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FVMRD presents master plan study to public

The Fraser Valley Metropolitan Recreation District (FVMRD) held a meeting on Tuesday, August 23 to discuss their initial findings for their master plan process. FVMRD hired GreenPlay LLC who operates as a consortium of experts, acting as a management tool for agencies by organizing consultant teams that are responsive and understand the needs of administrators and their communities to provide services for park, recreation, open space, and related agencies, according to their website.

Representatives from GreenPlay presented a slideshow at the meeting. According to the presentation, the project mission of the master was to provide detailed, researched facts concerning the community and the role of parks and recreation, and establish priorities for FVMRD and its community. The plan will evaluate existing conditions and plans, and provide direction for the FVMRD for a five to ten-year period, establishing immediate and long-range goals. The master plan will document and clearly define the link between the community’s high priority recreation programs, facility needs and strategies to obtain those goals, including financing and funding.

According to a needs assessment conducted by the FVMRD and GreenPlay, there were many priorities that full-time residents of Grand County and second homeowners (or seasonal residents) agreed upon, but also several areas where their priorities were different.



Facility ratings

For the overall facilities ratings, the Pole Creek Golf Course and the Grand Park Community Recreation Center received the highest ratings; followed by the Pole Creek Club House, the Fraser Valley Sports Complex (FVSC) soccer fields, FVSC baseball fields, FVSC overall, the Icebox Rink, and the Fraser Town Park tennis courts.



Local and part-time residents mostly agreed on the ratings of facilities, according to charts presented by GreenPlay in the presentation. Where local and part-time residents differed the most was the improvement priorities assessment on the sports complex and Pole Creek Golf Club. Local residents, for example, voted higher priority on projects such as refrigeration at the Icebox Ice Rink, lighting of the sports fields, and installing additional volleyball courts, soccer fields, and basketball courts. Part-time residents found higher priority in projects like expanded and enhanced playgrounds, more lighting of parking lot and pedestrian ways, and paved parking lots at FVSC.

Pole Creek

For Pole Creek, local residents prioritized paved cart paths, GPS golf carts, a permanent outdoor event pavilion, a year-round restaurant, and a paved maintenance lot. Part-time residents found more importance in improved practice facilities, bunker renovation, more rain shelters, a new irrigation system on Ridge Course, and paved parking lots.

Future Facilities

For potential future facilities in the FVMRD, full time residents prioritized building a teen center, a senior center, a multi-purpose field house, and an artificial turf field. Part-time residents voted higher for a dog park, an outdoor shooting range, indoor tennis courts, more tennis courts, a splash pad, and “other facilities.”

Another survey question asked residents what they would do with a $100 allocation to improvements and future facilities, and the overwhelming winner for average allocation was from part-time residents who said they would use the money to improve and build new facilities at the Pole Creek Golf Course.

The satisfaction with public facilities and services in Grand County was generally above average according to the needs assessment presented. The top three rated facilities were parks, trails and open space; recreational facilities; and community facilities. Activities and recreation options also rated high for satisfaction, while transportation options rated a bit below average.

Next steps

The next steps for the FVMRD include continuing to gather information from stakeholder interviews and meetings; benchmarking analysis; financial and operational analysis; alternative funding and partnerships; and probable operating, maintenance, capital costs, and potential funding analysis. Other steps include visioning session; and drafting recommendations, final plans, presentations, and deliverables, according to the FVMRD presentation.


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