Priorities Being Set For Parks and Recreation For Next Ten Years

Online "Community Meeting" tomorrow night

Tomorrow night at 6pm, the Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Department will lead an online community meeting to discuss the project priorities of their ten year Master Plan. The plan has yet to be approved by the town council. This community meeting is a final step before presenting the priorities to the town council. 

Upgrades and new visions for existing parks dropped...leaving our Kreigh Park, Riverfront Park and Steam Pump Ranch

Staff has reduced the the $62 million plan discussed with council on March 17 to $50 million. They got to this number by dropping $11 million in upgrades to Riverfront Park, James D Kreigh Park and Steam Pump Ranch.

Focus on four areas

The 10-year capital spending plan focusses on four areas:

• Building trail system connectivity 

• Life Cycle replacement of equipment in existing parks, not including Naranja park

•60% of the funds needed to complete Naranja Park

• 70% of the funds needed to renovate the community center

The trail system and parks equipment replacement programs will cost the town $15 million approaches $24 million The town anticipates that $9 million will come from other sources. These include the Regional Transit Authority, Pima County, Amphi School District, Pima County Flood Control and grants.

Naranja Park and the Community Center expensive
The town anticipates that almost all of the costs of completing Naranja Park and the Community Center will be borne by the town. This makes these projects expensive. As part of the plan, the Department is recommending that money be spent on Naranja Park ($10 million) and the Community Center ($5 million). Mike Svetz of Pros Consulting has not provided detail on what this would accomplish. 

Town staff has not provided detail on why they chose to recommend spending $13.5 million on Naranja Park and the community center while ignoring the buildout and enhancement of the town's other parks. These projects would cost the town less than $11 million and substantially improve Kreigh Park, Riverfront Park and Steam Pump Ranch.

Possible purchase of former Vistoso Golf Course will require reworking plan
These plans do not include the possibility of the town acquiring the former Vistoso Golf Course. If that happens, according to Parks Director Kristy Diaz-Trahan, the department will need to revisit the master plan to make adjustments if needed.

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No Bonding (Likely) For Parks Master Plan

Bonding Highly Unlikely In Funding Parks and Recreation Plan
Seeking public approval for issuing bonds with a property tax to repay them is a highly unlikely source to pay for the Parks and Recreation Master plan. Mayor Winfield noted, at last week's council study session, that residents have continually voted down such bond measures over the years. 

Winfield noted that the survey the town conducted last year asked what people would want assuming there would be no new taxes to pay for such. "This means that it would not cost them anything." 

Town staff acknowledged this. In fact, it appears that staff never considered bonding to be a viable funding source. "Our community doesn't really have an appetite for a bond initiative" to fund parks, according the Parks Director Kristy Diaz-Trahan. "We do know that there are financing options available that can be used." She noted that funding for parks is on a "pay as you go" basis. That's how we moved the needle somewhat at Naranja Park over the last seven or eight years." Indeed, it is becoming quite a park as we noted in our posting: "Naranja Park... Building Over Time... Meeting Resident Needs."

Funding from various sources

According to Winfield and others speaking at the study session, some of the funding can come from sources other than from the town. For example, funds from the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) may be available to pay for trails funding. In fact, Winfield and Vice Mayor Barrett recommended to staff that they move trail spending timing up to take advantage of these funds.

According to Consultant Mike Svetz of Pros Consulting, the half cent sales tax the town enacted to subsidize municipal golf can be used for work at the community center. This includes paying for improved parking and repaving tennis courts. 

Also, council believes that there  may be opportunities to partner with third parties, like Pima County and the Amphi School District.

Three facilities are 65% of the $62 million plan

The Plan calls for $62 million in spending in the next ten years. Projects are classified in groups (see panel above, right).  The cost is driven by three items: $17 million to build out Naranja Park; $13 million for the Community Center; and $10 million for trails. Indeed, spending to repurpose the "clubhouse" as a community center begged the question, asked by Council Member Bohen, as to whether the town had considered starting from scratch, building something new. Diaz-Trahan said they had not.

Winfield: Target Town Spending $25 million in capital spending over 10 years

The challenge will be to prioritize spending. Hopefully, this will be done based on the statistically valid survey that formed the baseline for the study. Winfield set a target for which the town would be responsible of $25 million in capital spending over ten years.

In addition, as Mayor Winfield noted, priorities must also consider the ongoing maintenance cost of the facilities. For example, trails can be maintained at minimal cost whereas park equipment requires relatively more cost. Also, as Svetz noted at the meeting, there are opportunities to break projects, such as the Naranja Park buildout, into phases.

Initial priorities presented to Parks and Recreation Commission last night

Last night, the Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Commission met to discuss project priorities and funding the the plan.  Svetz presented project priorities and funding sources. His plan targeted the $25million Winfield capital spending cap by dropping spending on Naranja Park and the Community Center visionary, rebuilding projects. 

Next Step: Community Meeting on March 30

Staff will host a community meeting on March 30.  This meeting also will focus on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan Capital Improvement Project (CIP) priorities and funding expectations.

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Town Has No Legal Authority To Plan Future of Vistoso Golf Course

No legal authority to plan Vistoso Course use

Last week's community outreach on the conceptual master plan of Oro Valley's Parks opened with a "bang". With many Rancho Vistoso residents tuned in, Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Director Kristy Diaz-Trahan tried to diffuse the "Vistoso Golf" time bomb.  (Time stamp 0:03:18).

Diaz-Trahan stated that the town is not in a legal position to opine on the future of the former Vistoso Golf Course property: "The town does not have the legal authority to add someone else's private property within this master."  This is because the hoped for transaction between The Conservation Fund and Romspen LLC, the property owner, has not occurred. That transaction would have resulted in the eventual transfer of the land to the town.

Town still focused on property

This does not mean that the town has no interest in the situation. In fact, our town leaders are very much up-to-date on the situation and under some pressure to do something. They commissioned a study on what it would cost for the town to maintain the land as preserve. We will discuss this in an upcoming article. Last week, they held yet another closed-door executive session to discuss the future of this land.

Diaz-Trahan noted: "...please know, the town has heard the [Rancho Vistoso] community and that we have a commitment that in this final master plan those desires [of the Rancho Vistoso community] will be addressed." That desire is for the 208 acres of Vistoso Golf become a preserve for all to use in the community.

Wants of 40% of residents ignored

Not all agree with Diaz-Trahan.  Speaking at the outreach      meeting (remarks at right), Oro Valley resident Michael Bilodeau pointed out that the assessment did not accurately reflect the needs assessment created last spring. Bilodeau is an advocate of the need for community engagement in the master plan development. He discussed this in a LOVE guest view in March.

At last week's meeting, Bilodeau observed that the assessment as presented does not meet the goals of the study, which is to develop future parks and recreation needs that has an equitable distribution of facilities. As LOVE observed previously, the Parks and Recreation conceptual plan at this point places little town focus on the needs of Rancho Vistoso. 

Bilodeau expressed surprise that some previously town identified low priority items, like a BMX park and more basketball courts, were included in the conceptual plan; while, with two exceptions, trails and related items were not considered. 

"I still don't get the fact that we go from an assessment of the needs of the community, pretty much ignore them all, and we jump directly into a conceptual plan that includes a lot of low priority needs."

He also pointed out that 40% of the town's population lives north of Tangerine where there is only one town facility and not very many amenities. He alleges that the proposed 'fix' that this conceptual plan makes is "...to make no investment north of Tangerine."

A gut punch: "The plan does not address the needs of Rancho Vistoso residents"

Other concerns voiced by attendees include:

• Rancho Vistoso residents are not considered to be part of Oro Valley yet they pay taxes twice: Once to the form of HOA fees; and the other in the form of sales taxes (and utility taxes)
• 50% of Oro Valley's residents are seniors. "We don't need more archery parks."
• "Look at what people want. Not what you think they should have."
• The aquatic center and the community centers are not free to residents even though the town paid for and subsidizes them.
• Residents of Vistoso want open space and this conceptual plan does not address this.
• Why are there not parks planned for north of Tangerine Road?
• Why would Romspen turn down a good offer? Why can't the town send a signal to Romspen that the council will not rezone this land?

The plan is conceptual at this point. Much more work needs to be done. Patience on the part of all is needed.

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Oro Valley's Parks and Recreation Random Survey Missed The Mark

Last week, The Oro Valley Town Council held a special session to review to Phase 1 Parks and Recreation Master Plan study. This session was dedicated to understanding and asking questions regarding the study we reported last week. This study focussed on what residents say they want.

Mike Svetz, project leader for Pros Consulting, the firm retained to do this study, emphasized that the goal is to develop master plan that is “realistic, implementable and financially sustainable. Anything that you build has life cycles to them… need to insure that you have the operating and maintenance dollars to maintain and replace things as they age. The plan needs to consider both the short term investment and the ongoing cost.

Svetz observed that the town should develop a plan  that meets the needs of all residents, not simply the needs of one dominant population segment. In Oro Valley, that would be senior and retirees.

Svetz: People don't know what we have
The study of wants highlighted paths and walking trails as a must investment. Svetz stated that these were not new trails, but the upkeep of exiting trials plus the creation of some loop trails in park areas. Council Person Solomon observed the the town has 54 trail miles. He wondered if residents knew that. Svetz stated that they did not know but he had not basis for this statement. The study did not "test" people on their knowledge of what Oro Valley has. It asked only what they wanted.

The devil is in the detail and the detail is missing
Responses specific to location
Council Person Barrett wants more detail of information by area of the town. For example, the stated need that town needs more restroom facilities most certainly does not apply to the town's parks. Each has restrooms. However, the many HOA parks don't. Those would be the responsibility of the HOA and not the town. Thus, the need for more restrooms is not a town challenge.
The bathroom puzzle
While the study is able to segment results by age group it is not able to do it by geographic location. According to Svetz, the statistically valid survey, a survey of xxx people, was geographically representative of the town's population locations, but Pros Consulting never associated a response with the geography. Thus, the study does not tell what people in, say Rancho Vistoso want versus what people in the original section of Oro Valley want. This seems like a very significant oversight on the part of the town and study designers. Barrett wants that information so the "the town can invest strategically."
What kids want
Mayor Winfield observed that detail is needed regarding what Oro Valley's kids want. The survey did not include them, It included their parents who, according to Svetz, were supposed to respond to questions with the whole family in mind.  This really is not a valid gauge even though Svetz plans to provide responses based on family demographics. Given the methodology, we now understand why Baskeball Courts (Oro Valley has one) or new fields, items that were important in the last survey of 2014, suddenly dropped to low priority. Youth baseball and little league, a big concern a few years ago, fell of the chart. Other then refurbishing four of the five fields at Kreigh Park, nothing has been done. Pickleball Courts, on the other hand, jumped from the bottom in 2014 to near top. This, after the town has added pickleball facilities.

Town on its own?
The town plans to reduce the use of an external consultant in completing the master plan, spending no more than $30,000. According to Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Director Krisy Diaz-Trahan, "We have a meeting with Mr. Svetz scheduled to determine where the greatest talent pool exists" to do each one of the remaining steps to complete the master plan.