ROCK SPRINGS – City Departments in Rock Springs are starting to finalize budgets and have begun to turn in requests to the city council. On Thursday, the Rock Springs Parks and Recreation Board discussed its requests.

Keeping requests down and only ask for the necessities continues to be the theme in Rock Springs. Park and Recreation Director Dave Lansang said while they have a few projects they would like to get funding for; the department is not looking at any major projects in the upcoming year.

There are a couple of things the department is looking at in local parks and some equipment replacement in the indoor facilities. On the parks side, Lansang said they are asking for funding for the small dog park. While they are going to open the gates to the park, there is nothing but a handful of trees. He said they would like to add some benches and other structures in the park.

The second project the parks department is looking at doing is at Belmont Park located on Connecticut Avenue. The department asked for funding in last year’s budget to build a gazebo area at the park, but it was not added to the budget. Lansang said they were asking for the funding for the project again this year.

The final item on the park’s side is at Blairtown Park. Lansang said they would like to put permanent restrooms down by the parking area. He explained the bathrooms on the top have been vandalized and destroyed. The plan would be to demolish the bathrooms on the top and build the new restrooms down by the parking area.

Board Chairman Ron Cheese asked about the handicap upgrades planned at Kiwanis Park. Lansang said the handicap upgrades are already budgeted for, and the city will be using funding from the Americans with Disability Act to complete the project.

The area next to Smiths was also discussed. Lansang said this area has not only been a discussion point at their level but has also been discussed at the city council level as well.

The area was built out to get rid of the swamp like eyesore that was there. It was not meant to be a park and Lansang has had discussions with other heads in the city who said it should have been named wetland area and not park.

It was explained to the board there are a couple of Rock Springs City Councilmen who feel something needs to be done. He added there is a possibility these officials will bring it forward in the upcoming budget workshops to see if there are funds available to upgrade the area.

As for indoor recreation, the department is looking at replacing equipment. There are several pieces of equipment such as weight benches and machines that are pushing 30 years. Lansang said staff has identified approximately 20 different pieces they would like to see changed out. The plan is to ask the Council to fund ten new pieces of equipment in the upcoming budget and then fund the other ten in the following fiscal year.

Cheese asked if these pieces included some of the stationary bicycles used by the cycling groups. Lansang said staff did not specifically say which pieces and they could look at changing some of them out depending on the funding given by the council.