With the City experiencing a continuous record growth; the City Council determined that a primary strategic planning goal would be to update the current 2007 Parks & Facilities Plan to better maintain, enhance and prioritize Ankeny’s existing and future parks and recreation facilities. To meet Council’s strategic planning goal, City staff undertook the process of creating the 2019 Ankeny Parks & Facilities Comprehensive Plan (the Plan).
To initiate a fully transparent Comprehensive Plan process, in September 2017, the City issued a Request for Proposals to prepare a Comprehensive Plan for the City of Ankeny. The City received five proposals from a variety of consultants. A review committee of City staff was assembled to review the proposals, interview selected consultants and make a recommendation to the Mayor and City Council of the preferred consultant. After careful review and consideration, the Review Committee recommended to the Mayor and City Council that Confluence be hired to lead the Comprehensive Plan project for the City of Ankeny.
A Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee was established to serve as a steering committee to work with Confluence and City staff on this project. The Committee was comprised of:
- Gary Lorenz, Mayor
- Mark Holm, City Council
- Nichole Church, Parks Board Chair
- Amber Angaran, Parks Board
- David Jones, City Manager
- Paul Moritz, Assistant City Manager
- Nick Lenox, Parks & Recreation Director
- Todd Schenck, Parks & Facilities Administrator
- Ryan Harkema, Recreation Superintendent
The Plan was drafted through a yearlong public planning process including several sessions with the Advisory Committee, a public open house, online park input, a statistically valid survey of residents, community stakeholder meetings, City staff input, and professional consultation and management provided by Confluence.
The Plan establishes goals, timelines and guiding principles for the management of the City’s developed parks, trails, recreation programs and open space improvements.
City staff is very pleased with the work of Confluence and the Advisory Committee. We are very proud of the draft plan and believe it represents the public input that was provided throughout the process and that the Plan will guide the City as Ankeny continues to grow and develop. |