Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Montgomery County leaders took the next step last Thursday in planning for parks and recreation into the next 10-20 years.
The public was given the opportunity to comment on what the county currently has – and could be looking at in the near future.
Recreation Director Mitchell Haugh said the meeting was to give the public the chance to say what was important to them and what they would like to see over the next 10 years.
“Our last plan was in 2016, and now this is process to see what Montgomery County residents would like to see,” he said.
The county currently has 1,871.31 acres of park land.
One of those new suggestions included more access to rivers in Montgomery, including the New and Roanoke.
EPCpcm, transportation, community planning and urban design consultants from Charlottesville is helping to assemble the plans.
Currently, the county recreation department does not have any real access along either river, and a river park has been included in future planning. A boat ramp is available in the Whitethorne area of the county, which does connect to the New River.
Residents have said they would like to see fishing and camping as part of a river park.
The previous, former master plan, was created to guide development with support from the New River Valley Regional Commission. This new plan is being developed to replace the 2016 version, focusing on future recreation needs, community feedback and potential facility upgrades.
The county is actively seeking citizen input through surveys and open house events, like the one held this past week.
The new plan will focus on building on current assets, identifying new opportunities to meet community needs, and guiding long-term decision-making for the next two decades.
Currently, the county’s inventory includes several multi-use parks featuring athletic fields, playgrounds and unique recreational assets. The newest is the Teel Park sports complex in Riner, which opened this Spring and offers four lighted baseball/softball fields, walking trails and a playground.
One of the items which the county’s recreation department does not have is a physical community building. Instead, the county uses and shares as many as six schools within the Montgomery County school division.
Survey responders said they would like to see an indoor activities center that would include, volleyball, walking, basketball and paddleball, while also creating more small neighborhood parks with playgrounds.
One of the biggest suggestions was to connect the towns with the county’s villages with walking trails and looking at the larger Valley-to-Valley plan to connect trails in Montgomery, Roanoke and Pulaski counties.
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has included $2.1 million in its upcoming Capital Improvement Plan. Those monies have yet to be allocated but be a revitalization program to address larger scale component replacement or repairs (HVAC, pool motors/equipment, playground equipment replacement, etc.) that cannot be accomplished with existing operating budget resources.
The program invests in existing capital assets to extend the life of parks and related facilities to better serve the community. Annually, $425,000 is earmarked for Parks and Recreation capital projects.
The next step, according to the consultants, is to assemble the public comments and come up with a new 10-year plan. The final plan could be revealed this summer with some project work as early as the 2027-2028 Fiscal Year.
The public can find information about the current update and review the previous plan on the official Montgomery County Parks and Recreation website.
