If enacted, cuts would close park restrooms, ice rink and splash pad, reduce Senior Center services and shut down Nature Center and its community gardens program and Salmon Festival

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Ashland Parks & Recreation will continue without noticeable changes for the foreseeable future, but cuts to staffing, programs and facilities will come after July 1, Ashland Parks & Recreation Director Rocky Houston said. 

“We are working to operate as normal through the end of the fiscal year. We are down three staff in operations and have limited seasonal support, so there will be some delays in our work,” he said. 

There is still time seek ways to ease the budget problem. However, the scheduled cuts include the elimination of environmental education programs. That includes the closure of the Nature Center at North Mountain Park, the layoff of one staffer, and the shutting down of the Nature Center’s programs, such as community gardens and the Salmon Festival, according to an APRD budget reduction summary obtained by Ashland.news. 

Under the proposed cuts, the Senior Center would lose one staff member and would be open two days a week. The East Main Park project would not be built and the city would lose the $1 million grant it obtained to build the park. The Daniel Meyer Pool and Rotary Centennial Ice Rink would both be closed with an additional $350,000 in lost revenue, the budget summary said. 

To “focus on fuels reductions and associated regulatory requirements,” the summary listed a few more cuts: Restrooms in parks would be closed along with the Garfield Park splash pad. Sports fields would also see reduced operations. 

City Manager Sabrina Cotta said she understood the feelings accompanying cuts to these programs — as a mom of a little one she enjoys them personally. 

“People are the city’s most valuable asset and they are its most expensive resource,” she said. 

Budget cuts are affecting all departments, but in Parks & Recreation the loss of a position means the loss of the programs that the lost staff member managed, she said. 

The proposed cuts have been strategic, with an aim to keep free services such as park spaces maintained while upholding mandatory operations such as wildfire fuels reduction on park lands, Cotta said. The cuts have also been dictated by what resources are highly used and thereby more financially sustainable, such as the Oak Knoll Golf Course, she said. 

Houston sent an email was sent to Ashland Parks volunteers on Thursday, April 24, with additional APRD administration staff included. 

“We are going through the budget process now and City Council may make a different policy decision in the future. However, we must assume we have to make $1.4 million in reductions. A long-term solution is needed. While we work on that, staff is reviewing every program, every cost center to see how we can minimize the impacts to programs and services. This will take time,” the email said. 

Reductions to all parks programs and services is certain, but volunteers’ contributions are appreciated and volunteers were thanked for continuing to work through this difficult time, the email continued. 

For the budget that takes effect July 1, Ashland Parks was given the direction to cut 5% along with all other city departments, Cotta said. Commissioners voted to pass a budget larger than what was asked, in anticipation of responsibilities such as the Community Center, Pioneer Hall and the construction and maintenance of East Main Park. 

The budget approved by parks commissioners was $15,795 million and called for 39 staff, according to the budget document. If the department had reduced that by 5% the resulting budget would have been $15,200 and 37 staff. Parks is now facing a 10% reduction with a budget of $14,450 million and 34 staff. 

The 5% cuts would have happened with the approval of a $5 utility bill parks fee, Houston said. The City Council considered a $9 fee but rejected it with a split vote, as reported by Ashland.news. Without the fee, Houston said, the 10% cuts will happen after July 1. 

Asked about reports of a balanced budget throughout the year as opposed to the announcement of large budget cuts, Cotta said those reports are snapshots in time while the upcoming biennial budget is forecasting two years into the future. Considering uncertainty from federal funding, tariffs, inflation and an expectation of rising costs for insurance and employee health care, the city is aiming for a conservative budget for the coming biennium, Cotta said. 

Ashland Parks and Recreation will hold a special meeting to discuss the department’s budget at 6 p.m. Monday in the Council Chamber, 1175 E Main St. The meeting can be watched on Channel 9 or Channels 180 and 181 (for Charter Communications) or livestream via rvtv.sou.edu, select RVTV Prime. 

Public testimony will be accepted in person for those who fill out a speaker request card in Council Chamber. Written testimony will be accepted via email sent to [email protected]. Include “Public Testimony” in the subject line and sent before 10 a.m. the day of the meeting to ensure it will be made available to the Parks Commission before the meeting. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].