September 5, 2008
Master Plan for Parks, Recreation Programs & Services

The City of Atwater Parks & Community Services Department is embarking upon the preparation of its first-ever Master Plan for all of its parks, recreational programs & services, open space areas and recreational facilities. Planning began in July 2008, and is expected to conclude in April 2009. The purpose of the Master Plan is to provide the City with a long term vision for its parks and recreation system, by identifying community needs and creating a plan of action to implement needed improvements, enhancements and changes to the existing parks and recreation system. The plan will also include a strategy for funding any future capital improvements related parks and recreation facilities, and for ongoing operation and maintenance costs. The master planning process will include numerous opportunities for the community to take part, through public meetings, workshops, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, website outreach and a scientifically valid telephone survey.

The second of these many opportunities will be in the form of an open public meeting with community residents. This meeting will take place at the Atwater Community Center, 760 East Bellevue Road on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.  Additionally, as primary users of City parks and recreation facilities, you and your family will play an important role as we refine and develop our plan. In an effort to ensure that public input is part of the planning process, a telephone survey of Atwater residents will be conducted by an independent marketing research firm from October 20^th through October 31^st. If you are one of those residents who are randomly selected to participate in the survey, we ask that you take a few minutes to share your thoughts about parks and recreation in Atwater. (All phone numbers will be randomly selected to represent the diversity of our community and the telephone survey will be offered in English and Spanish). To learn more about this exciting project, please feel free to call the Parks & Community Services Department at 209.357.6322 or e-mail the Director of Parks & Community Services, Patrick Faretta, at pfaretta@atwater.org.