Sedalia Parks and Recreation Director Amy Epple stood before the City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 21, to give her Strategic Planning Presentation.
Accomplishments from 2024 were the first to be highlighted.
“We have the expansion of Light Up Liberty,” Epple said. “We had 25 new stunning light displays thanks to local businesses and organizations that donated for us to be able to expand.”
The Parks department masterplan calls for much expansion tothe holiday light program over the next 10 years.
A grant has allowed major improvements at Liberty Stadium and the renovation of the historic ball field is projected for Mar. 1.
Our winged friends are being encouraged to find a home in area parks, an eco-friendly way of dealing with insects at sporting events.
“If you know a lot about bats, especially here in Missouri, we were able to install bat houses across the park system thanks to local Boy Scouts,” Epple said. “We once again planted over 100 trees including fifty just at Katy Park to celebrate its 50th anniversary.”
Parks and Rec has a policy to replace each tree lost to diseases or age with five new trees and Emerald Ash Borers and other tree diseases are keeping parks arborists busy.
“151 lifeguards were certified this this summer," Epple said. "A lot of those lifeguards work for our park system but then they also work for surrounding communities as well. We are one of the only locals to be able to certify, so I think that's a really big number; knowing that we certified 151 lifeguards in just one year.”
A total of 1,093 baseball and softball games were played in the parks system last year with 398 swim lesson participants and 33,389 drop-ins at the Heckart Community Center.
"Barrel of Monkeys,’" was also installed to Liberty Park as part of the Art in the Park program.
“We had 23,179 walkers at the Heckart Community Center, 5,076 fitness classes, a groundbreaking at Katy Park — f you drive by there, you'll see the new playground is coming along and we'll be opening that here at the end of March beginning of April," Epple said.
Improvements to the 18-hole disc golf course at Clover Dell Park promise an enhanced experience. The success of Liberty Park train’s first Polar Express helped ensure the train rides will be expanded.
“We're looking forward to here in April of actually having the train go and work with local school groups,” Epple said. “Then again in the summertime be able to offer the train as well.”
The parks director told the council Esports continues to dominate organized sports in the parks system.
“We had 625 participants in the Esports, that's a huge number I can tell you, Epple said. “Our baseball is right at 400, so if you see our Esports is 625, that's our largest sports program.”
The Heckart Community Center was open 5,174 hours last year, the landscaping crew tended 120 flower beds, there were eight appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus and across the city Phase 2 of LED light replacement is underway.
“We had some lake improvements at Clover Dell and then we had 71 participants reach new goals with our Couch to 5K,” Epple said. “So that's just 25 highlights that we wanted to discuss for 2024.”
Work on the outdoor aquatic center and Memory Lanes bowling is in the design phase and Parks planners are trying to get the best facility they can afford for the citizens of Sedalia.
Parks offers over 25 programs, which is a deceptively small number once you drill down a layer or two.
“A lot of them have multiple different programs. 25 does not sound like that many,” Epple said. “But when you talk about Polar Express, we sold over 200 tickets, our Trunk-or-Treat had over 1,500 participants.
Register programs, those that are pad, had over 2,157 participants.
Private swim lessons are big at the HCC with over 700 private school lessons annually and what was once a fringe sport, pickleball, is a smash-hit for both youth and adults.
“We have 69 participants that register for pickleball, but if you come by the Hechart we're constantly seeing new faces with pickleball," Epple said. "As we continue to update the master plan, we're discussing how can we provide more pickleball courts throughout the community.”
Spaces at the Heckart Community Center were rented 864 times last year and even Convention Hall was rented 100 times.
With $71,000 in sponsorships for different programs including Light Up Liberty and $19,000 in donations. Epple said the community’s support of the park programs is greatly appreciated.
“Our mission statement is to provide our community affordable fun,” Epple said.“I mean, that's really what it comes down to and so we strive hard to be able to provide something that is affordable to everyone. We currently have 34 full time staff and in the next fiscal year we'll be looking to add one full-time position.”
Minimum wage went up $1.45 and park’s payroll is expected to cost an additional $100,000 per year.
“That increase really makes a big impact in our budget,” Epple said. “Especially for the parks because we do have over 100 part time staff.”
Katy Park playground will not be finished until right at the end of the fiscal year, weather is delaying work on the Liberty Stadium seating, and Sedalia Public Works has been assisting the Parks Department on drainage issues along Liberty Park Boulevard.
“It saves the taxpayers money when we can work together and they can help us and not have to contract things out,” Epple said. “So looking forward to that partnership.”
Another big project in the works is draining and repairing Liberty Park pond.
“It'll be drained completely and then we would have to redo the concrete work all the way around it,” Epple said. “That is something that needs to be done and it needs to be repaired. We really have to educate the public and let them know why we're doing it.”
Sedalia Parks and Recreation will be working with the Missouri Department of Conservation in the next fiscal year to repair the landmark pond.
Chris Howell can be reached at 660-530-0146.
