NOTN- Juneau’s Parks and Recreation Department has a full slate of programs this winter, even as city officials prepare for difficult budget decisions that could affect long-term funding.
Mark Wheeler, recently appointed director of City and Borough of Juneau Parks and Recreation, said as the City and Borough of Juneau continues discussions on its upcoming budget, funding remains the department’s biggest challenge.
“Our biggest constraints are funding with our budget.” said Wheeler, “If you care about parks and Rec, we would love to have your voice be heard.”
Parks and Recreation operates multiple facilities and programs across the community, and future citywide cuts could force some difficult decisions.
The city will roll out a three phase public engagement process to better understand community priorities, facing next fiscal year.
“We are doing a public process, we will try and figure out what we need to know from the residents and how they can engage with us about these services and other things that are going to be affected by the budget cuts.” Said Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon, “So what we hope to achieve is basically gathering community input to have a deeper understanding and depth of knowledge of our CBJ services.”
In January, residents can expect an online survey, with QR codes distributed throughout the community for easy access.
The final phase will involve in-person engagement, featuring small interactive workshops, limited to 25 participants each for deeper discussion as well as a community listening session where citizens can testify about the budget.
Even facing the upcoming funding challenges, the department is promoting several winter offerings designed to keep residents active through Juneau’s bitter cold this December, including its winter recreation pass.
The Parks and Recreation winter pass is available for $200 and provides unlimited access through March 31 to city pools, the Treadwell Arena, the Dimond Park Field House and the Mt. Jumbo Gym. Wheeler described the pass as one of the department’s best values.
“It’s a great bargain,” he said.
Parks and Recreation staff are also encouraging residents to follow the department online for updates on programs, facility schedules and upcoming events as the season progresses.
