Residents asked to care for parks

Residents who use city parks may soon be asked to help care for them.

Carson City Parks and Recreation Commissioners discussed Tuesday an adopt-a-park concept where individuals, families or businesses would take on the task of cleaning neighborhood parks.

The public's help could free up parks employees to focus on larger maintenance issues, said Scott Fahrenbruch, director of operations for the Carson City Parks and Recreation Commission.

"We've recently experienced citywide budget cuts," he explained. "We have lost several positions and a lot of money we used to support maintenance."

Parks officials sent out 1,241 surveys in recent weeks to residents of the Northridge subdivision as a testing ground to gauge interest in the program. So far, 12 people have returned the survey and 10 of them responded that they would be interested in helping.

"From the surveys, we'll start determining which parks to adopt out to which folks and what type of work they'd be willing to do," Fahrenbruch said.

He said the responsibilities of the residents would likely extend to litter control, simple maintenance and graffiti cleanup. And the program itself, he said, may reduce the need for these services.

"By getting neighborhoods involved ... they'll take more ownership," Fahrenbruch said. "When there's a sense of ownership, it keeps vandalism in check and they'll help to keep our parks clean."

If the program is successful, he said, parks officials may extend it to trails and other facilities.