Nearly two dozen parks and recreation bond projects are underway in Plano after economic downturn kept the city from moving forward with renovations, expansions and the construction of new facilities.

The department is completing the design processes and putting work out to bid for contractors that will add new and enhanced amenities throughout the city over the next two years, said Amy Fortenberry, Plano Parks and Recreation Department director.

As the department nears its 50th anniversary in 2018, completing these projects—some of which date back to the 2005 bond referendum—is important for supporting the recreational needs of a growing population, she said.

“During the [Great] Recession, we had many projects that were delayed or deferred. Like everybody else, we went into planning mode and put a lot of things aside,” Fortenberry said. “It’s a tough balancing act because we are refurbishing those items we built back in the ’70s. And we’re still growing, on the other hand.”

Strengthening economy allows Plano to fulfill bond promises[/caption]

In the past 10 years, Plano voters have approved more than $176 million toward park and recreation center improvements and expansions as well as toward the construction of new facilities, parks and trails. While many of the 2005 projects have been completed, others like the skate park at Carpenter Park are still pending.

“The city decides how much debt  it wants to sell each year, and that helps determine how many projects we can move forward on,” she said. “Even though the voters said yes [to these projects], the city couldn’t take on all that debt at one time. Something has to give in there.”

Bond referendums are calculated based on the city’s anticipated needs for the next four years. The next bond election will tentatively take place in May 2017.

Paying for progress

Strengthening economy allows Plano to fulfill bond promises[/caption]

Once voters approve a proposed bond package, the bonds are sold as general obligation bonds, which are then used for the construction of major capital improvement projects. Entities such as the federal government, states, cities and corporations sell this type of bond and are repaid using property tax revenue.

Because general obligation bonds cannot be used to pay for city department operations and maintenance costs, funding for these expenditures must come from the city’s general fund, Plano Budget Director Karen Rhodes said.

In addition to paying for the project itself, the city also factors in maintenance and operations costs when deciding which projects to move forward, she said.

“One of the primary reasons why the parks projects got put on hold is because parks projects normally involve operating expenditures. You’ve got to [be able to] turn the lights on,” Rhodes said. “When we were going through the recession we were cutting back on budgets, so we did not have any room in the budget to … fund [the operating expenses] for those projects.”

The budget department and the city manager’s office review the city’s Community Improvement Program each year to report what bonds are going to be sold. Plano has sold $14.8 million in 20-year bonds for Parks and Recreation Department projects this year.

Strengthening economy allows Plano to fulfill bond promises[/caption]

Rhodes could not say if property tax rates would be affected by the sale of the park bonds until after city officials hold their budget tax rate session, which is scheduled for July 29.

Although residents voted for these projects during past bond elections, Councilmember David Downs said holding off on many of the city’s parks projects until after the recession was good fiscal decision-making.

Having previously served on the Parks and Recreation Board, Downs said the new projects and renovations will prove vital in sustaining Plano’s award-winning parks and trail systems as it continues to serve a diverse and growing population. The new natatorium at Carpenter Park is one example of how the city is responding to changing demographics, he said.

“If you look at all of our other pools, they’re lap pools [with] cold water and they’re designed for people who swim competitively,” Downs said. “[The new pool at Carpenter Recreation Center] was designed more for the older population, with warmer water and a moving river.”

Competing for vacant land

In addition to population growth, the department also faces competition from developers, as much of what is left of Plano’s vacant land is being transformed to enhance the city’s housing stock, Downs said.

“I think what we may see eventually is going to be [the] adding [of] additional amenities at existing facilities and parks,” he said. “[Like at Legacy West,] we require in a development a certain amount of green space and to run it as a park. It’s astronomical—the cost for that land. That adds green space for the city but it’s not a responsibility for the city to maintain.”

Smaller parks and the completion of the city’s trails system have become a priority for the Parks and Recreation Department as land availability and cost has limited the ability to build new parks and facilities. New trails will be key for connecting the northwestern part of the city, much of which is zoned for corporate campuses, Fortenberry said.

“The pieces of trail we have left are a little bit harder to connect. It’s not like we’ve done before where we’ve had [just] a big open field. We’re having to be a little more creative in our solutions for getting [residents] to our green spaces.”

— Amy Fortenberry, Plano Parks and Recreation Director

“The pieces of trail we have left are a little bit harder to connect. It’s not like we’ve done before where we’ve had [just] a big open field,” she said. “We’re having to be a little more creative in our solutions for getting [residents] to our green spaces.”

Plano Special Projects Director Phyllis Jarrell agreed with Downs and said the factors affecting the parks system’s ability to expand are the cost of land and the development of housing in areas not originally planned for residential development.

“I think it’s going to be a question of whether the city is going to try to acquire public parks for those areas or rely on developers to provide those open spaces,” Jarrell said. “Those are some issues we are working through. In the more urban areas, the nature of those needs is different than in other areas. If we can’t acquire that much land, we will need to change what we offer [in our existing] parks.”