URBANA — The Urbana Park District is asking for input from Champaign-Urbana residents to find out what people really want in their communities.
This input, whether through the online survey, or through community focus groups, will help the park district draft their 2027-2031 Strategic Plan.
This plan is a foundational document for the park district. It helps inform the park district to determine what goals and pillars the next 4 years should be guided by.
Rachel Lenz, the executive director of the Urbana park district, said she has also met with park district staff, and the Urbana Park District Board of Commissioners to gather other input as well.
“I think the one that stood out to me most and really garnered a lot of attention during that couple hours was teen engagement and opportunities for teens, whether that be through programming, volunteering, or even employment,” Lenz said.
But Lenz says the park district will review community input with as little bias as possible.
They have hired a third party firm to conduct data analysis on the survey, and to facilitate those focus groups, so that people can feel comfortable voicing their opinions.
However, Lenz says that when it comes to drafting the plan, it’s all done by park district staff.
“It saves the taxpayer dollars, which is phenomenal, but too, it really gives ownership to those goals that they’re creating,” Lenz said. “It becomes a true living working document that they have ownership in, because once we understand what the community wants, they’re the ones that create the goals to get it done.”
After the park district receives the data analysis from the surveys and focus groups, they will use the common themes found to pick four or five strategic initiatives, or pillars, to guide the strategic plan.
Goals will then be created based on those guiding pillars found from the community. These goals have to be S.M.A.R.T. goals, meaning they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
And Lenz says in her experience, Urbana is one of the best park districts at getting community input for their projects.
“Urbana Park District has definitely excelled in making sure they are hearing the community and what they want. And so, it’s really cool now to be a part of that.”
The survey for public input will be open until July 1.
The first draft of the 2027-2031 Strategic Plan will be reviewed and presented to the Urbana Park District Board of Commissioners in early August. The final plan will be approved in early December.
The plan should not affect any of the current Urbana Park District’s projects.
Lenz said they’ve received more community input than previous years, and wants to thank those that have taken the survey already.
“And those who haven’t, your voice matters. We truly want you to take it if it’s good, bad, or ugly,” said Lenz. “It’s important for us to know, and we can’t make it better if we don’t know what’s wrong.”