FY25 Proposed Budget

Parks Maintenance

The Park Maintenance Division oversees the maintenance of the City’s green space, natural areas, athletic fields, tree canopy, horticulture plantings and 58 designated parks.

General Fund Activities:

• Park Maintenance Administration provides oversight, planning, and management of the division. • Park Maintenance Operations are responsible for continual cleaning,

maintenance and repair of park facilities including park shelters, playgrounds, and athletic facilities. Responsibilities include visiting all designated parks, cleaning, and securing restroom and shelter facilities and providing for trash removal. Park Maintenance also manages approximately 150,000 square feet of landscaping in ROWs, gateways and traffic islands throughout the city. They manage, enhance, and protect City-owned woodlands, wetlands and prairie areas. They also complete scheduled mowing in the 1,800+ acres of land managed including

residential-style turf, prairies and 200+ acres of non-parkland along highways, water retention areas and ROWs, and provide snow removal and winter maintenance of access roads, parking areas, bridges, 60+ miles of trails and sidewalks, and ice-skating areas. • Forestry staff provides routine arboricultural services such as inspecting, pruning, removing, and planting trees located in the city rights-of-way, city parks and city owned properties. Forestry staff responds to emergency storm damage of public and private trees when public facilities or services are impacted and advises Planning, Engineering and Housing Inspection staff regarding tree protection during construction and/or demolition projects, species selection for building permits and zoning requests.

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