LAKE HAVASU CITY — For the first time in the city’s history, Lake Havasu City is working toward a comprehensive parks master plan.
Despite concerns expressed about the $250,000 price tag at a Feb. 24 meeting, Lake Havasu City Council members approved a contract for a Portland, Maine based company to create a roadmap for the future of the city’s parks.
An overarching plan to cover all of the growing city’s parks needs is something Havasu has been moving toward for a long time. The contract with Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC was OK’d by a 4 to 2 vote with councilmembers Nancy Campbell and David Diaz opposed.
Mayor Cal Sheehy said the city needed to be driven by more than the passions for more fields or courts for certain sports that are being pushed at any given moment.
“We need the data to guide us for vision,” Sheehy said.
In recent years, Havasu has taken up requests for added space for pickleball courts and more soccer fields, Sheehy said.
The city moved relatively fast on establishing Cypress Park and setting up soccer fields there, but even so the children and parents that requested that “aged out” by the time the park opened, Sheehy said.
Gabby Vera, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said she sees the master plan as a chance to be proactive on needs rather than reactive.
“It will be a single, unified document to guide growth and investment in the future,” Vera said. The plan would engage the entire community including what tourists are looking for when they visit, she added.
Specifically, the company is planning a multifaceted eight phase approach to creating the comprehensive plan. That includes assessing existing conditions, engaging the community through forums, surveys and mapping, analyzing community demographics, creating a draft plan, revising the draft plan and providing the city with “a 10-year action plan and implementation matrix.”
It all sounded too pricey for Councilmembers Campbell and Diaz.
“I see a lot of things we already know we need,” Diaz said. “I can’t get over that price tag.”
“This here seems like another want list,” Campbell said. She added that she had a hard time justifying spending $250,000 on such a master plan when the city has road and infrastructure concerns that it does.
Sheehy said funds for the master plan are accounted for in the city budget and the city can be multifaceted in directing a parks master plan and fixing roads.
Several citizens also commented that the price tag was too high and some said there shouldn’t be a need for a third party to create a comprehensive plan. The city staff should be able to create such a plan, some said.
Councilwoman Jeni Coke acknowledged the high cost, but said all her years on the City Council have given her the understanding that governments typically end up paying more than private businesses.
“I like the transparency of an outside, third party (coming up with the plan),” said Councilman Jim Dolan. City staff can focus on day-to-day operations, he added.
Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC also has done parks master plan work in Kingman, Gilbert, Avondale and Scottsdale, Vera said.
Featured photo: Bridgewater Channel is packed during the Desert Storm boat parade in April 2024. Potential upgrades to the Channel area could be part of the comprehensive master plan. Photo by Greg Moberly.
