E.L. seeks input on park plan

The City of East Lansing is asking community members to be a part of developing a parks plan. They will solicit input from citizens on parks programming, as well as facilities.

According to excerpts from the article:

The East Lansing Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission will invite community members to participate in workshops to help determine where the community’s priorities should lie.

The commission is holding the community forum workshops for the first time since 2006 to gather input for the city’s Park, Recreation, Open Space and Greenways Plan, said Wendy Wilmers Longpre, the East Lansing Parks, Recreation & Arts assistant director.

The plan covers all facilities and programs available for parks and recreation in the city of East Lansing as well as the community centers, greenways and open space and is updated every five years to keep in touch with community interest and the city budget.

Community members will offer two different workshop times at 7 p.m. March 7 and March 23 in the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road, to gather in a group setting to share what they think should be prioritized in the plan should the commission’s budget decrease. She said no budget cuts have been made yet, but the commission is working to prepare just in case.

In the East Lansing City Council’s March 1 meeting, Councilmember Roger Peters said the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission went through the same process five years ago and would attempt to find out what direction the community wanted to go in terms of parks and recreation while keeping potential budget cuts in mind.

Read the entire article here.