The City of Reno plans to spend $3 million in federal coronavirus recovery funds for local parks. The amount is part of $51.5 million the city has received and will be earmarked for a number of other projects in the future.
The $3 million is proposed for fields at Stead’s Dorothy McAlinden Park, including lights, playground upgrades and irrigation improvements.
“This project will provide increased access to Parks and Recreation facilities for our residents, promote tourism and recreation and lead to increased facility usage. Staff will be able to monitor the project’s success by measuring directional hits data and increased league programming for sports that use flat fields,” the city council agenda notes for Wednesday’s council agenda.
Idlewild Park will also be getting pond repairs to reduce water loss and leakage.
“The pond repairs will protect critical park infrastructure while providing increased access and usage,” city staff said.
Money will also be used to hire a trails coordinator for the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation.
“The Parks and Recreation department was forced to eliminate the Park Planner position during the Great Recession,” staff said. “Outsourcing the trails planning work through supporting TMPF’s efforts is a cost effective method to supporting implementation of the City of Reno sections of Truckee Meadows Trails Plan.
“Access to a local trails plan will allow underserved communities the means to multi-modal transportation information and improve access for the community as a whole.”
Other agenda items
The council is scheduled to hear an update on the Downtown Ambassadors and the Reno Business Improvement District.
“The DRP is presenting Council with their FY 2023 Downtown Reno Business Improvement District (BID) Operating Plan and Budget,” the agenda notes. “This plan and budget will become the basis of levying the assessments by Council during a public hearing at a future date.”
The BID’s assessment budget will increase from $2.8 million for this fiscal year to an estimated $3.1 million for the next. The increase of $290,000 is because of an increase in property values within the BID.
The council is also scheduled to review its agreement for the downtown ballroom. The facility is expected to bring to the city $100,000 from last year’s revenue.
