What should the Rochester Park Board do with millions in referendum funding?
In their most recent meeting, the Rochester Park Board agreed to recommend a fast-tracking of $15 million in park improvement funding, paid for by Rochester taxpayers after a referendum was approved by voters in November. On top of the Park Board's current priority list: potentially overhauling Soldiers Field Pool, turning Silver Lake Pool into a splash pad, and upgrading MLK Park's bathrooms and gathering places — among a host of other improvement projects.
But before the first shovels go in the ground to begin a host of improvement projects, Rochester Parks and Recreation Director Paul Widman says he wants to make sure the department's priorities are in line with the priorities of the people making the investment. That's why some residents may remember a survey popping in their mailbox earlier this year — and now, that survey is available to the public online.
“Did we get it right in 2016, and is that still valid?," said Widman, regarding the reasoning behind releasing the survey. "Is that planning still valid? Is that still what the community wants to see in the park system? If not, there’s a lot of questions that will allow us to make some adjustments.”
The survey's final results won't be known for a couple of weeks at least — possibly over a month — but with decisions approaching soon, we talked to a handful of Rochester residents enjoying an afternoon at Thursdays Downtown to hear what their top priorities would be.
Plus, Widman tells us how the survey will affect what his department will choose to fix first. Those quotes and more, in addition to the news of the week and the top events of the weekend, inside this week's edition of the Rochester Rundown, presented by Altra Federal Credit Union.
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