El Rancho Verde Park Master Plan Wins OK

A proposed $290,000 renovation of El Rancho Verde Park moved forward this week when the City Council approved a master plan for it and authorized Ron Kenny, director of recreation and community services, to plan a neighborhood meeting seeking public comment.

Kenny said the council has not yet given final approval to the park renovation proposal but will be voting on the issue soon.

“I am hoping the vote will be by June of this year,” Kenny said Tuesday, after it receives a report from him on neighborhood sentiment about renovating the park.

El Rancho Verde, a one-acre site at Moody and Sharon streets, is part of the utility right of way in that area. Kenny said El Rancho Verde now has only outdated and bare-bones park facilities.

The suggested master plan for renovation calls for new play equipment, picnic tables and shelter, an entrance pavilion, drinking fountain and security lighting. The plan calls for construction and funding in five phases, possibly over five years.

The funding would come from money already dedicated to park use, including payments to the city by real estate developers.

“Money for this park improvement would not come from the city’s general fund,” Kenny said. The general fund is the city’s year-to-year operating budget for such regular expenses as employee salaries and street repairs. Council members Tuesday praised the proposal to renovate the park. The city has already spruced up Central Park, Councilman Wally Linn said, and the current proposal “would give us two beautiful new parks.”