A possible $100,000 master plan could be in the works for Sebastian’s parks if an advisory board gets satisfactory answers first. The Parks and Recreations Committee is considering signing off on the expenditure, but only after finding out what the price tag will actually be.
City Manager Joe Griffin floated the idea of the plan at last week’s committee meeting, noting that the municipal golf course, airport, and stormwater division all have master plans.
“I anticipate this to be a fairly big number,” Griffin said of the parks master plan cost, noting it could be in the $80,000 to $100,000 neighborhood.
Committee members balked at the price tag but ultimately decided to send out a request for proposals to consultants to see what the actual cost could be.
Griffin explained that the master plan would most likely entail a review of the City’s current parks and recreation assets and a projection of the City’s needs 20 years out. It would serve as a road map of sorts, helping to guide decisions going forward.
Whatever the price for the plan, if approved, would come from the City’s recreational impact fees. Those fees are what the City uses to acquire park and recreation land, construct new buildings and make improvements to existing sites.
Committee member Joann Webster said she believed the money could be better spent on improving what the City already has rather than studying what it has and what it might need.
“We know what we need,” agreed Committee Chair John Tenerowicz, adding that the Committee could create its own list of needs and wants and prioritize them.
Committee member Joanne White disagreed.
“We tend to get off track,” she said, explaining that as committee members change and time passes, the committee often loses sight of what it’s working on.
A master plan, however, would help the current – and later the future – committee to keep focus.
The committee recommended Griffin issue an RFP and bring back the responses for further discussion at a future meeting.