Jenny Orsburn pointed to a series of pie charts on her computer monitor, colorful bubbles designed to gather information for a five-year master plan for the Portage Parks and Recreation Department.
The survey is ongoing, but the information gathered, so far, from 215 survey takers on the department’s website, spoke volumes about more than parks, said Osburn, the parks superintendent since January 2012.
She declined to share most of the gathered information from the respondents, many of whom do not live in the city, but the answers she shared were telling.
As of Monday afternoon, 46.7 percent of respondents thought the department’s parks were “clean,” while 28.5 percent fell in a purple slice of the pie, indicating they felt the parks were “very clean.”
More Top Picks Best Charangos
Most of the visitors to the survey were women, ages 26 to 49 with household incomes ranging from $50,000 a year to $99,000 a year, according to the 27-question survey.
The survey, which will remain open online through August, is part of a fact-finding mission the department is undergoing to build its regular five-year master plan, Orsburn said. The parks board will use the data to make decisions about its five parks, including the Portage Riverwalk and Lakefront, a joint effort with the National Park Service, and other facilities and activities.
“(The plan) focuses the parks department on a variety of issues and makes sure you’re up to date on all the latest trends and codes and the needs of your community,” Orsburn said. “It requires you to do a lot of public surveys, get a lot of public information and meetings to make sure anytime we would develop anything new or have a new program in the park, it’s consistent with what the community wants and holds us to do it.”
The department will report the results from the survey and formal interviews with park patrons to the parks board. The board will complete a draft of plans for the parks system and submit that plan to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, or IDNR.
The DNR will make recommendations, and the local board will submit its final plan to the state agency next spring.
Meanwhile, parks users — whether from Portage or elsewhere — can “hold the board’s feet to the fire” for its project choices, but those projects still must be financially feasible, Orsburn said.
The master plan serves as a guiding tool for the parks department, but it also makes the department eligible for grant money and financial assistance from the state, Orsburn said. The plan also can be done “in-house,” saving money on consultants, she said.
That cost saving is no small matter for a department that has seen its operating funds from the city remain static for three years. According to the parks department’s 2014-2015 annual report, the department received $949,271 from the city in 2014 and 2015, and it received the same amount in 2016.
The department received significant financial bumps from its revenue-generating facilities, like hall and shelter rentals, field rentals by different sports teams, a preschool, bar concessions and another non-reverting capital fund.
Also, the department can carry over any balances into succeeding years.
The master plan also will be used for budget discussions, which begin this month, Orsburn said. If most patrons want a certain amenity or a new playground, and they indicate those desires on the survey, the parks department can use that information for planning its budget request.
“The city is constantly looking for self-improvement,” she said. “So, why not use this information? To go through all of this effort and really reach out to the public and show them their input is valuable, I’m going to start using this info right away.”
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.