Nearly two months after a Keizer parks advisory board recommended city officials plan for an indoor facility at Keizer Rapids Park, the board is advising the Keizer City Council to wait on approving the addition so changes at other parks can be considered. 

The Keizer Parks and Recreation Advisory Board proposal involves a community engagement process to ask residents what the city should focus on next in each park. The process would involve surveys, meetings with local neighborhood associations and town halls. 

The proposed kick-off meeting near the start of the process would aim to gather youth sports groups, those who use the dog park and trails, local service clubs, schools, youth and others for an overview of the process. 

The city reopened discussions for the Parks Master Plan, adopted in 2021, to consider what has been called a pavilion in Keizer Rapids Park. With help from Portland consultants, city officials held months of meetings to consider the possibilities and gauge public opinion. 

In April, the parks board advised officials to add a community facility to the plan while keeping 80% of the park undeveloped. No formal plans for a facility have been made. 

With the master plan already open for amendments, the parks board is proposing city officials ask the community for input on what other changes to make before formally adopting the recommendation for the pavilion  

City Manager Adam Brown said reopening discussions on master plans can be expensive, although this wasn’t a driving factor in the proposal. He said cost comes from hiring consultants, who usually devise a plan when revisiting master plans. He said the city spent roughly $36,000 for the Portland consultants when reopening the parks master plan to consider the Keizer Rapids Park facility. 

Rather than use consultants, the parks board recommended a task force to collect community input. It would consist of Brown, Mayor Cathy Clark, a member of the city council and youth councilor Liam Stitt. Parks board members on the task force would include Chair Matt Lawyer, Vice Chair Lisa Cejka and Tanya Hamilton. 

While the proposal outlines a 10- to 11-month process, Lawyer said during a Monday, June 15, city council meeting that the process will be driven by the community and could last longer. 

City councilors generally seemed to support the proposal.

“This will work, if everyone does their job,” Councilor Marlene Parsons said.

She noted that the city’s process while considering implementing parks fees was similar in 2017. She recommended the task force go to parks to collect input from those using them. 

While questioning Lawyer on the proposal, Council President Shaney Starr suggested adjusting it to seek feedback from a broader audience, and make it “less prescriptive” in who in the community the city seeks input from.

“I think there’s some opportunity to build some other outreach mechanisms,” Starr said. 

Councilor Lore Christopher asked if general guidelines for what can be included in a neighborhood park would be discussed in the first meeting, and Lawyer said he didn’t want to put too many “sideboards on it.”

“To presuppose what the community might want, I felt was disingenuous on my part,” Lawyer said. 

He added that it could be addressed during the meeting. 

At the end of the discussion, Lawyer said he would refine the plan and work with Public Works Director Keare Blaylock.

NEWS TIP? Contact reporter Krista Kroiss at [email protected].

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