Frederick Parks and Recreation Committee Hearing on Amenities and Programming - July 16, 2026
Frederick Parks and Recreation Committee Hearing on Amenities and Programming - July 16, 2026
The Committee and Culture Committee held a hearing on Thursday, July 16, 2026, to review the city's parks and recreation amenities and programming. Presentations were given by Director of Recreation Bob Smith and Superintendent of Recreation Sean Poolin, covering current inventory, recent and future projects, program expansion, funding mechanisms, and planning processes. The discussion also addressed fee-in-lieu policies, park distribution, Wi-Fi, child care, and partnerships.
Consent Calendar
- (No consent calendar items were identified in the transcript.)
Public Comments & Testimony
- (No public comments or testimony were recorded in the transcript.)
Discussion Items
- Bob Smith presented an overview of current park infrastructure: 79 parks, over 1,000 acres, 42 athletic fields, 44 playgrounds, 55 sports courts (basketball, pickleball, tennis), 26 rental pavilions, 2 skate parks, 3 inline rinks, 3 dog parks, and extensive passive space and path networks.
- Recent and ongoing park improvement projects were reviewed: Westside Regional Park (multi-purpose fields and baseball field completed, expected playable by spring 2027), Lucas Village Park (basketball court and skate park resurfacing), Lake Coventry and Clear Story Parks (basketball court renovations), Valley Street Park (playground renovation), Riverside Park (boat ramp renovation), and McCurdy Field (new LED lights, surface, irrigation, concrete, and bleacher work; lights installation is a two-week project).
- Hill Street Skate Park is at concept design; a second community meeting was scheduled for July 21 at Butterfly Ridge Elementary School. Design completion is targeted for early 2027, construction summer 2027, opening fall 2027.
- Hill Street Park Master Design is at 90%, delayed by stormwater management for the pump track (a separate project with private funding and a state grant).
- Mullinix Park was submitted at 100% design and is in final review.
- Westside Regional Community Center is at 90% design, submitted to the city on July 16; review and revision to 100% will follow.
- Future planning relies on current inventory condition, the Parks and Rec Master Plan, the Grass Park Inventory Atlas, developer parkland dedication, park impact fees, fee-in-lieu money, collaboration with transportation planners, the CIP plan, and grant funding (Project Open Space, Community Park and Playground Grants, Outdoor Recreation Legacy Program).
- A council member asked how residents can advocate for additional amenities like bathrooms; Smith responded that advocacy could come through council or direct contact, but funding is a key challenge.
- Superintendent Sean Poolin discussed recreation programming initiatives: expanding early childhood programming (under age 6) at Tally Rec Center and Trinity Rec Center, with camps serving nearly 600 campers this summer; after-school programs expanded from 4 to 6 elementary schools, with 330 kids enrolled last year; a new Youth Recreation Coordinator position was budgeted to expand teen programming.
- Other programs include adult swim lessons, aquafit classes, STEM and cooking classes, outdoor leadership, youth/adult/senior trips, and pop-up programming.
- Poolin presented a cost recovery model that tiers fees based on community benefit, from minimal cost recovery for community events to higher fees for private rentals/lessons. Reduced registration offers 50% off youth programs for those eligible for free/reduced lunch, and pool entry for youth at $1.
- A council member asked about park-poor areas; Smith stated that every city resident lives within one mile of parkland, but infill development downtown lacks acreage. Creative use of funds to renovate existing parks was emphasized.
- Discussion on fee-in-lieu money: currently restricted to debt payment or new parkland purchase, but Smith noted sufficient parkland from development and the need to explore using it for renovation of existing parks.
- A council member asked about county resident use of city programs; Smith and Poolin agreed to provide data from the registration system.
- Smith expressed support for public Wi-Fi in parks, acknowledging logistical complexities.
- Child care expansion plans for Westside Regional Community Center were discussed, including transit access and use of vans for transportation.
- A brief update on the Hood College partnership was given: lease work is underway for the baseball field.
- A council member gave kudos for the Mural 101 program at their park.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were recorded in the transcript; the hearing was informational and allowed for discussion and questions.
- Smith and Poolin committed to providing data on county resident participation in city programs.
- The committee heard proposals to explore expanded use of fee-in-lieu funds for existing park renovations, public Wi-Fi, and continued development of child care programming.
- Future budgetary impacts were anticipated for Westside Regional Community Center operations (FY28), Westside Regional Park Phase II amenities, Carroll Creek Linear Park renovations, and ongoing amenity renovations.
Meeting Transcript
Sure. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the committee and culture committee hearing meeting for Thursday, July sixteenth, two thousand twenty six. Today we have parks and recreation amenities and programming. This item will be presented by Director of Recreation, Bob Smith. Thank you. Bob Smith, Director for Parks and Recreation. I also have Sean Poolin here, our superintendent of recreation. Excited to be here today. We have a PowerPoint presentation that we put together for you. Well, can you be one favorite? Can you move the microphone in front of you? We are being broadcast. Thank you. We have the PowerPoint presentation that we put together. But we're excited to be here today. Thank you for the opportunity here to talk about our amenities, park amenities, and our recreation programming, what we're currently doing, and how we plan for the future moving forward with those amenities. So with that, do we have a clicker? There we go. Perfect. So just kind of moving everything, moving through everything. You all have seen this before, but uh our current park infrastructure and the amenities that we have. Uh we have uh 79 parks, uh a little over a thousand acres uh within those parks, 42 athletic fields, uh 44 playgrounds, 55 sports courts. Uh the sport courts are range from basketball to pickleball to tennis. Uh we have 26 rental pavilions, um, uh two skate parks uh and three inline rinks, and then we have three dog parks. Uh that doesn't take into account uh the acres and acres of passive space that we have within our park system. Uh the community can enjoy uh grassy areas, wooded areas, nature areas, um, as well as uh uh miles and miles of path network. Um go one more, Sean. So our park improvement projects, uh the map on the right uh was in the budget presentation. The red dots uh indicate parks throughout the city. Uh, where in the past five years we've done renovation work or created new parks. Um part of those are our playground and sport court renovations. That's part of our uh annual CIP program that we fund uh uh yearly. Um just some current projects uh that we're working on or wrapping up Westside Regional Park. We've talked about that recently. If you haven't been out there in a while, uh get out there. Um both multi-purpose fields are done uh and the baseball field is completely finished. Uh now we're in the growing period, actually watering it uh throughout the summer and into the fall, and if all goes well, uh those fields will be playable come spring of 27. So that's very exciting. Uh just wrapped up uh project at Lucas Village Park, uh reservice of the basketball court and the skate park surface uh out there. Uh also basketball court renovations recently wrapped up at Lake Coventry and Clear Story Parks, um, and a playground uh full renovation at Valley Street Park at Riverside Park recently completed the boat ramp project, uh which completely renovated the boat ramp uh that goes there into the Monocasee. Um and then the ongoing work at McCurdy Field. Uh if you happen to see a crane out at McCurdy Field next week, uh tomorrow's the last day of baseball season, uh, and then the field will be closed and we're putting up new lights, state of the art uh LED muscle lighting. Uh so that's going up part of the ongoing renovations there, obviously the field um uh new surface, irrigation. We've done concrete work. Uh so after the lights we'll be moving forward with some more concrete work and more bleacher work. So the legion is over. Yeah, baseball will be finished. Uh there's a game tonight, and depending how tonight goes, a game tomorrow, and then uh baseball usage will be done. So we'll get the lights up and then we'll convert it over for football for the fall.
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