By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Wood County Park District is looking ahead to the next decade from 2029 to 2038.
At a recent park district board meeting, the park commissioners accepted the strategic plan: “Looking Forward—2029-2038,” which includes six goals for the park district’s next 10 years.
The number one goal, among the six goals listed in the plan, is the need to secure financial stability. Additional goals are stewardship of existing parks and facilities, community outreach and public program, caring for staff and volunteers, capital improvements, and land preservation.
The process to complete the strategic plan included an in-depth look at profiles for the community and the organization, a financial analysis, a benchmarking survey (with other park districts), and program analysis, said Tom James of the Environmental Design Group. Three public hearings and an online survey were held to provide any additional tweaks for the final document.
“We’ve spent the past year working on a new strategic plan to look forward for 2029 and beyond,” said Executive Director Christopher. “It’s been a year-long adventure, but it’s been very educational to me as the director. I learned a lot of new things, and I’m very proud of this document, my colleagues and their efforts to make a solid, usable document for the year to come.”
“This is the most extensive park district plan that I’ve participated in,” James told the board. “We looked at all the nooks and crannies for everything. But it was a good year of exploration of what the park district is doing and what the park district can do.”
Same levy millage since 2008
The park district has operated with a one-mill levy for 20 years. “That’s pretty uncommon across the state,” he said about other park districts. “Most park districts have already seen increases in their levies in that time frame.”
The current levy ends in 2027, though the funds are collected through 2028. While new construction in the county has slightly increased the amount of funds collected, the cost of living has increased more, leaving a 10% decrease in purchasing power of the one-mill levy funds, James reported.
“Renewal of the levy at the same rate will not provide sufficient income for operations during the next levy cycle (2028-37),” he said. The plan recommends the next levy seek an increase of 0.35 mill.
To be able to meet the expectations of what people want in their parks, including the attractiveness for economic development, “You’re going to need some additional funding to bring on additional amenities for the public.”
An important part of looking to the next decade and the next levy period is determining what’s possible for the Perrysburg land donated to the park district by Doug and Mary Ellen Pratt. “I think it’s an important part of what the community wants in Wood County, as well,” James said.
The planning process
The strategic plan—viewable here on the park district’s website—thoroughly describes the year-long process.
The community profile, “to get a sense of what’s going on in the Wood County community,” included looking at documents such as the Wood County Transportation Plan, floodplain regulations, the county’s land use plan, and strategic plans of the district’s friends’ group, Black Swamp Conservancy and Toledo Metro Parks.
For the organizational profile, “We visited every park site in Wood County, spent time there, walked through trails and looked in the buildings,” James said. The park staff was also an integral part of the process, providing input not necessarily captured during the park visits.
The benchmarking survey of seven other park districts compared statistics such as the number of staff, parks, and trail routes, amount of land, levy fund amounts and population. They also looked at programming and outreach efforts for comparison.
The financial analysis took the longest, because “We went back to the beginning of the current levy and tracked the financial reports all the way through,” James said. “We projected what would happen to the end of the levy, and we set about analyzing if you didn’t change anything, what would happen in the next 10 years.”
Economic development a key message
Park Commissioner Jonathan Smith suggested making sure the district’s impact on economic development is front and center.
“I know it’s mentioned, but when I’m looking at some of the goals, [we need to] focus on how the parks can help to continue to build our gross domestic product,” he said, adding that when Fortune 500 companies consider where to locate, they often ask about park districts and walkability. “Every business these days is looking for ‘What are the amenities for the people we are going to bring to this community?’ The parks are a very important part of that,” Smith said.
With more than 1,200 park volunteers and friends, Board President Rebecca Ferguson said, “We have a significant amount of people that want to be involved and see the success of our park. I think that’s something great and a really big comment for the entire staff to know how much you have people that want to be here to help you all out.”
She also stressed the importance of keeping the strategic plan at the forefront of decisions and actions taken over the next decade. “I don’t want it going on a shelf,” she said. “For me, it will be in a three-ring binder and carried with me all the time for the next three years that I’m on the board.”
Among the primary goals for the park district should be taking care of existing parks and Pratt Park , and also focusing on connectivity and trails, which are among “the bigger things that people want,” James said. “Helping people to understand that the goal isn’t to just spend their money; it’s to take their money to get grants to make things better using a local share that you always have to have when you get a grant.”
The goals within the strategic plan “give a clear pathway for the park district for the next 10 years,” Smalley said. “Whether you want to look at it through (Friends President) Jim Mathew’s eyes of what am I going to get out of levy funds, or whether you look at it from Jonathan’s eyes as to where businesses can invest in the park district and be proactive partners with us…you’ll see those aspects when you review the document. This will really allow the staff, the public, the friends, everybody, to kind of drill down on their own and see where they’re a part of the bigger picture and where the park district plans on being for them in the next 10 years.”
