Council members to discuss community use, partnerships

The Bishop City Council at its meeting Monday is set to have a discussion and give input on the City Park facility use, among other items, according to the meeting’s agenda.

City staff notes that the 2022-2023 winter season saw unprecedented precipitation fall throughout the entire region. The Bishop City Parks were impacted by these adverse conditions and making accommodations for local and regional users became challenging.

The Community Services Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for the maintenance, usage and scheduling at the Bishop City Park, saw an increase of requests for use from regional users during this time due to the amount of snowfall in Mono County.

In the spring, this was brought to the attention of the City of Bishop Parks and Recreation Commission. Through this discussion the Community Services Department began exploring options to accommodate both local and regional users.

City staff has developed a scheduling practice to address any conflicts.

High school sports are given first priority due to the fact that many students rely on sports-related activities for scholarships in higher education, according to staff.

Bishop youth organizations are given second priority as these are scheduled seasonally.

Mono County in-season youth organizations are given third priority.

All other organizations are given space based on availability.

While exploring options to create space and availability for use, staff conducted a 2022-2023 City Park facility use study.

The data collected from this study shows the heavy use of the City Park facilities.

City staff is looking at a number of options, including the use of Millpond Recreation Area. The Community Services Department has worked with Inyo County Parks and Recreation to prepare an Action and

Maintenance Plan for the renovation of Millpond Recreation Area. This was presented to the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments in October for discussion and to seek regional collaboration for renovation.

Another option is to add lighting to the existing fields at the Bishop City Park. The data collected from the field use study shows the one existing lit field, (Field 1) has a significantly larger use. This data shows the potential opportunity to having expanded use on the other existing fields.

The Bishop City Council is scheduled to meet in open session at 6 p.m. Monday in the City

Council Chambers at Bishop City Hall, 301 W. Line St. Meeting agendas, including how the meetings can be viewed remotely, can be found on the city’s website, www.cityofbishop.com.