St. Joseph City Commissioners have approved the new Parks Master Plan, intended to guide developments in the parks system for the next five years.
At a meeting on Monday, Director of Special Projects Kayla Griffith told commissioners the newly updated plan has been drafted with input from residents gathered through a survey conducted over the summer. Commissioner Lisa Vetne took note of some of the feedback received.
“The comments from the residents, there’s a group that wants lots of pickleball courts altogether,” Vetne said.
Vetne wondered if the city could partner with another municipality — perhaps Shoreham — to establish pickleball courts on one of its properties. Griffith said that’s not currently in the master plan.
Griffith also noted residents have expressed a desire for an updated skate park at Kiwanis Park. City Manager Emily Hackworth said plans are in the works on that front.
“We had money in the budget to replace the skate park,” Hackworth said. “The funding that has been budgeted is more limited, would allow us to get a more limited skate park than we have currently. And there’s a lot of community interest in doing some fundraising and doing something bigger.”
For that reason, Hackworth said no purchases are planned at this time so community fundraising could be done and something more robust pursued. Public Works Director Greg Grothous will lead that effort.
The Parks Master Plan also envisions more connections being made between different trail systems around the area. With the Parks Master Plan now approved, the city will be in a better position to qualify for grants for more improvements.