On Tuesday, January 27, 2009, the Kansas City Board of Parks Commissioners voted unanimously to approve proposed changes to the Highland View Park master plan. 

The only question that came out of the review was in relation to the material that will be used to construct the hard surface walking trails (sidewalks) that have been proposed.  As concrete does not meet the Board's standards for pervious material, we will need to substitute another material in its place.  This is by no means a big issue, and it should in no way impact our ability to move the project forward.

The next steps in this process will take place over the coming months, and will begin with the processes involved with soliciting bids from prospective contractors.  As we will be packaging the Highland View Park project with two other park projects for the bidding process, it will likely be April before bids will be solicited and received.

Following the bid process, we can expect a period of time to pass for KC Parks & Recreation to complete various administrative tasks, including awarding of the bids and authorization for the chosen contractor to begin work.  At that point, the schedule will largely depend on the capabilities and availability of the chosen contractor to perform the work. 

At this time, my best guess on when to expect a finished product would be sometime from mid- to late-summer (July / August, perhaps).  (Once the construction of the playground [and hopefully walking trails] is complete, it might be nice to schedule a community picnic at the park to celebrate the completion of the project.  KC Parks & Recreation will likely perform a dedication ceremony at this time.  If you have any interest in helping to plan such an event, please let me know.)

The only outstanding questions at this point are in regards to funding for the hard-surface walking trails.  There is an assumption that we will have some amount of funds left over from existing funding for the playground.  We should be able to use these funds toward some of the cost of building the trails.  To make up for any shortfall, we still have an active PIAC request for these additional funds.  Feedback I've received from PIAC members has been positive, but the funds have not been allocated as of yet, and there is no guarantee.  We will address this as more information is made available.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for your participation in this project.  What started out as a simple question has quickly become a reality, and I am very excited to see the fruits of our efforts.  Without your feedback and participation, none of this would have been possible. 

Thank you!