘donut’. I would have the City of Bend on the top of the study
list. I imagine that much of the leg work could be done by phone or on-line, by volunteers, with visits if
the determination is that it’s worth a deeper look.
The study commission could be comprised of a Commissioner or two, Park and Rec advisory board
members, other recreationally-oriented board members, and past-member volunteers from the
community that have collectively literally countless thousands of man-hours (Anne Banks, JoAnne
Jennings, Stuart Jennings, Terry Baldus, Dave Cook, David Jones, Gary Vodenal, Taylor Lonsdale, David
Baumbauer, Sue Harkin , Jon Henderson all come to mind- and I know there are countless known and
unknown others).
As to the remainder of the $5 million beyond the suggested Study Commission, I would strenuously
suggest and implore that the City Park and Rec department develop an annual calendar of ‘obligations,
with input from user groups, and that this calendar be adjusted, at minimum, to firmly commit to:
(1) having dasher-boards in place and an adequate depth/ level of ice at the Bogert Pavilion by
Thanksgiving. It appears that the present calendar shows Christmas as being sufficient. It is not. We
lose a month of skating at the deepest, coldest, darkest part of the waxing winter. I know this to be true
after volunteering to flood Bogert at 5 AM for many years.
(2) having water flowing in the ditch at the base of Pete’s Hill by Memorial Day. This date has also ‘slid
out’ from what used to be May, then June, and in 2018, no water as of July 29th-
completely unacceptable!! The City is neglecting giving taxpayer citizens the benefit, use, and
enjoyment of a water amenity owned by the citizenry. Additionally, the City is potentially jeopardizing
its water claims- ‘use it or lose it’ is an old doctrine and concept in water law.
Heart on my sleeve, those are presently my two biggest beefs.
I also suggest that, if these dates and calendar are untenable, the City examine its policies to expand
embracing and working with volunteers who care about a given recreation--- get help to put up boards,
make ice, so that it IS possible to get skating earlier. Get help cleaning the ditch from the dog lovers.
Trust the folks who love it the most to make it happen!
I appreciate your time and consideration. I’d be happy to speak with any and all of you, to volunteer-
whatever.
I’d like to see this become a formal agenda item moving forward in the very near future!
Sincerely,
Jeff Ball
323 S. Wallace
406 223 8727
jefemt@hotmail.com