Park district outlines its goals

The Board of Directors of the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District recently identified 35 short- and long-term goals for the district, placing the first 15 in order of importance. The board plans to begin these projects before June 30, 2007.

1. Hire a park superintendent 2. Develop an equipment maintenance plan 3. Form a human resources department 4. Enter construction phase on Village at the Park sports park 5. Make long range plans for facilities and land 6. Improve staff morale 7. Open Pleasant Valley Pool 8. Develop cooperative programs with the school district and city 9. Replace "handshake" arrangements with written agreements detailing park use by community groups 10.Use media to project a positive image 11.Produce an annual report 12.Realize financial stability by having 3 percent of budget in reserve funds 13.Initiate new board member training 14.Establish grievance procedures for employees 15.Identify safety concerns in working environment

The board will set priorities for these items at a later date:

+Open a teen center +Improve parks +Obtain funding for Village at the Park +Expand facilities and programs for seniors +Improve maintenance +Add another dog park +Develop a master facilities plan +Work with park district stakeholders +Improve district image +Build hiking and biking trail systems +Prohibit smoking, drinking of alcohol and other unhealthy activities at parks +Expand programs +Review longrange plans annually +Expand volunteer programs +Improve working relationships with other agencies +Develop additional cooperative programming arrangements with public and private entities +Evaluate risk-taking environment +Make improvements to Crestview Park +Convert Freedom Park to youth baseball facility +Have directors visit parks

-Michelle Knight