Omaha councilmembers spotlight potential parks projects before Tuesday vote

OMAHA, Neb. —

Many Omaha City Council members are proposing improvements to public spaces in their districts in the 2027 city budget.

That’s on top of the about 20% increase in the parks budget proposed by Mayor John Ewing Jr. Councilmembers were given $50,000 each in not-yet-allocated funds to spotlight community projects or other causes, which are voted on by the council as budget amendments.

The parks-related proposals include:

• Councilmember Pete Festersen proposes putting $25,000 toward landscaping and cracking stairs near the World War II memorial at Memorial Park.
• Councilmember LaVonya Goodwin proposes nearly $20,000 in improvements to parks, mostly to Dreamland Park near 24th and Lake Streets, and to add doggy bags at Kountze Park.
• Councilmember Ron Hug proposes $10,000 worth of improvements at Mt. Vernon Gardens.
• Councilmember Aimee Melton proposes a $40,000 feasibility study to assess options at Rambleridge Pond, which she said doesn’t fill up on their own and has a significant algae problem. She said a feasibility study is necessary before spending much more to dredge the pond.

In addition to a significant budget increase for next year, Omaha parks also receive support from the Omaha Parks Foundation and its donors.

“We try and do one reset of a park per year,” the foundation’s executive director, Tiffany Regan, told KETV.

Kountze Park in North Omaha is the latest example of that.

“It’s one of the most historical parks with one of the biggest tree canopies,” Regan said. “So we tried to get to all those who had interest in it, and everyone took a little piece of the pie to make it what it is today.”

Omaha’s interim parks director, Jacquelyn Morrison, said the parks budget proposal has encouraged residents to share ideas.

“I get emails every day,” said Morrison, who started in her role about a month and a half ago.

She said the city hopes to renovate as many as six parks in 2027, repair all pools so all can open next summer, and begin mowing parks on time.

“Other things we have on the list are repairing some of our pools to make sure that we’re able to open all of them in 2027. We also want to be able to mow our parks on time,” the director said.

Last year, the city’s parks master plan identified a $5 million gap in operating expenses. Residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on funding allocations Tuesday afternoon before the council votes on the budget.