Castillo emphasized the merger would make park services in the area stronger, and would end any duplication of services and confusion about which agency manages what.
“As two separate organizations, our resources are stretched very thin and we have a lot of duplication,” Castillo said. “By combining our two organizations, we will be able to use our resources more efficiently and to do more to provide for the residents of our community the best park and recreation programs that we have.”
Collectively, NTPRD and the Clark County Park District manage roughly 2,000 acres of parkland, more than 50 miles of multi-use trails and roads, as well as 12 nature preserves, 164 acres of wetlands and more than 12 miles of river.
The combined park system will also manage the Carleton Davidson Baseball Stadium, the Chiller ice rink, Springfield’s skateboard park on Mitchell Avenue and Splash Zone, all recreation hubs currently managed by NTPRD.
Starting in 1999, the city of Springfield’s park district and the county’s park district formed a joint park district and had a contract to fulfill their programming and maintenance through the joint district. The move kicked off a 13-year, $17 million capital campaign that included the $6 million Splash Zone Family Aquatic Center, the $2.6 million Carleton Davidson Baseball Stadium and the $8.5 million NTPRD Chiller Ice Arena.
Other improvements included the Veterans Park amphitheater, skate park on Mitchell Boulevard and upgrades at several smaller parks countywide.
That combined district was led by two governing boards and two directors. The partnership ultimately split into the Clark County Park District and NTPRD in 2009 because of financial hurdles after several attempts at passing a levy failed.
The future single-park system will be led by a single board governed by five commissioners appointed by Clark County’s probate judge, with Castillo taking over as the executive director of the park district. Carol Kennard, the Clark County Parks District Director, is retiring this year, Castillo confirmed in January.
The agencies would combine workforces and program offerings, Castillo said.
“We strongly believe that one park district will serve the residents of Clark County through combined values and machinations of both organizations,” Castillo said. “So we would not let any our beliefs, our visions, our goals that either district has had go by the wayside. We would be honoring both of those as we move forward.”
Springfield would act at the combined park district’s fiscal agent and would contract it to operate and maintain the city’s parks, Castillo said.
City Manager Bryan Heck said he feels it is important that Springfield’s parks remain in the city possession like in this plan because they are “important to the quality of life in our community.”
The merger would save Clark County residents 1.4% on property taxes from the start, a savings that will likely increase as time goes on, Castillo said.
City Commissioner David Estrop said an “escape hatch” is crucial in this agreement to prevent the city being trapped if the park district is not satisfactorily performing its duties.
Castillo said under the contract, there will be an opportunity to rectify any issues if one party is not performing up to par, and if nothing changes or the situation worsens, the contract could be terminated.
Castillo said both park districts have done an extensive amount of planning and research into how they can approach the merger right. She said they delayed the previously planned summer merger in order to work out some kinks in the plan.
Currently, NTPRD and the Clark County Parks District are already publishing joint activity guides all seasons except fall, sharing staff at the Davidson Interpretive Center, hiring staff jointly and doing other things together, Castillo said.
The dissolution could be voted on next month, and the Clark County Commission approved the same on Wednesday.
“It would give us the ability to have one brand that everyone recognizes,” Castillo said.
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