Snyderville Basin Special Recreation Director Robert Parrish has only been at the helm of the organization for two months, but his passion for strategic planning has already spurred what he hopes will be long-term operational changes, including increased transparency regarding the district’s finances.
Basin Recreation’s governing board selected Parrish, a former Marine with over a decade of National Park Service experience, to replace outgoing director Dana Jones, who retired late last year. Board members said they were impressed with Parrish’s knowledge, research abilities and dedication to future planning at the time of his hiring.
Parrish said the first months of his tenure have gone well, and he’s already made moves to modernize many of the district’s internal systems, which was his top priority. The district is currently in the process of transitioning its records management and data privacy system to a more secure platform, and Parrish plans to hire a full-time information technology specialist to update the district’s systems further.
“We’re also looking at implementing a new accounting software system to help us manage growth,” Parrish said. “The current system we’re using is a little bit dated, and it’s not quite a modern, enterprise-level accounting system for the amount of money that we’re managing for our taxpayers. We need to modernize our accounting system to make things more efficient to help us track and be more accountable and transparent in our reporting as to how we’re spending taxpayer dollars.”
The district will also request proposals for an “enterprise asset management software system,” which Parrish said will help staff manage facilities, trails and parking lots by tracking the amount of money spent on repairs and maintenance while also making it easier to plan for future capital improvement projects.
“There are a lot of things that aren’t necessarily coming to the end of their useful life, but we’ll need to start planning for some capital investments to replace things like roofs,” Parrish explained. “Having that software in place will help us track and manage that better and better establish a budget that’s more clear and evident to the public.”
Parrish touched on Basin Recreation’s recent request to raise property taxes, which received pushback from community members and the Summit County Council. The County Council ultimately approved a tax increase of up to 5%, less than Basin Recreation’s desired 15%.
“What people need to understand is that the tax income remains pretty flat, but our expenses do increase,” Parrish said. “If we don’t have revenue to match the current level of expenses as costs and prices escalate, we’ll have to take a look at things, and I’m not going to spend more than we have.”
However, raising taxes isn’t the only solution, Parrish said. There are other revenue streams from grants and impact fees, but he’s also analyzing the district’s fee structure for its summer camps and the Fieldhouse.
“Our fee structure hasn’t changed in several years, so I’m looking at simplifying it by providing discounts for people like seniors, first responders, veterans and active military,” Parrish said. “I’ve also heard there’s a lot of backlash from the community about non-residents using our facilities and causing an increase, which is not necessarily the case, but I need to respect that viewpoint and make sure that we have a fee schedule and structure that recognizes that.”
Basin Recreation has a few prominent projects on the horizon, most notably a new facility on the nearly 30-acre Cline Dahle parcel in Jeremy Ranch. The County Council is still working with Columbus Pacific Development to finalize a development deal, but preliminary discussions indicate Basin Recreation will have the space and ability to construct another building similar to the Fieldhouse.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a consensus regarding what community members want placed on the Cline Dahle parcel, Parrish said. Basin Recreation has surveyed Summit County residents on their preferences, but there isn’t a project that has appealed to a majority of respondents.
“We can’t say, ‘Oh yeah, 90% of our residents want a swimming facility,’” Parrish said. “But there’s still a need for some indoor sports fields, and looking at the vast, different user groups we have, there’s definitely a need, I think, for a fitness facility because the Fieldhouse is over capacity.”
Basin Recreation also operates a plot of land in the Silver Creek Village area, and Parrish said his idea is to diversify the organization’s offerings across all three of the district’s properties. However, all locations will likely have a fitness facility like the Fieldhouse because of the high demand and growing wait time for machines.
Parrish said the district is exploring whether to pursue a bond in November to finance construction on the Cline Dahle parcel, but nothing has been finalized yet.
“This November would likely be the time because we’re on an election cycle,” Parrish said. “In the background, we’re doing some preliminary planning. We’ll likely be asking for public input again, so come March, April or May, we’ll start having public meetings to get input from people as to, if we do go for a bond, would they support it?”
He also encouraged people to engage with Basin Recreation leadership outside of proposed tax increases or bond measures, saying public input is what helps drive the organization’s decisions regarding its priorities, new programming and facilities.
“I think the future for Basin Recreation is really bright,” Parrish said. “It’s really important for us to hear all sides of an issue. I absolutely appreciate those people voicing concerns of what they don’t want, but there are people who do enjoy it and do support us. It’s important for us to get a holistic picture of where we are as a district, so the more input we get from more people, the more we’ll be able to balance the picture a little bit better and understand what needs are being met and what needs aren’t, so we can plan accordingly.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Dana Williams as Basin Recreation’s former director. This article has been updated to reflect that Parrish replaced outgoing director Dana Jones.