News
Sports
Grass Valley has about 104 acres of parkland in city limits, but residents asked for more — especially space for ball fields — at a meeting this week.
City officials will apply for a state grant worth up to $5 million to buy land and develop a park. The grant, funded through money approved by voters in 2006 with Proposition 84, intends to provide parks to benefit areas and people who don't have easy access to parks already.
One city leader, however, questioned whether Grass Valley could be overextending its recreational reach.
City Council members this week agreed to work with national engineering firm Kimley-Horn Associates Inc., with an office in Sacramento, to apply for the grant. It is due July 1, Public Works Director and City Engineer Tim Kiser said.
To apply for the grant, officials must have a possible site in mind.
The city will spend $18,000 for the consultants to go through the process needed to apply for the grant. That includes conducting three public workshops, develop conceptual plans, and estimate the scope and cost of the park.
During the workshops, residents would “take the lead in selecting the recreation features, providing design ideas for the selected features, public safety and beautification, and expressing their preference for the location of the selected features,” Kimley-Horn employees wrote in their report to the city.
With years of budget cuts, the city has lost its parks and recreation manager and maintenance workers, Councilwoman Lisa Swarthout said.
“We can't afford to maintain the existing facilities that we have, and I think acquiring new property is just unrealistic,” Swarthout said.
But council members Yolanda Cookson and Jason Fouyer were enthusiastic about the opportunity.
“The (city Parks and Recreation) Commission has been working on getting volunteers and groups participating” in park maintenance, Cookson said. She pointed to recent efforts by local Rotary Club members.
“It would be a shame if we didn't get a jump on this and do it,” Cookson added.
Prop. 84's funding program gives priority to creation of new parks in neighborhoods, Kiser said. “These projects will benefit the health of families, youth, senior citizens, and other population groups by meeting their recreational, cultural, social, educational, and environmental needs,” his report to the city reads.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
City officials will apply for a state grant worth up to $5 million to buy land and develop a park. The grant, funded through money approved by voters in 2006 with Proposition 84, intends to provide parks to benefit areas and people who don't have easy access to parks already.
One city leader, however, questioned whether Grass Valley could be overextending its recreational reach.
City Council members this week agreed to work with national engineering firm Kimley-Horn Associates Inc., with an office in Sacramento, to apply for the grant. It is due July 1, Public Works Director and City Engineer Tim Kiser said.
To apply for the grant, officials must have a possible site in mind.
The city will spend $18,000 for the consultants to go through the process needed to apply for the grant. That includes conducting three public workshops, develop conceptual plans, and estimate the scope and cost of the park.
During the workshops, residents would “take the lead in selecting the recreation features, providing design ideas for the selected features, public safety and beautification, and expressing their preference for the location of the selected features,” Kimley-Horn employees wrote in their report to the city.
With years of budget cuts, the city has lost its parks and recreation manager and maintenance workers, Councilwoman Lisa Swarthout said.
“We can't afford to maintain the existing facilities that we have, and I think acquiring new property is just unrealistic,” Swarthout said.
But council members Yolanda Cookson and Jason Fouyer were enthusiastic about the opportunity.
“The (city Parks and Recreation) Commission has been working on getting volunteers and groups participating” in park maintenance, Cookson said. She pointed to recent efforts by local Rotary Club members.
“It would be a shame if we didn't get a jump on this and do it,” Cookson added.
Prop. 84's funding program gives priority to creation of new parks in neighborhoods, Kiser said. “These projects will benefit the health of families, youth, senior citizens, and other population groups by meeting their recreational, cultural, social, educational, and environmental needs,” his report to the city reads.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
