By Kerri Williams

WESTPORT — Residents’ comments will be sought to help develop a master plan for the town’s parks, the first in three decades.

The master plan currently is in its preliminary stages, according to an update by Parks Supt. Michael West at last week’s Parks Advisory Committee.

Planners want to hear from people who visit the parks for all kinds of reasons, West said, giving as examples those who walk their dogs at Grace K. Salmon Park or a family who plays Wiffle ball there.

Longshore Club Park, the town’s largest recreational facility, however, will not be part of this townwide master plan because a separate Longshore Park Capital Improvement Plan has been in the works for more than two years.

West told the committee the town has had “soft meetings” with BL Companies, headquartered in Meriden, which has been hired to conduct the master plan. The town attorney is currently finalizing the contract with BL, so West said the process now is “standing just behind the start line.”

One of the consultant’s first steps will be to create a “stakeholder list,” according to West. This will include BL reaching out to the public via social media and through other means, and providing the opportunity for residents to fill out surveys. 

West said people will be able to look at parks and “put their two cents in.”

Velma Heller, the committee chair, said the master plan needs to include a mix of feedback from a broad group of residents, particularly those who use the facilities regularly.  “We want to reach out to the unique groups that use the parks,” she said.

The master plan, expected to take about a year to complete, will establish priorities to give the town direction for the next 10 years.

West said the plan will be a general blueprint with rough cost estimates for some of the larger projects that are recommended. The plan would designate the years in which each project would be completed. Then, when the time for a project approaches, the town would make a more detailed plan and put the project out to bid.

As an example, West said that the master plan could involve planting more trees at certain parks. The plan would not include which type of trees just that “there should be more trees here.” 

One thing that West hopes the plan will accomplish is creating a “standard” that can be replicated for every park. 

For example, park benches would be made of the same materials and have a concrete pad underneath them for easier access and ease of maintenance.

“I love the word standard,” West said. “We can have 10,000 conversations about the bench and then know that this is what we are putting in.”

The study, which will focus on about 25 parks and recreation facilities, will be funded by American Rescue Plan Act pandemic-era funds allocated by the federal government.

Kerri Williams is a freelance writer.