Parks & Recreation Lays out 2025 Plans

Burlington Parks and Recreation is gearing up for some exciting changes. The department recently shared plans for staff training and policy updates that will make 2025 an exciting and productive year.

Team members will soon have the chance to learn about stormwater maintenance, crisis intervention, and welding operations. Assistant Director of Recreation, Kelly Lehman, said she's excited for these opportunities, mentioning that more professional development options, both online and in-person, are on the horizon for the next few months.

In addition to enhancing programmatic offerings, the Department is also making changes on the policy side. This year, they'll be engaging in a project to create a comprehensive policy and procedure manual. They aim to wrap this up by the end of 2025. Department staff will develop policies, present them to the Commission for review, and then finalize them after two readings. The plan is to discuss a few policies at a time at each upcoming Commission meeting so that the manual can be created in bite-sized pieces.

School Committee representative, Jeremy Brooks, just went through this process with the School Committee, and he suggested following a similar procedure, basing policy language on a general state or national exemplar and then adjusting to fit the town's needs. Department staff said they don't know of one but are collaborating with other municipalities who have policies in place.

Also, in a culmination of work done over the last year-plus, the outdoor facilities master plan is in its final stages. The plan will be presented to the Commission on January 27, before it is released to the public.

Budget talks for the next fiscal year have begun, as well. The department is currently working with a 3% increase guideline.

On the maintenance front, recent high winds have caused some trouble at Simonds Park, knocking down trees. Staff are busy clearing the debris and checking for any damage to park facilities.