NEW Parks and Recreation Plan Outreach

In short, the reason is this: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail and failing the hardworking citizens in Nibley is not an option. Our aim is to account for the current needs and interests of our community, promote healthy lifestyles, support quality of life, and facilitate community connectivity. Our goal is to be the premier provider of recreation in the valley and to accomplish this goal we need to first fully understand our citizen’s needs and interests, second create a reasonable prioritized plan to accomplish goals, and finally implement the plan created.

To keep up with a variety of factors including unique time sensitive opportunities, changes in citizen demographics, available funding sources to support projects and programs, and other relevant factors the standard practice is to update municipal plans every 5 years. The last Parks and Trails plan was completed in April of 2011. The 2011 plan was focused primarily on Parks and Trails, the new plan will addresses Parks, Recreation, Trails, and Open Space.

To fully address questions of defining and maintaining open space, give direction to our new full time Recreation Director, keep up with interests of our growing active community, and account for changes in opportunities for improvement, expansion, and connection of parks and trails it is critical that Nibley City update the plan to address more than just parks and trails. That said, the 2011 plan data, goals, and objectives will be reviewed, evaluated and used to support the new plan that is exploring options and opportunities not available in 2011.

The City will make every effort to make sure citizen interest aligns with spending. For example: In harmony with property acquisition goals from the 2011 parks plan, Nibley City had a unique opportunity to purchase a park property suited to meet the need for growing sports programs. Before spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, a public survey conducted in February of 2013 confirmed that citizens supported a significant purchase of property to meet goals of acquiring property for sports fields.

The process includes data collection and evaluation, creating goals and objectives, setting priorities, and solidifying a plan, which is then evaluated by City Council for approval. Once the plan is approved, Nibley City staff will set in motion plans based on the priority given and the resources available. The goal of this process is fiscal responsibility designed to account for the common needs and interests of our community. The process is typically measured in months and years, rather than days or weeks.

Development priorities and considerations for the 50 acres will continue for this property in the new plan based on continued community interest and support. Prior to this Imagine Nibley campaign, the development of the 50 acres was delayed due to a time sensitive opportunity to acquire a significant piece of land adjacent to Virgil Gibbons Heritage Park. This piece of property includes a unique resource of bioluminescent insects (fireflies) and wetlands that support a significant number of birds. Nibley City received a time sensitive grant for approximately 1 million dollars to create a park space at the property adjacent to Heritage Park, which adjusted the priority timeline of park developments, including the proposed 50 acre sports park.