1. March 3, 2013
Plan
calls
for
$3
million
per
year
to
improve
city
parks
By
Robert
Barron,
Staff
Writer
Enid
News
and
Eagle
ENID,
Okla.
—
Enid
Park
Board
approved
a
plan
Tuesday
calling
for
the
city
to
dedicate
$3
million
per
year
toward
improving
parks.
Chairman
Matt
Davis
told
members
it
is
apparent,
despite
last
month’s
defeat
of
a
$50
million
parks
plan
at
the
polls,
there
is
a
public
demand
for
improvements
to
the
Enid
park
system.
Essentially,
Davis’
plan
is
built
on
the
principles
the
city
should
take
care
of
what
it
has,
finish
what
it
started
and
do
so
within
its
means
over
a
period
of
years,
while
continuing
to
actively
pursue
grants
and
outside
funding.
Park
memo
Davis’
plan
divides
the
park
system
into
three
groups:
neighborhood
parks;
community
parks,
such
as
Meadowlake,
Crosslin,
Government
Springs
and
Kellet;
and
the
Enid
Trail
System.
He
said
each
group
needs
significant
improvements,
and
he
said
there
is
a
need
to
budget
$1
million
per
year
for
each
of
the
three
divisions.
Last
year,
the
city
spent
an
estimated
$1.8
million
on
city
parks.
New
Ward
6
Commissioner
David
Vanhooser
has
proposed
spending
an
additional
$750,000
on
parks.
Davis’
plan
would
dedicate
$3
million
a
year
to
the
parks.
“That
is
not
a
radical
departure
from
the
city’s
spending,”
Davis
said.
Parks
budget
priorities
Assistant
City
Manager
Joan
Riley
said
she
could
provide
some
more
realistic
figures
on
park
spending.
Davis
also
suggested
the
city
address
needs
based
on
an
organized
set
of
priorities.
The
city,
he
said,
can
make
significant
systemwide
improvement
over
the
next
several
years,
and
rebuild
the
park
system
to
a
level
of
quality.
“What
we
see
from
the
city’s
spending
is
a
hard
push
on
the
trails,”
Davis
said.

2. “We
support
this
continued
push,
but
also
the
extension
of
this
prioritization
to
the
neighborhood
and
community
parks.”
Aside
from
recent
investment
into
Champion
Park
on
10th,
only
$400,000
has
been
put
into
parks,
he
said.
“This
is
not
to
impugn
the
expenditures
on
that
new
park,
which
we
believe
were
needed,
but
rather
to
illustrate
the
dearth
of
funding
otherwise,”
Davis
said.
With
$1
million
a
year
for
the
next
five
years
dedicated
to
capital
improvements
to
each
of
the
three
divisions
of
parks,
Davis
believes
the
plan
can:
•
Renovate
all
existing
neighborhood
parks
and
add
three
more:
the
donated
Oven
Park
north
of
Freddy’s
Frozen
Custard,
plus
forthcoming
northwest
and
northeast
parks.
•
Rejuvenate
Meadowlake
Park
as
the
premier
family
park
in
northern
Oklahoma.
•
Improve
the
sports
facilities
at
Crosslin,
Kellet
and
Government
Springs
South,
including
consolidating
baseball
and
softball
programs
at
Crosslin
Park.
•
Add
several
miles
to
the
trail
system,
effectively
adding
a
crosstown
pedestrian
route
from
Northwestern
Oklahoma
State
University-­‐Enid
and
Northern
Oklahoma
College
Enid
on
the
eastside
of
town
to
the
far
west
end,
as
well
as
add
a
later
connection
to
the
north
side.
Riley
said
Davis’
proposal
is
the
same
offered
by
the
city
and
which
was
rejected
by
voters,
except
the
city
proposed
the
funding
up
front.
“If
the
commission
will
commit
to
funding
the
capital
improvements
to
the
Enid
park
system,
significant
and
noticeable
improvements
can
be
made
in
a
short
amount
of
time,”
Davis
said.
Park
Board
member
Hallie
Caldwell
moved
the
proposal
be
sent
to
Enid
City
Commission
and
it
was
approved.