Total ask bumped up from what previously carved out by city; council will have to approve

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Ashland Parks & Recreation Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a requested budget for the department slightly higher than budget direction from the city. 

Senior Analyst Brandon Terry said the budget as directed would give the Parks & Recreation Department a total baseline budget of $22.3 million — $15 million for operations and $7.3 million for capital projects — for the next biennial budget, July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027. 

Commissioners were presented with this option or a slightly higher departmental budget of $23.1 million — $15.7 million for operations and the same $22.3 million capital budget.

Requests raising the budget ceiling ranged from a fund to support replacing tools to supporting additional staff, Terry said. 

In the upcoming biennium, a recreation coordinator position could be created to assist in facilities rentals and planning events and a park technician position to begin in 2027 to support the by-then constructed East Main Park. 

A fund to be continuously paid into based on the estimated remaining lifespan of equipment would run between $70,000 to 80,000 with around 26 items currently behind scheduled replacement, Parks & Recreation Director Rocky Houston said. 

Additional requests included supporting reopening the restaurant at Oak Knoll Golf Course at an estimated $67,000 and additional charges for fleet maintenance and insurance services. 

APRC will also be responsible for managing Pioneer Hall and the Community Center again in the upcoming biennium after several years of not having to budget for the support of those buildings, Commission Chair Jim Bachman said. 

In a discussion of revenue, Terry said it was hoped in the future the golf course would be “revenue neutral or better,” while a full-time position was being moved from the golf course to the Senior Center as use of programs have tripled at the center while other recreation offerings, such as the North Mountain Nature Park Center, have remained constant. 

Commissioner Rick Landt said he would like to see the Nature Center be equally as successful as the Senior Center. Houston said there is a new manager there working toward that ideal after the loss of school programs that used to sustain the center. 

To sustain the volume of lands and responsibilities of APRC for both “quality of life and economic driver,” Commissioner Dan Wiener made a motion to approve the slightly larger budget. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve it. The budget will be reviewed and adopted or rejected by the City Council, according to the staff report.

In other parks business Wednesday, commissioners unanimously approved a department work plan for the 2025 to 2027 biennium, but only after a discussion concerning the inclusion of a reroute project for a portion of the Siskiyou Mountain Trail. 

Commissioner Justin Adams questioned how this item was included in the work plan when it had not been reviewed by the newly resurrected Trails Advisory Committee (TAC), as he is the liaison to that committee. 

Bachman reminded him the commission would be voting on the charge for the new TAC later on in the meeting and, with a clearer process, future trails projects would go through the committee and  “I think you’re the right liaison to watch that.”

Landt remembered the project had been brought forward by the previous trails committee because it had been noted as needing attention by the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association. 

After further discussion, Adams made a motion to approve the work plan with the subtraction of the trail reroute project and the allotted $70,000 could be done with “deference” to the committee. 

“I think since we have an advisory committee, and people including staff have just spent time selecting really good members and we have a limited budget. I would like to see some input from the community and where we want to prioritize this limited pool of money,” he said. 

Houston asked if he was properly understanding a request to remove the funds and the project from the plan and thereby not have funds budgeted to work on the project at all in the upcoming biennium. 

Adams withdrew his motion and the commission voted unanimously to approve the department work plan. 

Commissioners also voted unanimously to approve having the Trails Advisory Committee officially be charged with reviewing new trail proposals and the process for reviewing proposals, as well as working with staff on trail-related portions of the ongoing Parks, Recreation, Open Spaces and Senior Services plan, as well as any related trail programs requested by staff. 

Commissioner Weiner made the motion with the alteration that the committee operate for 24 months before being reassessed by the commission, rather than 12, to maintain momentum. 

In his director’s report, Houston said Parks worked with other departments such as electric to repair damage from February’s winter storm but in some places work is ongoing. 

Bathrooms in parks will be open a little later as daylight lasts a little longer, and seasonal change will also soon mean sign-up for swim lessons and seasonal jobs such as life guards. 

The Ashland Rotary Centennial Ice Rink was not at its highest water mark for revenue and use, but was “going in the right direction” in recovering from closure during the pandemic with 29,970 admissions and $120,000 in revenue. 

Design plans for the restoration of the Butler Perozzi Fountain are underway and, once renovations begin, the fountain will be taken elsewhere for work. Signs will be placed in the area to help park visitors understand where the fountain is and potentially allow for tracking progress on the project, Houston said. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.